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ctgt 's review for:
Black Cherry Blues
by James Lee Burke
One day at a time, easy does it, I told myself. Don't live in tomorrow's problems. Tomorrow has no more existence than yesterday, but you can always control now. We live in a series of nows. Think about now.
I have a couple of PI/detective series that I stay with and this series has been added to that list. I become easily bored with series' that rely solely on the case and much prefer a character study surrounded by a peripheral mystery. It's only the third entry but the writing has been great and Burke does a fantastic job of straddling the line between the character and the case. While Robicheaux isn't a PI, he once again is pulled into a case by a friend and after his adopted daughter is threatened he jumps in full force. The story moves between his hometown in Louisiana and some shady land deals in Montana.
His old partner Cletus shows up to add gas to flame, you remember Cletus right? Good cop gone bad, went crooked slow but sure, until he took ten grand to kill a possible government informer then split with all the money from the bank account he shared with his wife.
If you run into Lois, tell her I'm sorry for ripping her off. I left my toothbrush in the bathroom. I want her to have it.
And the whole time Dave is dealing with the heartbreak from the end of the previous book with Burke using a series of dreams/nightmares/hallucinations to work him over.
Good story, great character, great writing.
I'll end with this. Dave is thinking back on a favorite memory from his younger days.
I'll never forget that summer, though. It's the cathedral I sometimes visit when everything else fails, when the heart seems poisoned, the earth stricken, and dead leaves blow across the soul's windows like bits of dried parchment.
I have a couple of PI/detective series that I stay with and this series has been added to that list. I become easily bored with series' that rely solely on the case and much prefer a character study surrounded by a peripheral mystery. It's only the third entry but the writing has been great and Burke does a fantastic job of straddling the line between the character and the case. While Robicheaux isn't a PI, he once again is pulled into a case by a friend and after his adopted daughter is threatened he jumps in full force. The story moves between his hometown in Louisiana and some shady land deals in Montana.
His old partner Cletus shows up to add gas to flame, you remember Cletus right? Good cop gone bad, went crooked slow but sure, until he took ten grand to kill a possible government informer then split with all the money from the bank account he shared with his wife.
If you run into Lois, tell her I'm sorry for ripping her off. I left my toothbrush in the bathroom. I want her to have it.
And the whole time Dave is dealing with the heartbreak from the end of the previous book with Burke using a series of dreams/nightmares/hallucinations to work him over.
Good story, great character, great writing.
I'll end with this. Dave is thinking back on a favorite memory from his younger days.
I'll never forget that summer, though. It's the cathedral I sometimes visit when everything else fails, when the heart seems poisoned, the earth stricken, and dead leaves blow across the soul's windows like bits of dried parchment.