Purple Cane Road

Dave Robicheaux #11

by James Lee Burke

The Barnes & Noble Review
August 2000

Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the old adage that the sins of the father are the sins of the son. But what of his mother's legacy? The specter of Robicheaux's mother, Mae Guillory — dead since his youth — is hidden deep in the recesses of his mind. When a notorious pimp refers to her as the whore some cops on the take murdered and then dumped in the bayou 30 years ago, the detective is not only shocked but determined to arrive at the truth. His heated search for his mother's killers leads him to the most soiled places in his own past — teaching him what it means to be his mother's son. Read more about James Lee Burke's most suspenseful novel yet in this Barnes & Noble.com review.

The Return of Dave Robicheaux

The past, always a significant element in James Lee Burke's fiction, is particularly present in Purple Cane Road, the 11th entry in the remarkable — and remarkably consistent — Dave Robicheaux series. This time out, Burke places Robicheaux — his troubled, violence-prone Cajun detective — at the center of two very different homicide investigations, each of which is rooted in the events of a traumatic past. One concerns the controversial murder of Vachel Carmouche, former executioner for the state of Louisiana. The other concerns an older — and much more personal — event: the 1967 murder of the former May Guillory, Dave Robicheaux's mother.

The novel begins just weeks beforethescheduled execution of Letty Labiche, a young mulatto woman convicted of the murder — and sexual mutilation — of Vachel Carmouche, known throughout the state as "the electrician." Convinced that Letty and her twin sister, Passion, had been systematically abused by Carmouche, Robicheaux embarks on an independent investigation, searching for anything that might contribute to Letty's defense. Along the way, he meets and interrogates a New Orleans pimp named Zipper Clum, who blindsides Robicheaux with his casual, unexpected remarks regarding May Guillory's murder.

According to Zipper Clum, May — who walked out on her alcoholic husband while Dave was very young — was a part-time card dealer and part-time prostitute who accidentally witnessed a gangland-style murder and was murdered in turn by an unidentified pair of New Orleans policemen. Shortly after his interview with Robicheaux, Zipper is himself murdered, shot to death before he can offer any further clues. Convinced that the story is at least partially true, Robicheaux sets out on an obsessive search for the answer to a 30-year-old mystery.

From that point forward, Purple Cane Road follows Robicheaux's progress as he sifts through the detritus of his mother's life and death, following a trail of corruption that leads backward in time from the political machinations of the present day to the mob-dominated world of 1960s New Orleans. His investigation proceeds with typical single-mindedness and brings him into contact with a vividly described gallery of Louisiana lowlifes. Included among them are Cora Gable, a faded, alcoholic former movie star; Jim Gable, a corrupt ex-cop who keeps the severed head of a Vietcong soldier in a jar in his office; Connie Deshotel, a powerful political figure with a questionable past; and Johnny Remeta, a young hit man with a genius-level IQ, a history of emotional disorders, and a troublesome attraction to Robicheaux's adopted daughter, Alafair.

Robicheaux's search for his mother's killers alternates with his search for the full truth behind Vachel Carmouche's murder. The result is a crowded, rather shapeless narrative that is occasionally difficult to follow but is still vital, moving, and beautifully composed. Sentence for sentence, James Lee Burke is arguably the finest stylist in contemporary crime fiction. No one writing today can match the sheer descriptive power of his prose. No one else evokes the beauty and squalor of the physical world with anything like his passion, clarity, and precision. In Burke's hands, the Louisiana landscape becomes a palpable presence, the perfect backdrop for his highly charged dramas of love, death, and redemption.

But the real heart of Purple Cane Road is, as always, Dave Robicheaux. From his first appearance (in 1987's The Neon Rain), it was clear that Robicheaux was a unique creation, a wonderfully complex character whose best qualities — courage, decency, a limitless capacity for love and loyalty — are constantly at war with his darker, more self-destructive side, which manifests itself in his recurring sense of spiritual emptiness and in his propensity for violence and alcoholic excess. Robicheaux's struggles with his own inner demons are as real and compelling as his external struggles with the ...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Detective, Suspense

561 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2000

About the author

James Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for Black Cherry Blues in 1990 and Cimarron Rose in 1998.

Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.

Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.

The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, that's why I stopped reading Burke.

1. Clete does unrestrained violence
2. Dave has trouble with a lover/wife that they don't talk about and leads to stupid estrangement
3. Dave had trouble with his adopted child, Alfair that they don't talk about.
4. Dave does unrestrained violence

This is only book 11 in the series, so I wonder when he lost the ability to make narrative transitions. I think I felt like I was reading a violent, extra-gritty Faulkner before, but this entire book is cut scenes without any type of transitional words, phrasing, or events, frequently within the same chapter. Am I reading an outline? It does feel thinner than his other books. I thought Black Cherry Blues was one of the most gorgeous mysteries I've ever read. This has its moments, but I'm largely uninterested.

In the scope of the series, this is one where the Lonely Detective Deals With His Family Demons.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I think about this book, the words "too much" come to mind. Too much plot. Too much description of people and places. Too much disconnect between the story and the emotions. And way too much gratuitous violence.

Here's an example of an overdone description of minor characters ...

>> In the shade his skin had the bloodless discoloration that an albino’s might if he bathed in blue ink. He wore steel picks on the fingers of his right hand and the sawed-off, machine-buffed neck of a glass bottle on the index finger of his left. He slid the bottle neck up and down the strings of the guitar and sang, “I’m going where the water tastes like cherry wine, ’cause the Georgia water tastes like turpentine.” A mulatto or Indian woman who was shaped like a duck, with Hottentot buttocks and elephantine legs, was hanging wash in back. She turned and looked at me with the flat stare of a frying pan, then spit in the weeds and walked heavily to the privy and went inside and closed the door behind her by fitting a hand through a hole in a board. <<

Yet there is some great writing as well. Two examples ...

<< Then Belmont discovered the carnival world of Louisiana politics, in the way a mental patient might wander into a theme park for the insane and realize that life held more promise than he had ever dreamed. <<

<< “Everybody’s got at least one night in his life that he wants to carry on a shovel to a deep hole in a woods and bury under a ton of dirt.” <<

Bottom line is that I don't like Robicheaux very much, and don't find him very compelling as a character. Put that together with a plot with more violence than good detecting, with surprises that lead to "so what" rather than "wow," and the best I can give this is 2**.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know Dave Robicheaux is having a bad day when Clete Purcell asks Dave "Tell me, Streak, if I quit the juice and start going to meetings, can I enjoy the kind of serenity you do?".

Fans of Dave Robicheaux know that he is a complex character and that he has had his share of problems in life. His father died when he was young, his mother had abandoned him and his father, he is a Vietnam veteran who has bouts of PTSD, and he is a recovering alcoholic. In past novels we knew little about his mother other than that she ran away with another man. In this outing another layer of the onion is peeled away and we learn more about his mother and what happened to her.

Dave and his friend; former partner; and now private investigator, Clete Purcel are looking for Zipper Clum, a pimp who may have information that could spare the life of death-row inmate, Letty Labiche. When they find him, Zipper makes some startling statements. "Robicheaux, your mama's name was Mae.... Wait, it was Guillory before she married. That was the name she went by ... Mae Guillory. But she was your mama. She dealt cards and still hooked a little bit. Behind a club in Lafourche Parish. This was maybe 1966 or '67. They held her down in a mud puddle. They drowned her". Zipper's claim hits Dave in the gut. Haunted by her desertion and her death more than thirty-five years ago he will go to any length to bring her killers to justice. But just how far will he go? Will he cross the line?

As usual James Lee Burke brings a colorful cast of characters into the story. There is the governor, Belmont Pugh, a piano-playing; hard drinking; womanizer, and Johnny Remeta a hit man who starts getting close to Dave's daughter Alafair. Alafair is growing up and is now a teenager and sometimes rebellious. Old friends are back, including Clete Purcell who more often than not is like a train wreck. Dave's serenity and sobriety are put to the test in this story. A rebellious teenager, a friend whose life often appears to be out of control, a New Orleans Police Department's liaison with city hall, Jim Gable, with apparent connections to both Letty Labiche and Mae Guillory and who also happens to be an ex-lover of Dave's wife, Bootsie, and the claims that his mother was a prostitute and murdered. Dave will have to remember to take it one day at a time and to turn it over to his Higher Power.

