Part of Dave Robicheaux, book 3
First published 1990
Dave Robicheaux operates a fishing tackle business in Louisiana, trying to forget his days as a New Orleans police officer. The memories of his murdered wife and deceased father follow him into this quieter life. When an old friend arrives unexpectedly, Robicheaux gets pulled back into the criminal underworld he worked so hard to escape. Federal agents and Mafia enforcers soon complicate his world. The case takes him from the familiar Louisiana bayou country to the unfamiliar terrain of Montana's tribal territories. Robicheaux battles multiple threats: a murder charge hanging over him, a contract killer on his trail, his ongoing struggle with alcohol, and the psychological wounds that never fully healed. Burke creates a detective who carries the complexity and moral ambiguity that made Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe memorable, but places him in the distinctive landscape and culture of Cajun Louisiana.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, redemption, second-chance
Setting: Louisiana, Montana, New Orleans
Period: 20th-century
366 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Avon
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse, violence