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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I know you murdered my mother. I know the words she spoke just before you and your partner killed her.", 2 April 2009
This agonized accusation reveals some of the previously unknown trauma in the life of Dave Robicheaux, detective with the New Iberia Police Department, outside New Orleans. Robicheaux is a Vietnam War veteran with the emotional scars to prove it, an alcoholic who has finally beaten his addiction, and a fierce believer in justice, even if achieving justice means taking shortcuts. Dave's mother was murdered when he was a young boy, after she ran off and fell upon hard times in New Orleans. Some people report that she lived as a prostitute, but Dave has only good memories. He believes that she was murdered by two cops in the pay of the Giacano crime family, an issue which brings his present life into the picture, since his wife Bootsie is the widow of Ralph Giacano.
In one of his most emotional and personally affecting novels, James Lee Burke traces Robicheaux's search for information about his mother, her killers, and the reasons for her death. He is also, however, dealing with several other issues, some of which begin to overlap with the past. He is sympathetic to the case of Letty Labiche, a young woman on death row for killing a man who subjected her to constant molestation from the age of twelve, and Robicheaux blames himself, to some degree, for suspecting the molestation and ignoring it. As the days tick down toward Letty's execution, Robicheaux is hoping to find something that exculpates her. That search leads him, ironically, to discover information about his mother.
As usual, Robicheaux is dealing with crooked politicians and law officers, problems which have not changed since his mother's death more than thirty years before, with some of the same people involved in both her death and in recent crimes. When Johnny Remeta, an attractive hit man, begins to ingratiate himself with Robicheaux's sixteen-year-old daughter Alafair, who is attracted to what she sees as his charm and sensitivity, Robicheaux goes ballistic, determined to protect Alafair and to determine who is paying Remeta.
Although there is a great deal of violence in this episode in Robicheaux's life, both by others and by Robicheaux himself, Robicheaux manages (barely) to hang on to his sobriety and to avoid criminal charges for his violence. As the various plot lines converge and lead to a blockbuster conclusion, many aspects of Robicheaux's life come together, and many long-time predators meet their ends. More emotionally satisfying than some other Robicheaux novels because the violence is less gratuitous, Purple Cane Road combines issues from Dave's past with issues from his present, and suggests issues with which Robicheaux will have to deal for the rest of his life. A fine mystery executed with Burke's customary panache. n Mary Whipple
The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
Black Cherry Blues
In Electric Mist With Confederate Dead: "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead", "Cadillac Jukebox", "Sunset Limited"
Last Car to Elysian Fields: A Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Better Entries in the Series, 18 Jul 2004
In PURPLE CANE ROAD Dave Robicheaux is essentially working on two separate cases. He is trying to get enough evidence to stop Letty Labiche's scheduled execution in Angola Penitentiary and at the same time Dave is also hunting for the killers many years ago of his mother, Mae Guillory. The story moves fast with plenty of action and enough colorful characters to keep it interesting. The latter include the usual Burke types such as prostitutes, pimps, a populist politician, corrupt police and just plain hardened criminals. Robicheaux's long-time friend and associate Clete Purcell defies description. We have to look long and hard to find any normal people in this book.The best part of the story focuses on Robicheaux's search for the killers of his mother. It is here that Burke gives us another glimpse of Robicheaux's complex nature and we learn still more about his troubled past.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the best, 18 Nov 2001
By A Customer
There isn't sufficient time and space to say why James Lee Burke is one of the finest writers in any genre currently active. Suffice to say its partly about his almost poetic use of metaphor, partly about an almost spookily accurate take on the human condition, and partly about that sprinkle of fairy dust which would be worth vast sums of money if you could duplicate and sell it.
For those who love the series, this is at least as good as anything else there. I would say ignore those who get too pedantic about detail and pick holes in character and plot - taken at face value, this is a superb piece of work. Enjoy.
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