Last Car To Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux, #13)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Last Car To Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux #13)

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 2,186 ratings · 112 reviews

For Dave Robicheaux, there is no easy passage home. New Orleans, and the memories of his life in the Big Easy, will always haunt him. So to return there -- as he does in Last Car to Elysian Fields -- means visiting old ghosts, exposing old wounds, opening himself up to new, yet familiar, dangers. When Robicheaux, now a police officer based in the somewhat quieter Louisiana...more For Dave Robicheaux, there is no easy passage home. New Orleans, and the memories of his life in the Big Easy, will always haunt him. So to return there -- as he does in Last Car to Elysian Fields -- means visiting old ghosts, exposing old wounds, opening himself up to new, yet familiar, dangers. When Robicheaux, now a police officer based in the somewhat quieter Louisiana town of New Iberia, learns that an old friend, Father Jimmie Dolan, a Catholic priest always at the center of controversy, has been the victim of a particularly brutal assault, he knows he has to return to New Orleans to investigate, if only unofficially. What he doesn't realize is that in doing so he is inviting into his life -- and into the lives of those around him -- an ancestral evil that could destroy them all.

The investigation begins innocently enough. Assisted by good friend and P.I. Clete Purcel, Robicheaux confronts the man they believe to be responsible for Dolan's beating, a drug dealer and porno star named Gunner Ardoin. The confrontation, however, turns into a standoff as Clete ends up in jail and Robicheaux receives an ominous warning to keep out of New Orleans' affairs.

Meanwhile, back in New Iberia, more trouble is brewing: Three local teenage girls are killed in a drunk-driving accident, the driver being the seventeen-year-old daughter of a prominent physician. Robicheaux traces the source of the liquor to one of New Iberia's "daiquiri windows," places that sell mixed drinks from drive-by windows. When the owner of the drive-through operation is brutally murdered, Robicheaux immediately suspects the grief-crazed father of the dead teen driver. But his assumption is challenged when the murder weapon turns up belonging to someone else.

The trouble continues when Father Jimmie asks Robicheaux to help investigate the presence of a toxic landfill near St. James Parish in New Orleans, which in turn leads to a search for the truth behind the disappearance many years before of a legendary blues musician and composer. Tying together all these seemingly disparate threads of crime is a maniacal killer named Max Coll, a brutal, brilliant, and deeply haunted hit man sent to New Orleans to finish the job on Father Dolan. Once Coll shows up, it becomes clear that Dave Robicheaux will be forced to ignore the warning to stay out of New Orleans, and he soon finds himself drawn deeper into a viper's nest of sordid secrets and escalating violence that sets him up for a confrontation that echoes down the lonely corridors of his own unresolved past.

A masterful exploration of the troubled side of human nature and the darkest corners of the heart, and filled with the kinds of unforgettable characters that are the hallmarks of his novels, Last Car to Elysian Fields is James Lee Burke in top form in the kind of lush, atmospheric thriller that his fans have come to expect from the master of crime fiction.(less)

Paperback, 496 pages

Published August 31st 2004 by Pocket Star (first published 2003)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,940)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 23, 2009 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: male-author, police-fiction

Last Car to Elysian Fields is the thirteenth book in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. In this installment, Dave is on his own. Alafair has gone off to school and his third wife, Bootsy has died. When his friend Father Jimmie Dolan is threatened because his actions are making the wrong people angry, Dave tries to throw some interference.

Dave also begins to look into the mysterious disappearance of a old blues singer, Junior Crudup, who went into Angola prison but never came out, nor did...more Last Car to Elysian Fields is the thirteenth book in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. In this installment, Dave is on his own. Alafair has gone off to school and his third wife, Bootsy has died. When his friend Father Jimmie Dolan is threatened because his actions are making the wrong people angry, Dave tries to throw some interference.

Dave also begins to look into the mysterious disappearance of a old blues singer, Junior Crudup, who went into Angola prison but never came out, nor did he die according to any prison records. And between these two story lines, Dave ends up face-to-face with an IRA assassin, kidnapped, and suspended.

Many series will be stale by book thirteen, but James Lee Burke somehow manages to keep Dave and Clete from ever becoming old or cliche. I listened to this book on audio read by Mark Hammer, and as I've mentioned before I do not think there is a better match of reader and book. Experiencing a Dave Robicheaux novel read by Mark Hammer is something every crime fiction fan should indulge in at some time, even if you're one of those people who believe you don't like listening to audio books. This is a purely magical experience. Hammer's gritty sound coupled with his seemingly natural ability to nail all the dialects is amazing in and of itself. But when you couple it with his interpretation of Burke's words and themes, the experience becomes heavenly. In this book alone, Hammer has the regular southern dialect of the main characters but he also seamlessly alternates to a thick Irish brogue and an Italian mobster accent. A "failure to communicate" is a common occurrence in Dave Robicheaux novels, as the reader will find through the repetition of the single word "what?" Through Hammer's voice, you can hear confusion from this word, you can hear frustration, you might hear anger. But that simple word is the best example of how Hammer interprets the novel, he NEVER just reads the novel.

