Crossroad Blues
February 2000

Nick Travers, an ex-New Orleans Saint turned blues historian at Tulane University, heads deep into the heart of the blues—the Mississippi Delta.

In August 1938 outside a Greenwood, Mississippi juke joint, the most celebrated figure in blues history, Robert Johnson, was murdered. Some say he was he was poisoned by a jealous woman shortly after selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. Sixty years later, a college professor following rumors of nine unknown Johnson recordings goes missing in the Delta. Travers is sent to find him.

Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a 17-year-old hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.

From the neon-slicked streets of New Orleans to pine wood floors of modern Mississippi, join Travers as he unravels the greatest mystery in all of blues lore.

 
Critical Praise

“In Atkins’ hands, the characters are as substantial as a down home breakfast of biscuits and ham with red-eye gravy.”—Entertainment Weekly

“When (Atkins) old guys open up, you can really hear the music everybody talks about so reverently.”—The New York Times

"Atkins' research into blues history adds depth and context to the always entertaining story, which whizzes by like an old, familiar song heard on the car radio late at night." —The Chicago Tribune