JAMES Lee Burke (the father of Alafair) has set 16 novels in and around New Orleans, following the career of Detective Dave Robicheaux.
This latest in paperback takes as its backdrop Hurricane Katrina.
Robicheaux and his police colleagues from New Iberia are drafted into the city to help with rescue and relief. The disaster has in many cases pitted poor black against affluent white and two black looters are shot dead in a rich neighbourhood.
The case is complicated because the home of a gangster nearby has been burgled and special items stolen.
A complex thriller that also explains about the politics that caused the Katrina disaster and tells of the real horrors that followed.
Burke at his brilliant best.
