I read this book last summer. I enjoy James Lee Burke's writing. On the other hand, he spends too many words opening each chapter with poetic descriptions of the air, the trees, the wildlife, the smell of the surf moving inland. It just goes on and on, which drags down the momentum of his novels. The stories are good, though, and he is an excellent writer. His David Robicheaux character is fun, engaging, earthy and gutsy, and he makes for a good detective in a mystery/crime novel. I just wish he'd pull back on the poetic stuff. It's well done, but it's also repetitive. I thoroughly enjoyed the story behind Black Cherry Blues, but found myself rapidly skimming through the chapter intro stuff. I've read the first three Robicheaux novels, and I'm waiting on the fourth to land in the library. In the meantime, I'm getting a good fix on Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels and Ian Rankin's Detective John Rebus.

Though I don't usually go for deep South detective stories, I saw this on a list of best mystery novels & tried it. It was very, very good. Also poetic in an earthy way. The street talk is pretty exotic, so dialogue reads almost like a foreign language & takes a while to sink in.

Boring, boring - pages filled with descriptions. The plot was weak and so were the characters. I completed the book ...finally. Should have dropped it by page 50.