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can James Lee Burke get any better? I have no idea to that question.

In this series, number 11, Dave Robicheaux wraps up some loose ends. Those loose ends have been woven throughout the series which I've been reading in order for a few years.

Funny to me is when I've read other books in a series (counted 15 different series I'm reading) I always feel like I've "come home" when I begin reading Burke.

In my first review of the Dave Robicheaux series, I was totally ignorant of the fact that Burke is known for his lyrical writing of Louisiana, Cajun country, where Dave is home based. As time went on, I found out that I wasn't the only one who admired that in his writing. Knowledge of his lyrical writing was in fact well known. (I'm a late bloomer, obviously, of Burke's writing.)

Purple Cane Road was published in 2000 and there are 20 books thus far in the series, the last one, Light of the World published just this past July.

Now I'm one book more than half way through. If I didn't have so many series on my plate, I could zip though the remaining nine books and be finished with the series. However, I'm one of those readers who enjoys savoring what is in the future, the books I haven't read.

So, no, I'm not zipping through them but am looking forward to the next Dave Robicheaux and wondering how Burke is going to handle the growing up of Alf and his relationship with Bootsie which is now in a good place.

Thinking back on book one in the series, The Neon Rain, I recall the first argument fight Dave got into at a motel, kicking some serious ass. And I also remember the reason. I would have kicked some ass myself if I had been in the same place. Dave had a good reason is what I'm saying. But then I thought to myself, OMG, this guy is awesome! Since that time Dave has aged right along with us and now uses his head asking questions, rather than his fists. When I can recall the first introduction to a character, now years ago, to me it means the character is one of be remembered. That's Dave Robicheaux.

Finding this wonderful series has brought me so many hours of pleasure, and I look forward to seeing Dave age with the rest of us.

[Sarah Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Lee Burke is an amazing writer. Which is why this book gets 4 stars. He is such a good writer than even his sub par books are 4 star compared to most writer’s 2 star books.
I have to say that the plots have become sort of the same in the last few books. So if you are looking at this review to see if you should keep reading this series ~ here is what I have to say:
We often read books about the same characters because we really like the characters AND there is a comfort in reading about the same place and even similar circumstances. I would keep reading these but I think I would space them out a bit. Wait until you are feeling nostalgic about Dave and Clete.

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

ooooohh, I really liked this one.

Then I saw the consuming nature of her fear, her willingness to believe that exploitative charlatans could change her fate or really cared what happened to her, the dread and angst that congealed like a cold vapor around her heart when she awoke each morning, one day closer to the injection table at Angola.

Plot One: The execution date for Letty Labiche is fast approaching. On Death Row for murdering the man who raped her and her sister when they were children, Dave and Clete's sympathies in the matter lean toward "justice wasn't served." As they start working to avert her date with the needle, Clete becomes involved with Letty's twin, creating complications for everybody.

Plot Two: The investigation into Letty's crime puts Dave and Clete on the trail of a pimp named Zipper Clum. While putting the squeeze on Zipper, he claims he has information on the decades-old murder of Dave's mother. The body of Mae Guillory was discovered face down in a mud puddle on Purple Cane Road back in 1967, and after so many years without answers, nothing could have baited Dave more. But somebody wants the past to stay there, and a young hitman named Johnny Remeta makes every lead dry up permanently... while romancing his way into Dave's teenaged daughter's life.

Okay, confession: I liked Johnny Remeta. I found him sympathetic and not beyond redemption, even though he made it clear from the outset that he isn't long for this world. What I love about James Lee Burke (I know - I say this in every Robicheaux review) is that he creates multilayered, very gray characters, both good guys and bad guys. It's rare to come across a truly evil character (although there have been one or two), and Johnny Remeta's terrifically twisted psychopathy, stemming from a devastating childhood, made me hope things would turn out for him - even while I shuddered on behalf of Alafair Robicheaux.

About the ending... while it wasn't a complete surprise that Letty and Passion switched places during Letty's last family visit before her execution, it's almost stunning to imagine the fortitude it would take to follow through on that decision.

