With Valerie Benoit, a detective new to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Department who is grappling with sexist and racist harassment from their colleagues, and the volatile but fiercely loyal Clete Purcel, Dave embarks on an investigation that brings him into the most dangerous moments of his career and threatens the lives of Valerie and his daughter Alafair.

He encounters a local handyman who leaves cryptic notes and warns of the ghosts who roam the shores of the bayou and is targeted by a vicious New Orleans button man and gangsters from the north.

Through brilliant prose and a quintessential cast of characters, James Lee Burke weaves a portrait of a gritty, violent Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century.

Visceral, atmospheric, and wholly original, The Hadacol Boogie brings to life Dave Robicheaux’s fierce determination to confront evil both past and present.

****
PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:

‘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

‘No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists’ Daily Mail

‘The greatest crime writer currently at work’ Spectator

‘The reigning champ of nostalgia noir’ New York Times

‘Masterly’ Sunday Telegraph

****

At the turbulent beginning of the twentieth century, fourteen-year-old Bessie Holland longs for a love that she has never known.

But as the vast Texas countryside is destroyed by oil companies and stalked by a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie lives on constant alert to protect her home and family. Her only escape is with her suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight against the forces of evil and poverty.

When Bessie accidentally kills a man to defend her father, she flees to New York, into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will one day be gangsters – but, as children, admire Bessie’s remarkable bravery.

Returning to his beloved Holland series, James Lee Burke portrays a world of both radiance and violence – and a young girl who takes on overwhelming forces.

****

PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:

‘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

‘No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists’ Daily Mail

‘The greatest crime writer currently at work’ Spectator

‘The reigning champ of nostalgia noir’ New York Times

‘Masterly’ Sunday Telegraph

In the latest Robicheaux novel, Clete Purcel – veteran, private investigator, and former New Orleans cop – takes centre stage for the first time.

****

Clete Purcel – private investigator, ex-member of the New Orleans Police Department, and war veteran with a hard shell and just a few soft spots – is Dave Robicheaux’s longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has a troubled past.

When Clete leaves his car at the local car wash, only to return to find it ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug trade from Mexican cartels to Louisiana, it feels personal – his grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose, and his fists curl when he thinks of the dealers who sold it.

Just as Clete starts to trail the culprits, Clara Bow hires Clete as a detective to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a string of brutal deaths all link back to a heavily tattooed man who seems to lurk around every corner. Clete is experiencing shockingly lifelike hallucinations and questioning Clara’s ulterior motives when he and Dave start to hear rumors of a dangerous substance with potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed his car might have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could’ve imagined.

Gripping, violent, yet interlaced with Clete’s humor and consistent drive to protect those he loves, Clete brings a fresh perspective to a truly iconic series.

****

PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:

‘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

‘No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists’ Daily Mail

‘The greatest crime writer currently at work’ Spectator

‘The reigning champ of nostalgia noir’ New York Times

‘Masterly’ Sunday Telegraph

****

These eight stories move between the marshlands of the Gulf of Mexico, the sweeping plains of Colorado, and the prisons, saloons, and trailer parks of the South, weaving together quiet acts of love and survival with shocking eruptions of violence and revenge.

Harbor Lights is populated with unforgettable characters, unfolds in lyrical prose, and displays James Lee Burke’s singular skills in this masterful anthology.

****

PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:

‘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

‘No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists’ Daily Mail

‘The greatest crime writer currently at work’ Spectator

‘The reigning champ of nostalgia noir’ New York Times

‘Masterly’ Sunday Telegraph

Wade Lufkin is a man without a country or a cause – an idle spectator since New Orleans surrendered, he now paints at his uncle’s plantation. That is until he finds an intriguing new subject…

Hannah Laveau is an enslaved woman who stands accused of everything from adultery to insurrection, from magic to murder. But all she wants is to find her missing son – and she will risk her life for it.

When Hannah goes on the run, she must dodge the calculating and merciless local constable and the slavecatchers that prowl the bayou as she flees through Louisiana, from the cottonmouth snakes and tree-lined swamps to the dingy saloons of New Orleans.

From ‘the king of Southern noir’ (Daily Mirror) comes a powerful and deeply moving Civil War thriller – a story of tragic acts of war, lost and desperate people, and love enduring through it all.

PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:

‘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

‘No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists’ Daily Mail