America's most acclaimed crime writer and winner of the 1998 CWA/Macallan Gold Dagger returns to Louisiana with his great detective, Dave Robicheaux

Shortlisted for CWA Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction 2002.

When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers. * Daily Express * One of the finest American writers. * Guardian * 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 * The king of Southern noir. * Daily Mirror * 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 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. * i newspaper * Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced. * Daily Mail * A gorgeous prose stylist. * Stephen King * James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed. * Michael Connelly *

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