The only detraction (distraction?) was that I had to listen to a copy of Purple Cane Road without the incomparable Mark Hammer narrating. Nothing against the accentless Nick Sullivan, but Hammer *is* the voice of Dave Robicheaux, with his aged, smooth-but-raspy, evenkeeled delivery. His inflections also help bring a widely diverse cast of characters perfectly to life.

Such a satisfying book, cover to cover. Onto the next, Jolie Blon's Bounce.

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me just start off by saying the writing is sublime. Someone can have issues with the violence, the characters with varying degree of ethical bankruptcy (I don't with either) but it is difficult to find better prose in crime fiction. It is as vivid as an oil-painting and as moving as an orchestra. The dialogue complements the writing at every point. The narrative is grim and devoid of smiles but the dialogue compensates with wit. Most of the characters are illiterate lowlifes whose words might lack sophistication but it is never short of wisdom.

Robicheaux finds out that his mother who deserted him was killed by a bunch of corrupt cops as she was a material witness against them. I felt the plot line was in works for some time because Robicheaux's attitude had become ambivalent about his mother in the last couple of books rather than the outright antagonism that he displayed towards her at the start of the series. The last book Sunset Limited, was actually named after a memory of his mother. There is a secondary plot about a black woman being on the death row for killing a man who had it coming. It ends more poignantly than the main story.

Robicheaux himself is more interesting than he has ever been since In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, he is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. The suggestion that his mother was a prostitute had melted away the maturity and the restraint of the past few books. He is in a conflict between cynicism and compassion, a race between retribution and redemption. Violence beckons him like a siren but he has the cautionary tale of Purcell beside him to see where those impulses lead to. Purcell who has been a wrecking ball in the past few books with absurd impunity is also brought crashing down here.

Purple Cane Road continues the series' tradition of excellent villains. Police administrator Jim Gable is insidious and serpentine. Robicheaux hates him as he both hides information about his mother's death and has a past with his wife. Gable is the kind of man who looks into another's eye, tells him about how much he respects him, grabs both his hands in a vigorous handshake so that his accomplice can stab the other guy in the back and then comes out of it smelling of roses. There is also a hitman who mistakes himself as a vigilante and develops a fixation on Robicheaux's daughter.

My main problem with the story was how neatly the case of Robicheaux's mother's killers was closed. The late twist dealing with one of the perpetrators was shocking and entirely logical but from a character standpoint it lets Robicheaux off the hook from the confrontation that was being built throughout the narrative. Some subplots like Purcell being in love with one of the main players is repeated from previous books but it wasn't an issue for me.

A very well written book that is even bleak by Robicheaux standards is equally emotional and thrilling. The convenient ending stops it from being perfect but the consistency after 11 books begs the question whether this is the best crime series of all. In my opinion it had crossed LA Quartet but just lags behind Marlowe. Rating - 4/5.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman who murdered her sexual abuser is sitting on Louisiana's death row. Dave Robicheaux tries to help her cause and at the same time track down his mother's killers. Throw in a killer who fixates on Dave's daughter and you have a suspenseful read.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burke, one of my favorite writers, has an extraordinary gift for the use of similes. He can evoke the atmosphere and scenery that sets him way above other writers in the mystery genre. Despite the brutality, violence and corruption, the story intrigues, and Burke continues to develop the character of Dave Robichaeux, ex- New Orleans cop and now homicide detective for the New Iberia Sheriff’s department. The integration of the past and its influence on the present is a recurring theme in Burke's books. Dave is trying to help Letty Labiche, a woman on death row for having murdered the man who had repeatedly molested her and her sister. That he was a cop meant the girls had little sympathy from the department. During his search for exculpatory evidence, Dave stumbles across Zipper Clum, a New Orleans lowlife who provides Dave with information that provideshim with leads related to the death of Dave's mother many years before. Dave, whose memories of his mother, Mae, are bittersweet, becomes obsessed with finding her murderers, cops in the pay of a local crime family, as it turns out. The investigation becomes messy, as the Labiche case becomes intertwined with his search for his mother's killers. Jim Gable, the political liaison in the governor's office with the New Orleans police department whom Dave has reason to dislike more than most, becomes implicated as does the attorney general, a woman Dave learns had connections with Labiche's parents. In the meantime, a hit man, Johnny Remeta, has taken a liking to Alifair, Dave's daughter. Johnny, too, is involved in the whole sordid mess that resolves into a climax revealing the truth of Mae's murder. Similes can often be overdone, in fact, a recent book I finished by Stuart Woods, Choke, eschewed them completely. Burke indulges in them quite successfully, and they bring a vividness to the ambiance that is quite startling; the scent of musty leaves, a fetid swamp and dank bar cascade the reader's senses. His latest book, White Dove in the Morning, which I purchased and am reading as an e-book, takes place during the Civil War; historical fiction is not his usual milieu, but this is excellent.

