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The Bolden Cylinder
A Bruneau Abellard Novel
by Norman Woolworth
A potentially momentous discovery. A suspicious fire. A 50-year-old missing person’s case. Are they connected?
When Buddy Bolden died in a Louisiana insane asylum in 1931, a quarter century after his reign as the undisputed first “king” of jazz, he left behind no known recordings. But when quirky New Orleans antiques dealer Bruneau Abellard listens to a vintage phonograph cylinder he found in the secret compartment of a sideboard, he wonders if he has stumbled upon an important piece of musical history. In researching his discovery, Bruneau runs headlong into an arson investigation led by his childhood friend, NOPD Detective Bo Duplessis, which in turn may hold the key to a 50-year-old unsolved missing person’s case.
To untangle their present-day mysteries, Bruneau and Bo must first piece together a perplexing string of puzzles from the distant past. Their parallel investigations immerse them in the rhythm-and-blues subculture of 1960s New Orleans; and transport them to the dawn of the 20th Century, when a brash young musician introduced a new sound to the city, forever changing the course of music history.
Fast-paced and vividly drawn, The Bolden Cylinder introduces a memorable cast of eccentric characters, including a malodorous collector of early R&B memorabilia, a sultry nightclub singer, a reputed mob boss, a 12-year-old tap dancer, and an inscrutable peddler of voodoo paraphernalia. Together, they serve up a savory gumbo of suspenseful intrigue set against the seductive backdrop of a city in which past and present are forever interwoven.
Coming October 2025!
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The Lafitte Affair
A Bruneau Abellard Novel
by Norman Woolworth
When burglars break into Hope Mausoleum and violate Crypt 1083-A, where the remains of the former Girod Street Cemetery are housed, New Orleans property crimes detective Thibodeaux “Bo” Duplessis is confronted with three confounding questions: Who are the burglars? Why did they break into the crypt? What, if anything, did they take?
In need of expertise he does not possess, Bo turns to his childhood friend Bruneau Abellard, a cranky, overweight antiques dealer with exacting epicurean standards and a font of historical knowledge. Affecting annoyance, though privately intrigued, Bruneau agrees to assist with Bo’s case. Together, the friends uncover a secret love affair between a famous antebellum actress, whose remains are contained in the crypt, and the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte. As their investigation deepens, they find themselves confronting two separate yet entwined mysteries, 200 years apart. To solve the present day crime, they come to realize, they must first unravel a conundrum from the distant, murky past.
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Set against the singular backdrop of contemporary New Orleans, with glimpses of the city during its “Belle Epoque” of the 1820’s, The Lafitte Affair is populated with characters as eccentric as the city itself: a grand dame of the Garden District; a competitive female puzzler; a slippery con man; a giant hermit with a shrouded past; a pugnacious French bulldog; and a phantom thief who seems always two steps ahead of his pursuers. Looming over them all is the ghostly presence of the pirate Lafitte, a larger than life figure of seemingly endless contradictions.