Читать книгу A Connecticut Yankee in Criminal Court: The Mark Twain Mysteries #2 - Peter J. Heck - Страница 7

Mark Twain never, to my knowledge, solved a murder mystery. As with Death on the Mississippi, the previous volume of this series, this novel assumes that Mark Twain went on a lecture tour in the mid-1890s, hoping to recoup his lost fortune, and ended up solving a murder case. Although my novel is based on historical research into Mark Twain’s character and times, and it makes an honest attempt to portray them as accurately as possible, it is of course a work of fiction. None of the events portrayed here actually happened.

A few characters other than Mark Twain are modeled on historical figures. George Washington Cable remains one of the most important writers to have come out of New Orleans. Buddy Bolden was the legendary founder of jazz, whose career was cut short by mental illness before the music became popular outside the Crescent City. Eulalie Echo was one of the many “hoodoo women” who followed in the footsteps of Marie Laveau, and she was the godmother of Jelly Roll Morton. Tom Anderson was the “Mayor of Storyville,” although the New Orleans vice district had not acquired that name at the time this story takes place. Charley Galloway was a band leader and guitarist who gave Bolden some of his early jobs, and Judge J. J. Fogarty has been immortalized in one line of Morton’s recording of “Buddy Bolden’s Blues.” I have treated all these characters, as well as the mysterious Widow Paris, as best suited my fictional needs, although I have done what I could to make them plausible within the context of my story. Any historical or factual errors are strictly my own responsibility.

Anyone who has visited New Orleans will recognize many of the places mentioned. However, many of my settings, such as the old Parish Prison (located in today’s Louis Armstrong Park), no longer exist. The Henry Clay monument has been moved from the center of Canal Street to Lafayette Square. A number of street names have been changed, especially in the upper Garden District where Buddy Bolden and Eulalie Echo lived. I hope that my portrayal of old New Orleans at one of the most colorful moments in its history does justice to this wonderful city, one of my favorite places to visit. Despite Mr. Clemens’s baiting of George Cable, it really is almost impossible to eat a bad meal there.

My special thanks to my agent, Martha Millard; to my editor, Laura Anne Gilman; and to all the great New Orleans musicians whose music and spirit have filled my life with joy for many years.