[samantha vogel-Hespos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A cop/detective is looking for the reason why his mother was killed , and who did it so they can be brought to justice. You will read about several “dirty” cops in the book who have no remorse on being a bad cop. They take pleasure in murdering others and making it look like an accident. The book was suspenseful. You will read about dirty politicians who also have murderous ways. I enjoyed this book because it introduced a lot of topics. Discrimination, police, politics, man vs man, man vs enemy. I will definitely be reading more of this authors books. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

[Yigal Zur · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love reading his thrillers. i think he is one of the most talented one. as a wroter i enjoy following his work

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

When this book first came out in 2001, I bought a copy through a book club. I never read it. I remember trying to, and I remember dragging it around through several moves to different states, but I just couldn't get it to it. A few months ago, I picked up Swan Peak at a library book sale for a buck and thought I would try Burke again. I very much liked Swan Peak (a four star review), so I bought my second copy of Purple Cane Road. This time, I enjoyed it, and finished it within a few days. To me, Purple Cane Road seems to be darker than Swan Peak (which seemed a bit light as both regular lead characters were vacationing in the mountains, natch). Now, I do like dark fiction/thrillers, so after Purple Cane Road I bought a copy of Burke's Crusader's Cross (five star review!) which I think is fantastic. Now, oddly enough, I'm a huge James Lee Burke fan! I've purchased "Burning Angel" and "Jolie Blon's Bounce" and they are sitting on my bookshelf now. I know I'm going to read everything Burke has written, and since I'm a voracious reader, I'm going to have to parcel these out. (Like I do with Agatha Christie, my very favorite writer, as I've read 50+ of her books, and have another 20 or so on my bookshelf, waiting to be read! So now my favorite authors are Anne Rice, James Lee Burke, Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, Wilbur Smith, and Bartle Bull. But I've discovered recently Micheal Gregorio and Louis Bayard, so lots of books to read!)

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[John Stonehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to spend a little time in another place, another world, few writers can take you there like James Lee Burke. But probably his greatest asset is his lyrical, poetic language. This book, set in southern Louisiana simply drips with atmosphere. It's dark, moody and complicated, like all JLB's books. The story that drives the narrative is perhaps good, rather than great. But what sets him apart from other crime writers is the humanity in his deeply flawed characters. There are no happy endings. Nothing ever works out just fine. The good guys sometimes seem not much better than the bad guys. But the fact that they keep trying seems somehow more uplifting than any number of more straightforward thrillers.

[Jerry Peace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt something off about this book. The writing is sharp, but not quite as. The characters are somewhat stock and hardly interesting. The violence reigns, since Robicheaux and Purcell prowl at their angriest. The biggest joke in the novel-Robicheaux saying "You just walk away. It's easy, I thought. You don't ptovokr, you don't engage. You keep it simple and your adversaries never have power over you." Yeah, right, Dave.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Late to the party, but now slowly yet surely working my way through the Robicheaux saga....

(Overall, my back-of-the-napkin higher mathematics suggests this was my 16th JLB, so I'm obviously somewhat committed at this point...)

Very much in character or true to form.

I enjoyed this one, the pages turned (very quickly), and I stayed up later than I planned to finish it. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the last time I read a Dave Robichaux book I swore I would never read another one. But this one must've been on sale or my memory must've failed me. My issue with Dave is simple: wall-to-wall violence.

