Starred review from May 17, 2010
MWA Grand Master Burke offers everything his readers expect—brilliant prose, prosaic situations that suddenly become mystic experiences, and a complex plot that repeatedly plumbs the depths of human depravity and the heights of nobility—in his superlative 18th novel featuring Iberia, La., deputy sheriff Dave Robicheaux (after Swan Peak). Robicheaux finds himself dealing with adopted daughter Alafair's attraction to novelist Kermit Abelard of the degenerate Abelard clan (who echo Faulkner's Snopses), as well as trying to avenge the sadistic murders of two young women, aided by best friend Clete Purcel. Evil comes in many forms, from the psychotic interloper Vidor Perkins to Robert Weingart, a convict turned author, whom Kermit has championed. The sights, smells, and sounds of the Louisiana bayous become sensory experiences in Burke's novels, and death is a constant presence that threatens to overwhelm his angels with "tarnished wings."
Starred review from June 15, 2010
It takes an incredible writer to keep fresh an 18th novel featuring a character that refuses to change, but Burke does so with what may be one of the best in his Robicheaux series. Dave is trying only to serve his duty as a New Iberia, LA, deputy, but as usual his conscience and need to see justice through draw him into trouble. Investigating a series of murders involving young female victims, he discovers a link that involves a former criminal-turned-best-selling author, as well as a local socialite who is involved romantically with Dave's daughter. Dave's best friend and longtime partner, Clete Purcel, provides a helping hand, along with some always-welcome color. As with most of the Robicheaux titles, the story is one of good vs. evil, with little mystery beyond the motivation of individuals. Burke also continues to set the gold standard when it comes to setting, making his readers feel like they're in New Iberia with Dave and Clete.
VerdictAnother beautifully crafted effort by a multi-Edgar Award winner, this is an outstanding addition to one of America's best mystery series. Burke fans will not be disappointed. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ"3/1/10.].—Craig Shufelt, Fort McMurray P.L., Alta.
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from July 1, 2010
A gruesome series of murders drags Dave Robicheaux, of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Department, out of his jurisdiction and onto the track of another harrowing cluster of high crimes and misdemeanors.
The officers in Jeff Davis Parish say all seven victims of a faceless killer were prostitutes. But convict Elmore Latiolais insists that his sister Bernadette, an honors student headed for a nursing scholarship, didn't fit that pattern. A casual remark by Herman Stanga, the pimp Elmore says tried to kill him, that he's connected to the charitable St. Jude Project puts Dave (Swan Peak, 2008, etc.) on a collision course with his daughter Alafair's boyfriend Kermit Abelard, his wealthy, dysfunctional family and his latest prot�g�, convict-turned-author Robert Weingart. As the bodies pile up, Dave and his old buddy Clete Purcel dig ever deeper into the Abelard family's tangled roots. They link Kermit's grandfather Timothy to Vidor Perkins, who spent time up the river with Weingart, and self-made investment tycoon Layton Blanchet, who's hired Clete to get the goods on his cheating wife Carolyn. All these discoveries bring Dave up against every law-enforcement officer in Louisiana, and they don't do much for his relationship with his daughter either. If the resulting blend of high finance and gutter sexuality is never very mysterious, it conveys an overwhelming sense of miasmal evil.
Burke, whose sonorous cadences and obsession with the past have often recalled Faulkner, has never resembled the sage of Yoknapatawpha more closely than in this magnificent attempt to get it all down between one cap and one period.
(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
Starred review from May 15, 2010
Following his sojourn to Montana in Swan Peak (2008), Dave Robicheaux is back in New Iberia, Louisiana, hoping to enjoy the company of his adopted daughter, Alafair, who is taking a semester off from law school to finish a novel. Not nearly as suspicious of Louisianas blood-stained aristocracy as Dave, Alafair has become involved, romantically and otherwise, with Kermit Abelard, a writer who is also the son of one of the regions most notorious robber barons. Kermit, along with his friend, an ex-con turned best-selling memoirist, volunteers to help Alafair find a publisher for her book, much to Daves chagrin. Father-daughter conflict ensues, and as Daves investigation of a series of murders veers ever closer to the Abelards, it appears that, yet again, the closets of Louisianas rich are knee-deep in skeletons. That plot summary sounds very much like a lot of Robicheaux novels, but this time Burke adds a new twist: both Dave and running-buddy Clete Purcell are hearing intimations of mortality around every fog-enveloped corner of the bayou, putting both them and us on high alert. Burke gives us a bravura ending in which the violence that has always hovered around Daves life comes home to roost, possibly with far-reaching implications for the series. The first half of this book is standard Robicheaux, almost formulaic (a winning formula but a formula all the same), but in the last half, Burke kicks into another gear: superb suspense leading to a gripping, set-piece finale that is a masterpiece of texture and mood, with the high-energy climax in the foreground both contrasted against and supported by the intensely lyrical, heavily melancholic prose that swells and recedes underneath the action. Not to be missed by any follower of the landmark series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)