Maxwell Street Blues

Jules Landau Mysteries #1

by Marc Krulewitch

Grabbing snapshots of cheating spouses and hunting down bail jumpers provides a comfortable living for Jules Landau—until his estranged father knocks on the door. Second-rate con man Bernie Landau reports Jules's beloved "Uncle Snook" has taken five bullets in the head. The newspapers dismiss the victim as another bean counter for the mob caught skimming off the top. But Jules isn't buying it. Sure, his uncle's accounting practice included shady characters, but the wise-guys loved Snooky and not just for his money-laundering skills. With Snooky you had a devoted friend—a regular hoodlum's therapist. From the start, Bernie criticizes his son's brash approach to the investigation. But despite their conflicts, father and son uncover Snooky's entanglements in a convoluted world of crooked politics, corrupt police, and drug trafficking. And those who stand to benefit from Snooky's death reads like a Who's Who of the Chicago power elite.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective

Unknown Binding

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

For his sixth novel, author Marc Krulewitch changes the venue to Boulder County, Colorado where he’s lived since 1992. His previous books, Maxwell Street Blues, Windy City Blues, Gold Coast Blues, Doubt in the 2nd Degree, and Something to Call Your Own, all take place in Chicago, where he was born and where his family has lived for generations.

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jules Landau comes from a long line of crooks and thieves but as well all know, your family history doesn't always dictate your future. Attempting to make a career as a P.I., Jules takes on a case involving the murder of Snooky (no, not that Snooky), a family friend who just happens to be an expert money launderer. Hired by Jules’ own ex-con father, can Landau track down Snooky’s executioner or will his family name draw deadly attention?

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Landau must have scored top spot on the dean’s list at the Philip Marlowe school of hard knocks. Landau is a P.I. who takes a beating and throughout his quest to nab Snooky’s killer, he ends up with more bumps and bruises than Johnny Knoxville in a shopping cart.

Author Marc Krulewitch crafts an interesting and compelling mystery filled with drugs, murder and political maneuvering. Landau deals with a wide cast of characters with help from a plucky journalist, an old school detective mentor and a sultry tattoo artist along the way. There’s a lot to like about this book although I felt at times the case became just a tad convoluted. However, like a great Chandler book, Krulewitch’s prose flows smoothly and keeps the reader turning the pages.

Krulewitch originally released Maxwell Street Blues independently a few years back but it has since been picked up by Random House’s crime imprint Alibi and set for release in August 2014. I’m hoping this is the start of a series as I’d love to read more from him in the future.

Release Date: August 05th, 2014

[S.A. Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and gritty read.
Jules, the MC comes from a family of crooks and convicts. However, he decides not to follow the family way and tries to become a PI. The story starts with him trying to solve the murder of a very close family friend.
The premise was very interesting and every single character being small or big were etched to perfection. I loved the description of the city and it brought an almost real feel to the story.
Very interesting mystery.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Reading Reality

I lived in Chicago for quite a chunk of my adult life, so when I saw the description for Maxwell Street Blues, I just had to see if the town painted in the book matched my memories.

The Maxwell Street area, and all the streets and neighborhoods mentioned in the book really do exist. And while the names have been altered to protect the innocent, or possibly the guilty, there really is a university in and around what used to be the Maxwell Street Market area.

I’ve even been there. It’s the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and they even have a nearby residential development, just like in the book.

I’m sure it didn’t happen quite like the author describes. But then, we are talking about Chicago, so it may not surprise readers to learn that the true-life events bear a startling resemblance to the history outlined in the story.

Maxwell Street is where Chicago first sang the Blues. In this story, it’s also the location where “the city that works” is working out a construction deal mostly under the table between a large public university, a well-connected construction company and some more-or-less dirty cops.

Someone was bound to end up dead. After all, as Sean Connery’s character famously put it in the movie The Untouchables, “that’s the Chicago way.”

The body belongs to Charles Snook, a CPA with a lucrative sideline in laundering money for cops, aldermen, university chancellors and anyone else who had the right connections. Snooky was damn good at his job. Until his body was found, and then everyone assumed that he’d betrayed his clients’ trust or pissed off somebody important.

His childhood friend Jules Landau can’t let it alone. Jules is a private investigator barely getting by, but his family has generations-long connections in the underworld that seems to have been his friend’s downfall.