This whole book is about Dave's search for the identity of the killers of his mother. And his intention to extract revenge. Not to ruin the story for you but he is successful. He has a wife who questions his often resorting to violence. He has a teenage daughter Who is stocked by one of the many killers in the book. He has a buddy a serious drinking buddy Who is even substantially more violent than he is.

Dave Robichaux does think about his violence and does think about his drinking. But there is no indication that things will be any different in the next book in this series. One surprising event is that the current sheriff Dave's boss comments that he hopes Dave will succeed him when he soon retires as the sheriff. The sheriff is motivated to say this when Dave tells him he had the bad guy in his rifle site but couldn't kill him. This Sterling quality seemed to win over the sheriff to think that Dave had the qualities to be a leading law enforcement officer.

Plenty of action. Questionable morality. Never move to Louisiana!

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me there is not a lot to be said for this story. Lots of double dealing, crooked cops and politicians. And a black woman on death row having killed a man who abused her and her sister and had been caught grooming another young girl. Meanwhile Dave Robicheaux is looking for the cops that murdered his mother.

Far too much gratuitous violence and the characters have become a little army without regulation and both Dave and Cletus Purcell should be in prison.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Burke! There is such fluidity to his writing. There is a sadness and poetry in the way he describes everything in Louisiana, through the eyes of Robicheaux, yet it's his home and it's where his love lives, and you get the sense that no other place in the world would have these people, they are that depraved and unique.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great, yet tragic story, from the brilliant James Lee Burke. The novel features certain characters, simultaneously both grotesque and sophisticated. It reverberates with violence and injustice. The narration is filled with beautiful and vivid imagery of the Louisiana landscape, and solemn metaphors, ‘like a stone falling down a dry well’. All at once, it’s embellished with a back story as told from a characters perspective, brutal and irreconcilable stories, often horrifying. Mostly, the plot of the book is centered around the main character trying to establish the innocence in the case of a death-row inmate, involving an urgent search for redemption and justice, in the short and long term, that is not an easy one. Accompanying this detective, there are recurring characters also, with ongoing stories of their own, predictably enriching of the story arc as they live their daily lives. During the course of reading a novel in this series, or as a result; you should be a) left with sense of having being hollowed out b) in a state of discomfort for a few days, or at least borderline bewildered.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purple Cane Road

Oh wow.........this is the best book ever. Out of all the books in the Dave Robicheaux series this is my favorite one yet. James Lee Burke is an absolute genius and the best writer that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Amazing!

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books in the series with Dave's past, once again, being the main driver of the plot.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

To read a David Robicheaux novel by James Lee Burke is to dive into a swamp pit of evil and violence. And Purple Cane Road is certainly no exception. Letty Labiche -- one of two identical twins -- is on death row in Louisiana for murdering a sexual abuser who also happened to be the state's former executioner. At the same time, Dave discovers from a pimp that his murdered mother was a prostitute who had been murdered by two cops.

We also make the acquaintance of psycho killer Johnny Remeta (aka O'Roarke) who is fixated on Dave and, most disturbingly, his daughter Alafair. The rot extends high up in the state government with the governor and attorney general, as well as a key figure in the New Orleans Police Department.

There are several murders and at least one suicide in Purple Cane Road. What works most in these novels is the ability of Dave and his friend Cletus Purcel to confront evil head on rather than spiral in slowly from a distance.

Another excellent novel by Burke.

[Luca Lesi · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'età mi ha portato pochi vantaggi, ma uno di essi è un certo grado di umiltà, sufficiente quantomeno a non sentirmi più costretto a fare l'inventario di me stesso e a cedere quel terribile fardello a un Potere Superiore.

Un altro bel libro di James Lee Burke, scritto nel 2000 e undicesimo della serie di Dave Robicheaux.
Un indagine sull'omicidio di Carmouche , boia di New Orleans e violentatore di due ragazzine, un indagine per scagionare Letty, una delle ragazzine, un indagine su due polizziotti corroti, un indagine dalla quale spunta il nome di Mae, madre di Dave.
Mia madre era praticamente analfabeta e probabilmente non era sicura di quale fosse il contenuto di gran parte degli articoli che aveva conservato. Né era stata in grado di fare annotazioni sull'album per spiegare ciò che quegli articoli significavano per lei. Ma io sapevo chi era lei. L'aveva detto ai suoi assassini prima di morire. Il suo nome era Mae Robicheaux. E io ero suo figlio.

