The townspeople of New Iberia, LA, didn't crucify Megan Flynn's father. They just didn't catch whoever pinned him to a barn wall with sixteen-penny nails. Decades later, Megan, now a world-famous photojournalist, has come back to the bayou, looking for cop Dave Robicheaux. It was Dave who found the body of labor leader Jack Flynn. The sight changed the boy, shaped him as a man. And after forty years, Robicheaux is still haunted by the bizarre unsolved slaying. Now Megan's return has stirred up the ghosts of the long-buried past, igniting a storm of violence that will rip apart lives of blacks and whites in this bayou county. ( )

When I first read a Dave Robicheaux novel, I thought Burke was a fantastic writer. Now, after a hiatus of maybe 10 yrs, I am disappointed in this book. Robicheaux is a man with a lot of submerged anger that is definitely coming out in this book. He goes around beating up petty criminals, accusing people he doesn't like of crimes, and it all seems pretty random. There is no clear line of discovery for the reader, we don't get inside his mind to see why he keeps changing who he suspects of a 40 yr old murder. He keeps trying to tie it in to current events, but it doesn't come across well. I actually haven't finished the last 40 pages, as I write this review, but don't expect my opinion to change. ( )

I always enjoy reading Dave Robicheaux books. This one is no exception. ( )

This is the 10th in the series and Burke never misses. Just one great thriller after another. If you've never read his books you are in for a treat.

Back Cover Blurb:
Jack Flynn died on a Klan cross years ago, but Dave Robicheaux has never forgotten it. Nor have Flynn's two children. When they get mixed up with the case of a small time hustler named Cool Breeze Broussard, Robicheaux can't see why.
As the Flynns find themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, Detective Robicheaux finds himself trying to keep Cool Breeze alive. Something ties Breeze to the Flynns and all three of them to local plantation magnate Archer Terrebonne. Something long past is poisoning all their lives, bringing death in its wake. ( )

This is number ten in the Dave Robicheaux series. LT says that it is number ten, Amazon says it is number eleven, I'll go with LT. The book has a lot of elements that appear in other Robicheaux novels. There is the twenty year old murder of Jack Flynn, a labor activist who was nailed up to the side of a barn in the pattern of a crucifixion. One of the main characters is Archer Terrebonne, the rich man that Dave loves to hate. In the end, which I will not discuss, he has good reason.
Another prime character is "Cool Breeze" Broussard and his father Mout' (short for Mouth). "Cool Breeze" is a black man who is jammed up in all directions. His father Mout' is a shoe shine man and the interaction with the two of them gives Dave the opportunity to comment on race relations in Louisiana. Harpo Scruggs and Swede Boxleiter are cold blooded killers who bring evil and violence into the story. Helen Soileau is Dave's partner. She is one of my favorite regular characters in the series.
Clete Purcel, Bootsie, Alafair and Batist fill out the list of regulars.
For whatever reason Burke did not seem to do his usual excellent background descriptions in writing this book. I enjoyed the story but it did not grab me the way most of the Robicheaux books do. ( )