Jules can’t stop himself from searching for the truth about his friend’s death, in spite of having no experience whatsoever in investigating murders. Particularly a murder that everyone wants to bury--along with Snooky, and possibly Jules.

Everyone says that Snooky was a terrific accountant who kept his mouth shut and did a great job laundering everyone’s dirty money. The mobs didn’t want him dead, because dead accountants just aren’t any good.

Jules, like good detectives everywhere, follows the money. Money that leads from a crazy tattoo artist to the highest offices of a major university, scooping up dirty cops and aldermen along the way.

Nobody seems to have really wanted Snooky dead. But once he pokes his nose into the case, the line of people who want Jules dead grows by leaps and bounds.

Also by brass knuckles and baseball bats.

Escape Rating B: The story has a solid Chicago flavor, almost as tasty as a Chicago Hot Dog (and yes, that’s a thing, with celery salt). While I’m certain you don’t need to have lived in Chicago to enjoy this story, that I knew all the places gave it an extra layer of nostalgia for me. It feels right.

The mystery is one of dogged persistence. Although it starts out being about Snooky’s murder, it veers quickly into the murky waters of the deal to destroy the old Maxwell Street Market neighborhood. Every person with even the tiniest bit of decision-making power seems to have taken a slice of pork out of that barrel.

Even more damning, the cops investigating the murder have it in for each other, and both of them were on the take in multiple ways. No one involved with the Maxwell Street development/destruction seems to have been clean.

Jules is in way over his head. A head that keeps getting punched and beaten as he pursues the case. All of his involvements and attempts at a solution just get him another beating. Literally. And yet, he keeps on.

There’s a sense that he wants to right all the wrongs that he finds, until he is beaten down to the realization that one person can’t fix everything that’s wrong with the way business is done in Chicago.

The ending of the case is murkier than the Chicago River. But the conclusion of Jules' story was surprisingly satisfying.

[Dawn Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 Stars

The Beginning of the Blues

Mr. Krulewitch has shared his first book in his "Blues" and Jules Landau series. This book sets the stage for those that'll follow in this series. Thus, as I'd read the second book first, I was not disappointed by missing information. Mr. Krulewitch has managed excellent continuity while maintaining each story as a stand-alone novel.

All elements for a good mystery are here, including:
• James Landau, P.I.
• Corruption in Government
• Underworld hoodlums going back to Capone and current drug
cartels
• Corrupt policemen
• Plot twists, turns and surprises
• Several murders to solve

This book was a page turner, hard to put down, and totally fascinating. It's written as though Mr. Krulewitch was one of the characters himself and knew all the others. Readers will not be disappointed with the mysteries unfolded in this story.

Dawn Edwards, The Kindle Book Review

The KBR received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We are not connected with the author, publisher, or Amazon in any way.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This looks to be a promising beginning to a new series. This a noir novel in all it's bloody glory. In it we have two femme fatales who seem to be connected in some way that Jules can't figure out. We also have a whole host of corrupt politicians and cops and all are bent on putting a stop to PI Jules Landau's efforts to find the killer of his childhood father figure and mentor. Jules was asked to work the case by his estranged father, but when he finds out that his beloved Charles Snook has been murdered and left in an alley on Maxwell Street, he can't stop himself from investigating. Jules takes all kinds of punishment from various bad guys until he finally unmasks the killer. I enjoyed the book and I think this could be a very promising series. It gave me a view of Chicago's mean streets that I've never encountered before.

[Jim A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent Point A to Point B and on down the line investigation of a friend's murder. And, as it takes place in Chicago, you can bet there will be police and political corruption involved.

The down side. The P.I., Julian, had no charisma, at all. Doesn't drink. Eats tofu and such. Hey, this is a Chicago P.I.

