Atlantic Crime Published February 10, 2026
Reviewed by Julie Campbell
This may be the most beautifully written of all Burke’s books, but it is also one of the most difficult to read. Dave Robicheaux is on a dry drunk for most of the story, and Clete Purcell is on a wet one. Both, along with a beautiful young deputy, Valerie Benoit, are on a search for who dropped a sack with a naked young singer’s body in it, in Dave’s yard.
Throw in a couple of hard guys with a chain saw, a handyman with one foot in our reality and the other in his own, the autistic son of one of the hard guys who may or may not know something he shouldn’t, and Joan of Arc, and you have another Tuesday in Iberia Parish. The reader should be aware there is some woo woo in this, so it is not always clear what is “real”.
For long-time readers, the math no longer maths when it comes to the ages of Dave and Clete. What started out as Korea, later became Viet Nam. Now Burke is setting his stories at some unknown date. Which works perfectly fine. This one is sometime early in this century, but after 9/11. At a deeper level, it’s very much a commentary on the present day.
Highly recommended.