Purple Cane Road

In James Lee Burke's Purple Cane Road, the 11th installment in the Dave Robicheaux serial mystery series, this dark mystery will leave you chilled from start to finish. For Dave Robicheaux, all his life he wondered about what happened to his mother when she mysteriously died years ago. When a pimp had came to him and asked him if he was Mae Guillory's boy, he revealed a bombshell to Dave on what he knew about her strange death. And that had brought him back to the past when he revisited memories on Purple Cane Road where he lived there as a young boy. Now, while he searched for the truth for his mother's killer, he had dealt with the upcoming execution of Letty Labouche, someone who had killed a lawyer in cold blood, and how he attempted to get her off the hook to no avail. He also dealt with a former con stalking his daughter, crooked cops and politicians, and his partner's running into his fair share of trouble with the law. It was now up to Dave to set things right and pick up those stray pieces in his life to get some closure and justice with a shocking ending.

This was a real good mystery that's dark as noir fiction can be. I did care for Dave and how he dealt with a lot of things going at once for him. I did feel for Alafair for trying to get along for him and dealing with Johnny who's nothing about scum. I think Clete needs to clean up his act a tiny bit.  I loved the central New Orleans locations for the storyline and to the vivid settings that liven up the scenery. This would make you want to shake your head and whistle a few times with non-stop action, drama, suspense and a bucket load of mystery.

Will you go back to Purple Cane Road?

The Neon Rain

If you love a dark kind of a detective story, you'll love the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke. In the Neon Rain, the first Dave Robicheaux book in the series, we were introduced to Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Orleans. It all started with a murder of an African-American teen that lead him to deal with all sorts of nefarious types of people--the mob, a gang of snarly men, a ruthless U.S. Treasury Man, and his partner, Cletus, who turned bad and corrupted. Along the way, he tried to the truth and the connections between the events that led to it, while his life and his brother ended up in trouble. There was also a love interest for Dave, when he tied up loose ends and decided to hit the road his own way. Lots of nitty gritty intrigue and drama in this dark noir tale.

This was a good introduction to the series to showcase the darker side of New Orleans. While reading this mystery, we do get to develop real genuine feelings for Dave who carried about her brother, got in trouble with the law at work, and had a drinking problems. We also get to now his backstory as well with a failed marriage to boot. I didn't like it, when his former partner Cletus went bad, or had the US Treasury covered up a crime. This was an intense mystery and also dark as it gets as well.

Ready to go dark and deep? Give this book a try, this weekend!

White Doves at Morning

If you enjoy good historical fiction, you'll enjoy this story, set in the Civil War in Louisiana. In White Doves at Morning, Willie Burke helped a mulatto slave named Flower Jamison learn to read.  He also gotten into trouble and then joined the war with his friends, Robert Perry and Jim S. During the four years of the war, each character told their story. Flower's battled with her white father and being taunted, Abigail Dowling, an abolitionist, who helped free slaves and the KKK, Willie's years in the war, amongst other characters in their POVs. There was a lot of drama and a hint of romance here, while the war went on and after it ended. This was a good one who can't miss for an enjoyable read.

This was a beautiful historical fiction with a tough of historical romance. It dealt with the war and a group of friends who fought during the war as well. The circle of life and death revolved in this storyline, when it focused on slavery and war injuries. This held me on the first page and kept me going until the end. Plenty of tears were shed, when I read it.

Ready to relive the war? Give his awesome novel a shot, this weekend!