[Robert Gelms · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Got The Blues In Chicago
By Bob Gelms
In this issue I have the unmitigated pleasure of telling you what a splendid time I had reading Maxwell Street Blues by Marc Krulewitch. He is a Chicago writer with the windy city wound up in his DNA. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and I had great fun placing the events in the book on the streets and in the neighborhoods where they happened. Chicago, as you may know, is the home of the blues and the epicenter is a little strip along Maxwell St. near Halsted where, for an eternity, a flea market and outdoor food vendors vied for the attention of hungry shoppers. Providing the musical backdrop to all this were bands of musicians setting up in the street, in the alley, and in your face and they were playing the hottest most authentic blues music anywhere on the planet. It was a mecca for musicians from around the world and a few from the South Side of the city trying to broaden their horizons. This is the backdrop for a large chunk of the book.
Jules Landau is a private eye, newly minted and somewhat untested in investigating murders. The murder in question is one Charlie ‘’Snooks’’ Snook, a friend of Jules’ family, especially Jules’ 80-year old father, Bernie Landau. Bernie, as the book opens, has just done a 16-year stretch in some unnamed charm school (read prison) most probably in Joliet. He shows up at Jules’ place with a wad of money and the info that Snooks took two bullets in the head and was dumped on a pile of construction debris at Maxwell and Halsted Streets. Bernie wants Jules to find out who killed him and then do the right thing. Maxwell Street Blues is the story of how Jules goes about doing that.
Jules decided to forego the family business, mid-level gangstering, and go a little straight -- just a little, not too much. Life was pretty good for Jules as a private eye, with all the business he could handle from husbands and wives behaving badly. But Snooks was his first murder so he enlisted the help of another family friend, Sid Frownstein, an old school private eye who had recently retired to a lakefront condo and a hobby of restoring antique cars.
Along the way Jules meets a wild assortment of characters that all have something or other to do with a big deal, obscenely expensive construction project happening at the corner of guess where -- yup, Maxwell and Halsted Streets. There’s something fishy in the air and it’s not coming from Diversey Harbor. Jules uncovers plenty of red herrings that lead to nowhere but there is one thread piloting its way through the whole story…..BIG MONEY.
In Chicago, big money construction contracts attract all kinds of people looking to dip their beaks in the public money pit. There are gangsters, cops, University Presidents, tattoo artists, politicians, and Charlie Snook, although Snooks’ involvement keeps changing throughout the book. You see, Charlie Snook was an accountant with a genius for laundering money. He knew everybody and everybody knew him. Mr. Snook, obviously, knew too much for his own good.
So Jules sets out to solve the crime with very little experience in the ways of murder and big city corruption. Pertinent advice from family friend Sid, and an attitude with a mouth to match results in Jules’ face being rearranged a bit with a well placed fist and a lead pipe, not to mention a few broken ribs.
Maxwell Street Blues is a hit (no not that kind of hit) and you may as well get in on the ground floor because it is the first book in a planned series of books featuring Jules Landau. By the way, you don’t have to be from Chicago to enjoy Maxwell Street Blues, it’s just that if you are you will recognize a lot of the city that forms the intricate environment for the story. I had a superb time reading it and I’m absolutely sure you will to. Today if you go to Maxwell and Halsted you might hear the sound of a slide guitar and a ghostly voice wailing, “I got the Maxwell Street Blues in Chicago.”

[Bonnye Reed]

EReaderNews

[Victor Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marc Krulewitch in his new book, “Maxwell Street Blues” Book One in the Jules Landau Mystery Series published by Alibi introduces us to Jules Landau.

From the back cover: Readers of Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole mysteries will love Jules Landau, a college man turned private eye on the Windy City’s mean streets—a virtual school of hard knocks where graduation means just staying alive.

Chicago runs in Jules Landau’s veins. So does the blood of crooks. Now Jules is going legit as a private eye, stalking bail jumpers and cheating spouses—until he gets his first big case. Unfortunately, the client is his ex-con father, and the job is finding the killer of a man whom Jules loved like family. Why did someone put two bullets in the head of gentle bookkeeper Charles Snook? Jules is determined to find out, even if the search takes him to perilous places he never wanted to go.

Snooky, as he was affectionately known, had a knack for turning dirty dollars clean, with clients ranging from humble shop owners to sharp-dressed mobsters. As Jules retraces Snooky’s last days, he crosses paths with a way-too-eager detective, a gorgeous and perplexing tattoo artist, a silver-haired university administrator with a kinky side, and a crusading journalist. Exposing one dirty secret after another, the PI is on a dangerous learning curve. And, at the top of that curve, a killer readies to strike again.

