Part of Dave Robicheaux, book 22
First published 2019
Detective Dave Robicheaux discovers a young woman's body that has been crucified, wearing nothing but an ankle chain. The victim vanished close to the Cypremort Point property owned by Desmond Cormier, a filmmaker who rose from New Orleans street kid to Golden Globe and Academy Award nominee. Robicheaux remembers meeting Cormier twenty-five years earlier when the undersized boy dreamed of directing movies. Now Robicheaux and deputy Sean McClain question Cormier and his mysterious actor friend Antoine Butterworth, but both men stay silent. Clete Purcel witnesses escaped Texas prisoner Hugo Tillinger breaking free, and this fugitive may unlock the case. As the investigation deepens, Robicheaux faces threats from organized crime, the unstable Chester Wimple, and personal demons from his past. His daughter Alafair and partner Clete support him, but Robicheaux must find an inner strength he has never accessed before to protect himself and his loved ones from the converging dangers.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, family-secrets, personal-demons
Setting: Cypremort Point, New Orleans
Period: 1990s
451 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: violence