Listened to CD version of James Lee Burke's "Tin Roof Blowdown" on my trip to Riverton last week. I've always been a Burke fan, and have read all the other Dave Robicheaux mysteries -- or maybe they should be called Southern Gothic police procedurals. They're all compelling, no matter the terminology. In "Tin Roof Blowdown," Robicheaux is sent to New Orleans to help with post-Katrina recovery. Amongst the chaos, a priest friend of Dave's disappears, some black guys looting a white neighborhood are killed by a sniper, blood diamonds are stolen from a racketeers home. Back home in New Iberia, Dave's college-age daughter is the target of a stalker. All hell breaks loose and Dave is right in the middle of it. Just the way this reader likes it.
Some critics have called this one of Burke's best D.R. novels. Not sure if I agree. Hurricane-ravaged N.O. is a terrific setting. Yet pre-Katrina New Orleans served as a suitably violent and mysterious setting for his other novels. But the author draws his characters better than almost any other detective writer. That's always set him apart from the riff-raff. What's missing from this one is the eerie Southern Gothic juju he used so effectively in "Dixie City Jam" and "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead." "Tin Roof Blowdown" has an edgy, urban feel to it, a tone similar to Michael Connelly's L.A. or Ed McBain's 10th Precinct in NYC.
I have to admit that I cheated a bit on this novel. Usually I get unabridged versions of novels on CD. This one was trimmed to six hours. Maybe some of the atmosphere was lost in the process.
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