Introducing Jules Landau, going legit as a private eye. He has been given his first assignment to find out who murdered Charles Snook. This investigation is taking him on a dangerous curve with the killer waiting for him at the top. “Maxwell Street Blues” is a top-notch thriller filled with blackmail, betrayal and murder. If it were not for his friends Jules wouldn’t stand a chance. The characters in this book are so well done you would swear they are real. The story is so well told that it feels as though you are watching a movie rather than reading words. Mr. Krulewitch really knows how to write bringing you into the world of Chicago. My only complaint was the language it is “R” rated. I suppose it makes them sound tough but Bogart, Cagney and the others never spoke like that and those stories are classics. Other than that this is grade A+. I am so glad to have found Marc Krulewitch and am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules Landau comes from a long line of Chicagoans. They have always been involved in the seamier side of the economy. His great-grandfather was famous for his ‘protection’ agency in the Maxwell Street area of Chicago, who once shared a headline with Al Capone. Though never members of the ‘made-men’ the Landau men had a reputation of never walking the straight and narrow. Until Jules.

Jules decided that he wanted to be a private detective. Maybe he just read too many hard-boiled fiction stories by Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett as a kid. So after getting out of college he set himself up in his own agency. His grandfather, who just got out of jail, hires him to find out who murdered his friend Charles “Snooky” Snook. Snooky was a ‘friend to everyone, and worked as a “hoodlum’s bookkeeper” for people who didn’t usually have accounts for their ‘businesses’. Snooky had a reputation of making good investments and helping people with the Income Taxes.

Snooky was mixed up with Chicago’s biggest businesses, booze then drugs, crooked politicians and crooked contractors. But Snooky never treated anyone poorly and was considered an honest man you could do business with especially if you weren’t. So why would someone want to kill him? That’s what Landau sets out to do. As a detective he is a cross between Charlie Brown and Rodney Dangerfield.

During his investigation, Landau meets enough characters to warm the heart of Damon Runyon. Crooked cops, crooked pols, crazy tattoo artists, meth heads, a rookie reporter and the owner of a woman’s clothing store. He seems to always be rubbing someone the wrong way and gets beaten up more times than I can remember. He’s a vegetarian who lives with an organ-meat eating cat who doesn’t like to be neglected.
When he goes around asking questions, no one was talking. There are more interlocking alliances than those that started World War One. When he finally works out who the murderer is and the reason behind the killing, it seems like everyone else knew who is was before he did.

Very entertaining and well written. Looking forward to the next one in the series.

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com

[Red Haircrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Jules Landau Detective Series, the narrative in “Maxwell Street Blues” flows along well for the most part, although my editor’s eyes, even had they been the average reader’s, couldn’t help but notice the editing errors throughout. Fragments can work when sporadically used, but used too frequently and it can become exasperating. Reasonably, however, I can understand it was perhaps the author’s intention to give the pattern of internal thought.

Just the same, it was easy to get into “Maxwell Street Blues” because the author immediately sets a distinct tone and mood. The main character, Jules, is a sympathetic and mostly believable centerpiece giving his first person and occasionally glib account of his investigation into the murder of his favorite uncle “Snooky”. Some of the secondary characters seemed caricatures such as the pretty yet slightly spooky gal pal of the dead uncle, the evil Internal Affairs officer or the secretly sleazy politician, yet that’s perhaps part of the attraction.

Pacing is good and the story is nothing if not methodical as it hits most of the points expected in a crime drama, though half way through, I was beginning to suspect Jules’ sanity as he did a lot of mouthing off and prying which would get a body buried with a quickness. It’s an interesting tale, with plenty turns of phrases reminiscent of classic detective stories, a few nice surprises and enough references to Jules feeding his cat raw internal animal organs or details of his own eating and drinking habits to keep you going to the end if only to see why the author kept mentioning them.

Marc Krulewitch takes us on a roundabout yet determined search for the truth in “Maxwell Street Blues”, with many names and scenes that come and go, yet the ending was not unexpected. Coming across rather like a television investigative drama, it’s definitely a worthy read for crime fiction fans.

For full review and author's bio, please visit Flying With Red Haircrow

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Maxwell Street Blues” was published in 2014 (August) and is the first of the “Jules Landau Mystery” series.

I obtained this novel for free through https://www.netgalley.com for review. This story is told first person by Private Investigator Jules Landau, and is set in contemporary Chicago, IL. Jules’ estranged, ex-con father Bernie comes to him to let him know that Jules’ long time friend Charles “Snooky” Snook has been murdered, and hires him to investigate. This is Jules’ first murder investigation, but he is motivated to take it on as Snooky was like a brother to him.

