Order of Book Series
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Ray Celestin Books in Order

Ray Celestin has written 5 books, published between 2014 and 2023. The first book is The Axeman's Jazz / The Axeman (2014) and the newest is Palace of Shadows (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
5
Published
2014–2023
Pages on record
1,554 in 3 of 5 books
Reading time
26–39 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,554 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 3 of 5 titles with a page count on record.

See all 5 books in order Printable Ray Celestin checklist

Ray Celestin writes historical crime. The City Blues Quartet runs from The Axeman's Jazz (2014), also published as The Axeman, through Dead Man's Blues (2016) and The Mobster's Lament (2019) to Sunset Swing (2022), with New Orleans and Chicago among the settings named and serial murder investigation the recurring case. Palace of Shadows (2023) stands outside the quartet. Five books are catalogued in all, at a median of 498 pages, and nothing has followed since 2023.

How many Ray Celestin books are there?

Ray Celestin has 5 books, released between 2014 and 2023. 4 of them belong to the City Blues Quartet series.

Ray Celestin Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 5 Ray Celestin books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Axeman's Jazz / The Axeman by Ray Celestin, book 1 of the City Blues Quartet (2014)
  2. Cover of Dead Man's Blues by Ray Celestin, book 2 of the City Blues Quartet (2016)
  3. Cover of The Mobster's Lament by Ray Celestin, book 3 of the City Blues Quartet (2019)
  1. 1
    The Axeman's Jazz / The AxemanCity Blues Quartet #12014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Dead Man's BluesCity Blues Quartet #22016 · 498 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016498
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Mobster's LamentCity Blues Quartet #32019 · 496 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Sunset SwingCity Blues Quartet #42022 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2022560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Palace of Shadows2023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Ray Celestin books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

City Blues Quartet in order

4 books
  1. 1. The Axeman's Jazz / The Axeman
  2. 2. Dead Man's Blues
  3. 3. The Mobster's Lament
  4. 4. Sunset Swing

Standalone books

1 book

1 Ray Celestin title here is not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Ray Celestin books in order?

You only need to read Ray Celestin books in order within the City Blues Quartet series, which holds 4 of the 5 Ray Celestin books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Ray Celestin

Start with The Axeman's Jazz / The Axeman (2014), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Ray Celestin book?

Palace of Shadows (2023) is the newest Ray Celestin book released so far.

Is there a new Ray Celestin book coming?

No next Ray Celestin book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Ray Celestin at a glance

Paused
No new Ray Celestin title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Ray Celestin books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
1,554 pages across the 3 of 5 books with a recorded length, a median of 498 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Ray Celestin books, 3 of 5, were published in the 2010s.

What the Ray Celestin books are about

4 of the 5 Ray Celestin books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective, historical is tagged on 2 of 4. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.