Burke, of course, is well-known for his distinct talent at developing setting, the Louisiana bayou setting. But his characters are also exquisitely developed in each novel. One of the elements of his writing that keeps me coming back time after time is the uncanny way Burke evokes both loathing and sympathy from me for almost every character. He can create a revolting antagonist, but there will be some point in the book where I feel sorry for the poor sap. It never fails. And I end up asking myself, "why do you feel sorry for this guy?" And then my brain is in overdrive, and I devour books that ignite that process inside me. The books that make you look beyond the black and white and see all the gray that's really there. Dave Robicheaux, Burke's protagonist, is not always a likable character. And Burke challenges his readers to reach deep down inside and make a connection with this man. I think this particular book points that challenge out rather explicitly through the character of Castille LeJeune who repeatedly tells Dave that the meaning of his literal words is eluding LeJeune.

Clete Purcel is one of my favorite characters in crime fiction, but I don't think I'd ever want to know him in reality. I sure wouldn't want to get on his bad side. But what reader can resist Clete's witticisms? Or his undying devotion to Dave? And Helen Soileau's sarcasm is equally entertaining. These two characters do a lot to lighten the heaviness of Burke's tone.

James Lee Burke manages to do what few authors can, he manages to make me believe that each book I read is better than the one before it. That is an amazing accomplishment!(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 21, 2010 jo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, us-regional

a third of a slow way through this book (not the book's fault), i thought i'd give myself entirely to that most overused of parts of speech, the adjective. i do this because james lee burke is a great user of adjectives, and even when he uses them abundantly he doesn't overuse them at all. but i will. because i want to. the following adjectives describe one aspect or another of this book, while also encompassing, all of them, the book as a whole. the most hackneyed (but nonetheless correctly app...more a third of a slow way through this book (not the book's fault), i thought i'd give myself entirely to that most overused of parts of speech, the adjective. i do this because james lee burke is a great user of adjectives, and even when he uses them abundantly he doesn't overuse them at all. but i will. because i want to. the following adjectives describe one aspect or another of this book, while also encompassing, all of them, the book as a whole. the most hackneyed (but nonetheless correctly applicable) adjectives are in ALL CAPS. some adjectives are repeated because i don't feeling like checking, some for effect. some, i'm putting there just to trick and confuse you. the ones in bold stand out because of thicker lines.

SULTRY, STEAMY, leafy, autumnal, SODDEN, LUSCIOUS, green, HUED, explosive, reflective, melancholy, DRUNKEN, SOZZLED, soaked, LONGING, desperate, hopeful, SMOKY, barbed, sarcastic, sharp, cutting, EDGY, sleepless, broken, hurt, smelly, putrid, dirty, filthy, BOOZY, olfactory, visual, LONELY, black, noirish, brown, DARK, sunny, bright, shadowy, perverted, compassionate, forgiving/en, fallen, redemptive, assuaging, taut, tense, INTENSE, adroit, skillful, DEADLY, dead, buried, inner, outer, joyless, deadened, guilty, guilt-ridden, miserable, abject, criminal, murderous, uncontrollable, pathetic, TOUGHASNAILS, sordid, compulsive, unheeded, lost, COOL, uncool, detached, lonely, alone, male, masculine, TESTOSTERONE-FUELED, tender, cuddly, needy, unhinged, enduring, surviving, SWAMPY, BRINY, purple, violet, blue, yellow, red, flaming, inflamed, infamous, DUSKY, dusty, loving, entire, disembodied, BLOODY, wounded, injured, inured, urgent, urinary, fecal, gastric, hungry.