Falling back on eight years of experience as a PI, and many contacts with the criminal elements of Chicago that go back for generations in his family, Jules digs into the case. Along the way he runs into the police detective Jimmy Kdigero that had put his father in prison years before as well as an Internal Affairs Detective Voss that is trying to get something on Jimmy.

Snooky was well known to the criminal element of Chicago. He was an accountant and handled the money of many of those criminals, generally finding a way to “launder” it. Jules discovers that a few of Snooky’s clients were involved in some sort of kick-back operation associated with real-estate development on Maxwell Street.

jules finds that there are several people with wealth and or reputations at stake, and both of the cops he encountered are far from being sqeaky clean. He is threatened and assaulted more than once as he pursues the murderer.

The pace of the story is good, never leaving the reader bogged down. It is also well written and the plot was reasonable. That being said, I only give it a 3.5 out of 5. There were loose ends that were never addressed, and some of the characters were poorly developed.

I didn’t particularly like the main character Jules. He also seemed an inept PI for someone who had been in the business for over eight years. Some situations where he should have had more of an emotional response were simply shrugged off. I am unlikely to read any more novels in this series.

Other book reviews I have written can be found at http://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[Walt Bristow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Q. What do you get when ex-con Bernie Landau hires his PI-turned son, Jules, to find the killer who put two bullets into the head of Jules’ favorite “uncle” Snooky – who just happened to be a money-laundering CPA and confident of the underworld?

A. A highly entertaining, if not formulaic, old-time detective story with all the expected players: the PI who describes the police detective son of Greek immigrants as someone with “a chest like the front end of a Mack truck”, corrupt cops, an insufferable internal affairs investigator, crooked politicians, lovely owner of a tattoo parlor and the meth addict who seems to hang around. And, of course, there is Landau’s cat who feasts on the raw internal organs of various animals. We can’t forget the cat.

Filled with phrases that give this novel its distinct flavor, Krulewitch has put together an entertaining story that will keep all but the most jaded reader engaged to the very end. How can you not love “That was the Feds. They’d yank a Popsicle out of a kid’s mouth if they thought it was bought with dirty money”? Or how about “The moral to the story; sniffin’ around the wrong sandbox might get you buried”? Or maybe you’ll prefer “Since I knew the pretty boy collect pretty things, a few months ago I sent him a glass elephant as a warning. A reminder that I got a good memory.” Corny? Absolutely. But the language gives this book its distinctive flavor.

Some of the conversations are a tad unbelievable, perhaps even contrived. However, in a classic detective story, aren’t they supposed to be? This has it all. The twists and turns of a well thought out story. The murders. The bad guys. No good guys (unless you want to count Landau himself). Chicago – how can Chicago be anything but the land of crime and corruption? Landau exposes one dirty secret after another until, before you know it, all is revealed and the mystery is solved.

The beginning of a series? I’m sure looking forward to the next story.

Review based on the uncorrected proof provided by the publisher.

[Joe Hempel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicago. A place that can build your sense of wonder, and leave you feeling dirty all at the same time. For Private Investigator Jules Landau that’s an all too familiar feeling. From bail jumpers, scorned lovers looking for redemption, to pulling kittens out of trees, Jules is building your typical PI business until he gets a case that he just can’t say no to. From his ex-con father. His friend and bookkeeper Snooky has been murdered, and come hell or high water, Jules is going to get to the bottom of it.

Marc Krulewitch has done a fantastic job of building this version of Chicago as a place that is grimy and dirty. Where the criminals run the streets and the cops are all on the payroll. It’s the descriptions of his obviously well thought out city that almost make it a character of his own.

Marc is able to take your typical noir tropes and give them a modern spin with dire consequences. The story and the violence gets an upgrade from the noir you may be familiar with.

The book isn’t all gloom and doom though, the author plays with these noir tropes to create some pretty humorous moments in the novels dialogue.

What comes to mind the most is the relationship that is built between PI Jules Landau and his father, who is leading him along the way, almost grooming him to be the PI that he should be. The interactions between the two give you a taste of the dysfunction in the family and gives you a look into the root of why they are who they are.

