Dave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass onto the son. But what has his mother’s legacy left him? Dead to him since youth, Mae Guillory has been shuttered away in the deep recesses of Dave’s mind. He’s lived with the fact that he would never really know what happened to the woman who left him to the devices of his whiskey-driven father. But … But deep down, he still feels the loss of his mother and knows the infinite series of disappointments in her life could not have come to a good end.
While helping out an old friend, Dave is stunned when a pimp looks at him sideways and asks him if he is Mae Guillory’s boy, the whore a bunch of cops murdered 30 years ago. The pimp goes on to insinuate that the cops who dumped her body in the bayou were on the take and continue to thrive in the New Orleans area.
Dave’s search for his mother’s killers leads him to the darker places in his past and solving this case teaches him what it means to be his mother’s son. Purple Cane Road has the dimensions of a classic-passion, murder, and nearly heartbreaking poignancy-wrapped in a wonderfully executed plot that surprises from start to finish.
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If William Faulkner was still alive he’d be reading James Lee Burke.
A page turner, well written, believable characters…I recommend reading this novel.
I like everything written by James Lee Burke
An other great Dave Robicheaux tale from the bayou country of Southern La. Burke paints better “word pictures” than any author I read.
Burke is a master wordsmith. This is not one of his best, but it’s good.
Burke writes the very best descriptive narrative. You can almost feel the heat and moisture of the deep South, particularly the area around New Orleans. No one does this better, plus the mysteries are always well plotted and keep the readers’ interest very easily,.
A story both entertaining and profound is Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke. Not your ordinary mystery at all. No cliches here. What elevates it is the recognition of the human condition, and the fatal flaws that live in us all. Poetic and original, it points from the specific to the universal, as all great literature does. You are left with a …
I try to read all of Mr. Burke
The author weaves words into tapestry. Thoroughly enjoyed
I have always enjoyed James Lee Burke. He draws you unto the story with his descriptions & characters.
One of the few authors that make you want to reread paragraphs just to feel the words again
This author was recommended to me so when this one came up on my deal list I snapped it up. Oh Wow. Can this guy write! this was the 15th book in the series but I will now start on book one to read everything he writes. Highly recommended.
Cannot go wrong with Jimmy Lee Burke!
I think I am in love with Dave Robicheaux
I enjoy James Lee Burke but found this one rather grisly. I did finish it however.
Too many characters with too many strange names. I could not finish.
Good, authentic local color.
Not up to the other Dave Robicheaux books I’ve read & enjoyed.
Loved it, as I do all of his books
James Lee Burke is a total favorite of mine