Hemingway ha detto che rincorrere il passato è un brutto modo di vivere la propria vita.
Qui il passato diventa presente e bene e male si confondono, splendido il personaggio dello psicopatico Remeta, splendide come sempre le ambientazioni e quella capacità di rendere il clima che attraversa il bayout parte di noi che leggiamo.
Il radioregistratore stava suonando Sing, Sing, Sing di Louie Prima ,un bevitore sente molte eco, quando torna a casa. Come un sasso che cade in un pozzo asciutto ma molto tempo fa ho imparato che a meno che il tuo biglietto non sia stato timbrato nell'Orto di Getsemani, non dovresti giudicare coloro che hanno la ventura di visitarlo.
Eppure tutti abbiamo almeno una sera della nostra vita che vorremmo seppellire sotto una tonnellata di terra in mezzo a un bosco. E poi, tanto per essere sicuri, dar fuoco al bosco.
Ma non la perdita, la perdita va trattata come la morte. Affligge tutti, e non bisogna permetterle di dominare la tua esistenza.
Un altro romanzo da leggere.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purple Cane road was written in 2000 and was then called James Burke's finest novel. I loved it It's a very good book certainly in his top three, wait I've only read four.
This story begins with a look into the past at Dave before he began the twelve step program. New Iberia resident, Vachael Caramouche did the states work and was referred too as the electrician never as the executioner. In those days the chair traveled from temporary housing at Angola. Visiting parish prisons with the chair on a Semitruck complete with its own generators. Vachael was good at his work.

Vachael took care of orphan twin girls Letty and Pashion Labaiche. Letty later murders him and is sentenced to die. Whores, pimps, murder, attempted murder, crooked cops, hired killers,thee mob, and an execution this book has it all.

This book presents Louisiana at it's darkest with Dave as a source of light.

[Susie Hulstine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a powerhouse of a novel and what an amazing writer. I've just started reading Js Lee Burke books and am so impressed by his writing style. Wish I'd found him sooner! This book is heartbreaking, inspiring, devastating, yet interwoven with a gold thread of hope. He describes the south Louisiana setting where you can see the moss hanging off the cypresses in the swamps and smell the salt water from the ocean. His style reminds me of Hemingway - simple and beautiful. But Burke always has a feeling of hope, even in the face of deep evil. There's also a sense that the heavy hand of justice is waiting to pound down on the bad guys' heads. This novel was masterfully done and no one can finish the last page without a tear.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot, and I think Burke is a brilliant storyteller. I also feel that his novels are a bit billowy; in a good way, but still. They're expansive, sweeping, always stopping to smell the flowers or watch a pair of calico kittens playing in the bushes before someone punches someone or someone gets shot at by a psycho sniper. His books are full of good lawmen (and women) behaving badly and crooked cops behaving even worse. These are as much character studies and social documents as crime novels, if not more so. I just find his style ever so slightly over-dilatory at times, although that does not blunt the emotional resonance of this story, which is frankly quite devastating on that level.

[Thelma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the writing style of James Lee Burke. He can really paint a picture with words and he has a way of turning a phrase that is simple yet stylish. Another novel in his Dave "Streak" Robicheaux series, this book just left me drained. Dave continually makes bad choices, at the cost of his family and friends, and even just reading about it wrings me out. Burke paints a beautiful picture -- unfortunately it's a picture of Paradise Lost. I'm not sure I'll want to read another Robicheax novel until I've read a few somethings lighter to cleanse my mental palate.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

A convoluted story concerning Dave Robicheaux's (An Iberia
Parish Sheriff's detective) efforts to save a condemned worman
from execution and to find his mother's murderers. Burke's
descriptive prose is tiring and the story is needlessly violent. Also
Robicheaux does some incredibly stupid things.

[Andrew Mcdonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

If it weren't for the brutal murderers, pedophiles and bloody crimes, it would be easy to read this as comedy or parody. All the robicheaux series are ridiculously overwritten and overwrought to a degree that is startling. I'm willing to give it 2 more stars if it is in fact comedy.