-> '''Join the force,' the posters say. 'Help keep the streets safe for our citizens'. A proud line of work indeed. They never tell you about the other parts, and they're probably in the right on that.''
--> -- '''Chet''', narrating the opening lines of the series.

''[[ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle Below Board: A Tale of Police and Politics in 1930s New Orleans]]'' is a {{Podcast}} AudioPlay being made by [[Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom AH.com]] members Ares96 and Iserlohn. Set in the same universe as [[Literature/StoryOfAParty The Story of a Party]], it's set up as a fairly standard PoliceProcedural, following two Burglary detectives investigating a string of thefts in 1930s UsefulNotes/NewOrleans.

At present the story is moonlighting as WebOriginalFiction, as the creators are unable to record it themselves. The first episode can be found on [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=297341 AH.com]] (members only) or on [[http://thearesproject.deviantart.com/art/Below-Board-ep-1-The-Big-Heist-414588388 deviantArt]]. Episode two is only on [[http://thearesproject.deviantart.com/art/Below-Board-ep-2-The-Big-Shine-441042763 dA]].

!!Tropes:

* AlternateHistory: But of course. To summarise, there was a harsher Great Depression, leading to a left-wing movement called National Socialism (no, not ThoseWackyNazis) taking power and an early Civil Rights movement. This is in a lull by the time the show opens, leaving race relations rather frosty.
* AlwaysMurder: Zig-zagged. The main characters are investigating burglaries, but someone inevitably ends up dead before the episode is over.
* BuddyCopShow: The main characters are Detectives Chet Holloway, an up-and-comer from [[DownOnTheFarm the Upper Midwest]], and Jules Martin, an [[{{Main/Pun}} agin' Cajun]] who serves as his [[{{Main/Mentors}} mentor]].
* CallARabbitASmeerp: Being an AlternateHistory work, it's prone to this. For instance, cars are referred to throughout as "autos".
* DaChief: Captain Aldridge serves this role for the most part, since the actual Superintendent (New Orleanian name for the police chief) has not yet appeared.
%%* FlashedBadgeHijack: Chet kind of pulls this on ''a train'' in the second episode.
* LastNameBasis: This being the police, everyone except Chet goes by this.
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: Subverted with James' mother in the second episode. She knows he was a small-time crook, [[spoiler:just not that he'd get involved in something that big.]]
%%* OldCopYoungCop: Detectives Martin and Holloway, respectively.
* RaginCajun: Detective Martin averts this, and while Cajun, is usually quite calm and collected. He can't abide by racism, though.
%%* RedOniBlueOni: Chet's the red, Martin's blue.
* ShoutOut: The episode titles to {{Radio/Dragnet}}, whose episode titles all started with ''The Big...'' as well.
* TheBigEasy: An alternate version of it, but the Big Easy nonetheless, provides the main setting for the series.