In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead

Hunting a sadistic killer who targets young prostitutes, Detective Dave Robicheaux has no mind to be sidetracked into persuading ex-schoolmate mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni to leave town. And it turns out that Balboni is the money behind a Civil War movie that's bringing in good business.

But then the film crew stumble on a skeleton out in the bayou, and the links between a thirty-year-old lynching, a Civil War general, and the serial killer lead Dave into treacherous waters, with only a handful of expected allies to help him protect his own.

“The gentle giant of US crime writers, Burke always ensures that his Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux grapples with hot topics as much as with his own inner demons.”

James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed. Michael Connelly
A gorgeous prose stylist. Stephen King
Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced. Daily Mail
i newspaper
There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society. Independent
The king of Southern noir Daily Mirror
His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly. Sunday Telegraph
One of the finest American writers. Guardian
When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers. Daily Express

James Lee Burke is the author of numerous previous novels, including twelve featuring Detective Dave Robicheaux. He lives with his wife, Pearl, in Missoula, Montana and New Iberia, Louisiana.

Hunting a sadistic killer who targets young prostitutes, Detective Dave Robicheaux has no mind to be sidetracked into persuading ex-schoolmate mobster Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni to leave town. And it turns out that Balboni is the money behind a Civil War movie that's bringing in good business.But then the film crew stumble on a skeleton out in the bayou, and the links between a thirty-year-old lynching, a Civil War general, and the serial killer lead Dave into treacherous waters, with only a handful of expected allies to help him protect his own.

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