Every time a new James Lee Burke novel gets released; it seems I end up playing hooky for a couple of days. This time was no exception. Burke’s words melt off the page like the Louisiana landscape he so aptly describes.
In this 18th book in the series, Dave is back with his best-friend Cletus, who are investigating the deaths of several teenage girls. Alafair, Dave's adopted daughter, has hooked-up with a rich and powerful heir who is helping her publish her first novel while she is attending law school.
Alafair is unaware that her new boyfriend has also hooked-up with a slimy ex-con author, who might or might not be responsible for the all the girls' deaths.
The back-stories for Burke's main characters are all colorful and important; however, one of the enduring things about this book series is that every story is independent and a reader does not have to follow them in any chronological order.
It took a while for this book to be published. It appears that Burke is slowing down as a writer, but there is no indications that he will ever suffer from any James-Patterson-type-disease where he is compelled to co-author and publish several books per month.