... good man suspect's axe stroke (5)
I believe the answer is:
strum
'axe stroke' is the definition.
(stroke of a guitar - informally called an 'axe')
'good man suspect's' is the wordplay.
'good man' becomes 'st'.
'suspect' becomes 'rum' (I've seen this in other clues).
'st'+'rum'='STRUM'
(Other definitions for strum that I've seen before include "Play stringed instrument with sweep of hand" , "Play a stringed instrument (badly)" , "Pluck the strings idly" , "Sweepingly sound guitar strings" , "Casually play (on a stringed instrument)" .)