The Bottom Line: While the book is good, and does turn some of the noir tropes on their head and gives them a modern update, it does follow the same formula. Mis-directions, tense confrontations, interspersed comedy and relatable characters. It’s not going to blow your socks off if you are a crime novel fan, but it will do its job at entertaining you and sets the next book in the series up quite nicely.

[Romancing the Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Marissa
Book provided by NetGalley for review
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so much more than I had first thought I would. The relationship between father and son was dysfunctional, which could be expected since the father was just released from prison. At times I was surprised they were even in the same room and talking. The fact that Jules took money from his father for a murder case says a lot about their relationship – or lack of one.

Jules was a very likable character, a laid back private detective who doesn’t stop digging to find out who murdered his best friend. I loved his tenacity. When someone told him something he knew was false, he dug further. He showed up unannounced and pushed his way through doors to see people who were afraid of what he would uncover. And he had a cat that he fed very well.

I wish we had gotten to know Snooky. By all accounts in the story, even though he laundered money through his accounting business, he did it honestly (if that’s possible). He stayed away from the dirty aspects of crime and stuck with what he knew – money and people. According to every character in the book, everyone liked Snook.

The area called Maxwell Street was interesting in that it was being redeveloped by the city. Like so many other redevelopments in blighted urban areas, the improvements were pushed through the city and bought by the developers and contractors. I was able to picture this area like so many others I’ve seen in large cities.

Maxwell Street Blues was a wonderful start to what is hopefully a new series. With quirky characters (Frownie, Audrey, and LA, among others) and what could be a blossoming romance, I look forward to reading more of Jules and his cat, Punim.

[Diane Coto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bernie Landau is now eighty after having spent the last sixteen years behind bars. His son, Jules was only a freshman in high school when Bernie was put away for racketeering. As a private eye, Jules spends his time doing background checks; surveillance; and skip traces. He’s about to get promoted. His dad is paying him to find who murdered their close family friend, Snooky, who was like an older brother to Jules.

Another close family friend, Sid (Frownie) Frownstein, also in his eighties, offers guidance to Jules because “…murder is a whole different game.” It’s summer in the Windy City and Jules sets out to the crime scene then to Snooky’s residence which had already been trashed. He knew what they were looking for and also knew they hadn’t found it.

Maxwell Street Blues is the ground floor of a new private eye series and it really pulled me in. I enjoyed the character of Jules (sometimes called Julie by his close family members). Part of TLC’s description said “Readers of Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole mysteries will love Jules Landau ….” I have not yet started the Elvis Cole series, but Jule’s snarky remarks reminded me a bit of Harlan Coben’s character, Myron Bolitar. Even though they use technological advances in the story, the P.I. work is primarily good old-fashioned snooping; interviewing; and coming to credible conclusions. Windy City Blues, to be published January 2015, will be the second in this series and I anxiously await its release. I rated Maxwell Street Blues at 4.5 out of 5.

http://www.fictionzeal.com/review-giv...

[Margaret Wilkening · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t too sure that I would like Maxwell Street Blues when it opened with Jules Landau walking into his apartment to find his dad—who has just been released from a twenty year prison term. The first few pages were filled with his family’s questionable past of bootlegging and organized crime. But I pushed through the first chapter or so and found a pretty good private eye mystery.

The publishers tout this new book by Marc Krulewitch as comparable to Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole mysteries. While the series has a way to go to match the pacing or the moral and emotional pull of Crais’s books, Chicago’s graft and insider politics are ripe for a new private eye. Landau is a relatively new investigator. The victim of his first murder case is a family friend, Snooky, who cooks the books for local mobsters. But Snooky was so good at his job, no one wanted him dead. As Landau begins investigating Snooky’s death, he encounters some interesting characters. An unpredictable girl who runs a tattoo parlor, mobsters, crack heads, and a university president bring Landau through the layers of Chicago society without falling into clichés.

One segment of the book did seem out of place, though. Landau needs to gather some information in Los Angles, but his trip there seems out of place with the rest of the book. I would have rather have had Krulewitch use a different route to get the info and kept the story in Chicago. He lost the rhythm of the narrative.

I like the Chicago setting and Landau shows promise. I’ll look forward to reading the next installment in Krulewitch’s series.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I lived in the Chicago suburbs for over 30 years, so I found the setting of this book a bonus for me. Jules Landau, private investigator, has a long family history with the city. Unfortunately for Jules, it wasn’t a good one. His family has a history of crime and mob activity. So when Jules decides to become a private investigator, his father (just released from prison) along with everyone else, finds his decision difficult to understand.