***

i'm still impressed with james lee burke's use of language, but this was a tough book to finish. first, a reflection on language and the mystery genre. i have never been much of a genre reader, so reading mysteries this last year has given me new thoughts to think. here's one: through mysteries, american readers are digesting a tremendous amount of literary, sometimes experimental, sometimes difficult fiction. i don't know what the demographics of james lee burke's readers are, but this readership is certainly doing some heavy lifting. JLB writes real-deal existentialist fiction (the recurring character of the catholic priest and the pervasive presence of catholicism are a dead giveaway) and uses the language of faulkner. this is serious lit.

but i had a hard time finishing this book because the violence got the better of me. i realize dave robicheaux's self-hatred is a sort of indictment of his actions, but there is also some unquestionable lust in the vigilantism he and his best friend practice. this lust is a definite turn off for me. men brutally killing men, setting men up to be killed, battering men around like matches in matchstick boxes -- nah, i don't think so. i don't care if these men love their daughters and their dead wives. i don't care if they do it to protect women. i especially don't care if they do it to protect women. i really don't. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 16, 2012 Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dave Robicheaux and his close friend Clete Purcel really balance each others characters in the three James Lee Burke novels I have read to date. Clete has no restraint drinks heavily as a private eye/ bounty chaser has fewer legal restrictions than Dave does as a police officer In New Iberia, Louisiana. Clete acts rashly and end up jail to be helped by Dave, who almost always is shot at or held prisoner only to be rescued by Clete.

The beating of a catholic priest, and the death of three teenage...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Last Car to Elysian Fields, by James Lee Burke, b-plus, borrowed from National Library Services for the Blind, but available for purchase from audible.com.

This book was not one of Burke’s best Robicheau books, but that may also reflect the fact that Robicheau’s third wife, Bootsy, passed away a year ago, and his daughter, Alafair, is now in college, and Dave is living alone.

Father Jimmy Dolan is a priest who is very untraditional while serving in a conservative church. He deplores the spoilage...more Last Car to Elysian Fields, by James Lee Burke, b-plus, borrowed from National Library Services for the Blind, but available for purchase from audible.com.

This book was not one of Burke’s best Robicheau books, but that may also reflect the fact that Robicheau’s third wife, Bootsy, passed away a year ago, and his daughter, Alafair, is now in college, and Dave is living alone.

Father Jimmy Dolan is a priest who is very untraditional while serving in a conservative church. He deplores the spoilage of property around Louisiana by oil companies, which puts him in the crosshairs of land developers and oil companies. One night he is severely beaten, and Dave with his friend, Clete Purcel, confront Dolan's tormentor in an Uptown bar. The evening ends with Purcel in jail and Robicheaux warned to stay out of New Orleans. Meanwhile, back in his home town of New Iberia, Three teenage girls are killed in an accident in which alcohol was purchased by the under-age girls at a drive-through daiquiri shop. When the owner of the shop is brutally murdered, Robicheaux suspects that the father of one of the girls, himself a prominent physician, is the murderer. Yet the trail seems to lead away from him. And when Dolan asks Robicheaux to investigate the presence of a toxic landfill near New Orleans, the answers seem to lie in both the past and present. The past concerns a legendary bluesman who disappeared decades before, while the present involves a coldly maniacal assassin named Max Coll, summoned to New Orleans to murder Dolan. Robicheaux finds that his investigation and duty lead back to New Orleans, where he must confront not only the troubles of his friends but the darkness of his own past. Burke retains his poetic descriptions of the river and in this case of constant rain. But in this book it is hard to keep track of what Dave is thinking at any given time as his suspicions change at the drop of a hat, and much of his behavior seems unfocused and dangerous. But we see the mysteries solved and the murderers caught, and Dave and Clete survive to battle evil another day.
(less)

like · see review

Aug 19, 2009 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-us

This book is yet another in the series featuring Detective Dave Robicheaux of New Iberia and New Orleans in Louisiana.

Although I am addicted to this character and all of his inherent flaws, the series is beoming a little stylised and predictable. He is among my most cherieshed crime genre authors (along with: Michael Connelly (my favourite), John Connolly and a host of Britisih authors) and is immensely popular. I think it is time - even given the character's advancing years - to give Dave a sli...more

like · see review

Feb 12, 2008 Clare rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: mystery afficianados

I love James Lee Burke's books and this one is no exception. They are gritty and violent but not in a gratuitious way. I know I have gone over the edge because I am starting to think of Detective Dave Robicheaux and his sidekick Private Investigator Clete Purcel as real people. I recommend Burke's books to anyone who loves a good mystery, who wants to breathe and eat in New Orleans as if they were really there, and who enjoys seeing the growth of a character as the books are written.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime

First ever JLB novel. Found myself at odds over whether I liked his writing style or not. Having finished numerous Lee Child novels, with his terse chronologic and matter-of-fact prose, JLB's prose seemed as meandering as a backwater Louisiana bayou.

And that was what kept me returning to his novel, JLBs ability to weave an intricate plot together with interesting characters, imbued with Cajun, slave, French overtones wrapped in the moist dirty environs of New Orleans.

