It fits right in with his first novel, Crossroad Blues, actually, in 2008, this short was included as bonus material, in a 10th anniversary edition of Crossroad Blues.
In it we see Nick unravel the unfortunate death of a beloved sax man after discovering that the saxophone is missing from his room.
Look up book report #42 to see my review of CB. Since first reading it I discovered the HBO series Treme and learned to love New Orleans. I got a wonderful sense of place from this short story and really enjoyed it. I got the sense that Atkins was ready to tell a fully fleshed out story when he wrote this one.
A very nice addition to the cannon. I wish I knew more authors who wrote novels AND short stories with their characters. Sometimes it's nice to get a small bite from a bigger world.
