James Lee Burke has been an author worth following for over 50 years.   He was written over 40 books and has won many awards and received many accolades.    His best known series are the Dave Robicheaux crime stories.   I have read a few over the years, but I can never remember the plots of the stories and I will explain why in this review.

Why We Read James Lee Burke

We do not read his books for the clever plots, or for a thriller-style story, nor for a tightly crafted  mystery  puzzle.     The plots tend to be incidental to the story, winding, episodic, complex, and sometimes convoluted.

On the other hand his characters are deeply flawed, scarred, and distinctly nuanced.   We want to follow Dave, Clete, and any other characters he brings in for scrutiny, like Bela Delahoussie, Smiley, and Desmond Cormier in The New Iberia Blues.

We read his books to be immersed in the world of the bayou, the Cajun culture, and the people of the Deep South in Louisiana.    We read his books for the lyricism of his sentences, the many deep meditations and reflections, the frequent emotional surges, the interplay of loss, redemption and the tenuous mortality we share, and of the struggles we to make the right choices.   Burke binds all of these together with rich metaphoric language and lyricism that transcends the genre.

We read James Lee Burke for an immersive experience, each reading a new journey to a strange, yet familiar place. 4.6 out of 5.0 stars4.6