A review by emckeon1002
Robicheaux by James Lee Burke

5.0

For me, the annual James Lee Burke novel is an event. Burke writes beautifully about his tormented heroes. Here, again, it's Dave Robicheaux who seems as ageless as the author himself. Burke's Louisiana is a string of mismatched Mardi Gras beads where the misplaced honor of the Confederacy mixes with the stain of racial hate, criminals and lawmen with pathological tendencies, twisted anti-heroes who place honor above law, and are not far from being misguided vigilantes. There are no high-tech criminal investigations here, just shoe leather and tough talk. Robicheaux himself is an admirable, proud and vain lawman, whose law is his own. Burke brings depth to Robicheaux's alcoholism, the joys and struggles of Cajun and Creole culture, the struggle of young novelists, and the lure of Hollywood and the mafia. What will we do when Burke and Robicheaux are gone?