A friend of his family has been murdered and Jules is tasked with his first murder investigation. Snooky was a very close friend of Jules and his father. But Snooky was a CPA and the bookkeeper for many high placed criminals.

“Maxwell Street Blue” is a crime/murder mystery filled with dirty cops, meth addicts, political and business crooks. This is pretty much what you would expect to find in any large city if you dig deep enough. The plot is very believable.

I found the book to be good but it just wasn’t enough to get me truly excited or rate it as a page turner. The characters were not developed enough and the story seems cumbersome and hard to follow at times. I would recommend the book to those readers who truly love crime novels or just stories with Chicago as the background.

I was provided a free copy of this book for review from Random House Publishing Group - Alibi and Net Gallery. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review.

[Donna Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxwell Street Blues is an entertaining first of a series by Marc Krulewitch. Set primarily in present-day Chicago, it has a noir flavor that takes the reader back about 60 years, despite the presence of meth as a key storyline component. Picture it all in black and white, the fog, the halo of the street light, the only thing missing are the fedora and the trench coat. We even have a mystery woman; no, make it two. And pay attention or you will lose track of which is which.

A brief change of setting, from Chicago to Los Angeles and suddenly the noir feeling evaporates and all is neon. Back to Chicago again; black and white, shadows and light.

The ghost of organized crime has come to call. Were it contemporary organized crime, it would be scurrilous, but it is from long ago in protagonist Landrau's past. This struck a note for me; I have family mobsters two generations back. It's rendered innocuous by the distance of time.

I very much enjoyed this read, which came to me free courtesy of Net Galley. There were a couple of moments that verged on the trite, and unfortunately they showed themselves in the climax. But as for me, I will cheerfully continue to read the rest of the series as it appears and becomes available. This is only the beginning, and it's a very good one.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jules Landau is a rather quirky character. For decades his family "ran" the Maxwell Street area of Chicago. Nothing happened for good or bad that did not involve them. The book opens with Jules' father returning from a prison stint to inform Jules that his best friend, Snooky, was found murdered. What makes this murder so shocking to everyone is Snooky, while he skated on the edges of crime and corruption was considered a good guy, a CPA who laundered money but still managed to stay above the fray.
Jules has decided to plot a different career path than his family and he is a private investigator, close enough the his roots for his love-hate relationship with his geneology. His father hires him to solve the murder which is what he does for the remainder of the book.
The cast is peopled with characters that defy easy definition and frequently the bad guys turn into good guys and vice versa. Everyone is out for their own self interest but it is a complicated mishmash that Jules uncovers where sharks feed on other sharks and extended families are a quagmire of disfunction. Yet the characters are still human and relatable. Jules is a great leading man and I would read more of his exploits quite happily.
It is a good mystery, lots of twists and turns and a satisfying ending. If you like noirish stories, you will enjoy this one.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maxwell Street Blues by Marc Krulewith tells the story of a Chicago Private Investigator name Jules Landau. Jules is the son of a convicted racketeer, who was the son of another such. Generations of Landaus have been involved in the seedier side of Chicago politics and crime, but Jules has decided that he is not going to follow the family tradition and apprentices himself to a PI referred to as Frownie and by the time of this book Jules is an independent PI. Shorty after his father is released from prison; he visits his son and hires Jules to look into the death of a family friend called Snooky. Snooky was an accountant with those special skills that endear him to those with cash from unmentionable sources. Snooky had also been partially raised by Jules’s father and tended to refer to Jules as an unwanted (but much loved) little brother. Snooky had been found dead with two bullets in his head and the police are brushing his murder off as a mob-related hit. Jules wants the true and goes through some difficulties in getting it. Crooked police, politicians, university personnel appear throughout the book, leaving the reader to wonder if there are any honest members of those professions in the city. It’s a quick run read with some very interesting plot twists. It also reads well on the second go through.

[Kristin (Kritters Ramblings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

A completely fantastic who dun it, set in the perfectly murderous town of Chicago and the private investigator on the job has deep connections to the victim, suspects and all of it. Jules Landau's family has a not so fantasticly positive history in Chicago and he is not following in his family's footsteps, instead he is somewhat on the other side of the law as a private investigator until he finds out that someone very close to him has been murdered and his dad charges him to find out who did it.

I loved how the author pieced together all the crazy things that end up in the news in Chicago all in one book - crooked politicians, mafia ish families, crazy drugs and so on. All are wrapped up in this one murder mystery and it just worked. I was rooting for Landau from the beginning to find out who killed his friend and of course I was way off base, but was still satisfied with the outcome. I don't know that I would have picked up all the clues even if I had been reading it with a fine tooth comb.

[Jennifer Clausen-greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the “Blues” ad Jules Landau series and it really delivers. Before I realized that this was a series I had already finished the book and was slightly peeved that there was no more, but luckily my daughter pointed out I just have to wait for the next one.

This book really had everything you are looking for when you go and grab a mystery title. Corrupt governments and police men, a excellent plot that twists and turns till the end, death, murder (several in fact), drugs, sting operations, love, drama, set in Chicago etc. Wrote in story telling mode from the perspective of Jules, PI, this was a page turner of a book. I really enjoyed reading about all the different family relationships and how they intersected throughout this story.


I cannot wait to read the other books in this series.

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy of this book from Random House via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maxwell Street Blues was a very enjoyable read. I have to say, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book at first, but before I knew it, I was halfway through. I was sucked in that fast. I had a fun time following Jules on his path to find out why his mentor, Snooky, was killed. I thought the mystery was very well planned out and the number of suspects was just enough to had me doubting my guesses along the way.

I loved the main character Jules. He is really trying to make something different out of his life than following family tradition of a life of crime. He kind of took me by surprise because he is a vegetarian, doesn't drink, loves his cat and has a pretty good sense of humor. I was expecting someone more dark, so it was a really nice change! The book is also filled with other interesting characters to make the book a great start to a series. I highly recommend this one and look forward to reading more with Jules Landau in it.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I've read a good murder mystery and this one fill the bill nicely.

The first book in the Blues series, it didn't take long to get me involved in this story.

Some interesting characters right off the bat made for a great start that had me

finishing this book in no time flat. Jules is a likeable character who is just trying

to shed the unfavorable reputation of his family's shady past. The author did a

commendable job of portraying the underworld in a vivid way, with authentic

descriptions of corruptions and lawlessness in Chicago.

As with any good murder mystery there are twists and turns here that kept me entertained.

It's not a huge book, coming in around 235 pages, that will appeal to mystery fans and

those that like to read about Chicago.

[Don Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really fun, old time mystery, that is what we have here. A guy dies, a P.I. tries to find out what happened, that is the jist of what goes on here. But the characters are a treat. From Jules Landau's dad to the guy who was killed to all the other players we have an eclectic crew. Good cops, bad cops, good sister, bad sister, it all gets crazy, especially at the end but it sure is fun getting there. A simple story written in a really easy to read manner I look forward to another on if Jules comes back to us.

[Harvee Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard-boiled detective/PI novel of the old school style. A new PI tries to find out who killed his father's old friend and in doing so, he uncovers corruption in all the usual places - in politics, on the streets, and even among the university elite whose reputations should have been clean.

If you like hardboiled crime fiction and the mean streets of Chicago, this is a book to pick up. Not extraordinary in any sense, the author does however seems to be following in the footsteps of the classic writers of the genre and is a writer to keep an eye on.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was asked to review this book on NetGalley.
This is first time I had read a novel by Marc Krulewitch.
Maxwell Street Blues is a good old fashioned mystery.
Right away from page 1, the adventure begins.
The book is a fast read and kept me interested with the plot and characters. I enjoyed the setting of the book in Chicago and was familiar with many of the locales. Who would have thought such a tough PI was a vegan!
I will definitely read more novels by Marc Krulewitch.

[Jay Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you want in a Thriller set in Chicago: crooked cops, crooked politicians, weird sex, old grudges, dysfunctional families, meth heads, murders, and a few hippies from LA just for measure. I found it hard to put the book down as information is slowly revealed and new characters kept crawling in. This is great fiction in a very real setting. There are no good guys, just amazing shades of grey. It is a good read and well worth the price.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A private investigator is hired by his father to investigate the death of a family friend. The story takes place in Chicago. The investigators family was involved in organized crime in previous generations. The investigation uncovers illegal activities involving the police, elected officials and a college chancellor.