Being familiar with the Fre...more

like · see review

Feb 29, 2012 wally rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: burke

This will be the 3rd Burke I've read within the last...six months or so. The first ever was Feast Day of Fools, then In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead.

Another great story!

Some types of story lend themselves to good story-telling and Burke's stories are part of that niche or genre, Dave Robicheaux, a detective w/the sheriff's department, uncovering the story. Part of that includes listening to various colorful (and sometimes colored) characters narrate pieces of the tale for Dave, ex-pri...more This will be the 3rd Burke I've read within the last...six months or so. The first ever was Feast Day of Fools, then In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead.

Another great story!

Some types of story lend themselves to good story-telling and Burke's stories are part of that niche or genre, Dave Robicheaux, a detective w/the sheriff's department, uncovering the story. Part of that includes listening to various colorful (and sometimes colored) characters narrate pieces of the tale for Dave, ex-prisoners and others.

This sets up the by now classic tale-within-the-tale that is pure joy to read, more so when the man telling it has lost the use of his eyes, has eyes in fact that others turn away from. Uncovering the tale or pick another metaphor, digging for fossils, unearthing treasure.

And the tale-gathering is set in and around New Orleans, a hit man travels from Miami to Louisiana, and he becomes part of another tale, another storyline that is told, unearthed as the pages turn. The hit man does not follow script, though, and so he is somewhat like Dave's friend Clete, a P.I. who has his own storyline running through the larger tale. Stories within stories, who could ask for more?

There's some great descriptive passages, a stray cat enters the story and sticks around, the good guys and the bad guys all have a past that influences their present. Too...in this one....I'd hazard that Burke captured the idea present among too many that they are immune to the law, that they are above it, that the law is not for them. Almost want to go back and read though those passages to see them receive their wages again...

...meant to, but forgot to write earlier...that I liked the way the story of Max Coll...the hit-man from Miami (I don't believe Burke once uses the phrase "hit-man" but that is what Coll is)...tangents, what can be done? I like the way Coll's story parallels both Clete's story and Dave's. Say like if you look at motivation for each of those three characters, how they react, act, what moves them.

See...this Coll character does not follow the script. I said that earlier I think. The ideas that move him are an interesting contrast/comparison to what motivates Clete and Dave. Coll seems almost unstoppable...almost.

It is also interesting how Burke moves into 3rd-person in this eye-narrator account, told through Dave Robicheaux's eyes, moves into 3rd through Coll's eyes for a bit, through the elderly nun on the train, through Father Jimmie's eyes for a bit, enabling him to tell a part of the tale that would have otherwise been limited by the eye-narrator.

(less)

like · see review

Oct 30, 2010 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not a regular reader of detective or crime fiction, but a friend, a detective fiction writer himself, gave me this to read, and once I began reading, it became addictive enough. It's heavy on the atmosphere of New Orleans and employs, I suspect, a number of genre conventions - the alcoholic (recovering) cop, rogue tendencies as he's always in trouble with the force, and what I thought was a variation on the Jekyl-Hyde split personality; Dave Robicheaux, the 1st person narrator operates with...more

like · see review

May 10, 2008 Cindi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-south, favorite-authors, series, mystery, on-my-shelves, multiple-reads, fiction, police-procedural

As always, James Lee Burke's descriptive powers are amazing and the story was engaging. I found I have become quite attached to the other characters in the Dave Robicheaux series so with this "transition" book I didn't get as involved as in his earlier works. I miss Bootsie, Alafair, Bastist and the house and bait shop. But I think I'm going to like Helen in her new role as the sheriff. I'm lookiing forward to reading "Crusaders Cross."

1 like · like · see review

Feb 15, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-adventure

This is the thirteenth book in the serie with Dave Robicheaux, and for me the first one to actually read. With that in mind I was still kinda left unsatisfied in that while the tale was easy to follow it did look back on the history of the various returning characters as created in this series. Before I read this book I happened to see both movies made about the characters of this series. And it is the actor Tommy Lee Jones as Robicheaux that is the face I did attach to the main character of thi...more

like · see review

Aug 28, 2010 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-books, audio-books-2010, audio-books, mystery-procedural, new-orleans, southern

Aspiring writers should not read James Lee Burke (JUST KIDDING--sort of)

There are so many things about his novels that should not work, but yet does (see below) but probably the thing that works best are his descriptions and characters which artfully convey the new and old South and where they intersect. For those who have grew up in the South in the past 20-30 years, his novels may also, as they do for me, remind one of old ghost/folk stories told to us as children and the even more frightening...more

like · see review

Aug 14, 2010 Henry Brown rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: it-kept-my-eyes-busy

I checked out this audiobook from the library because the idea of a cold-case murder mystery concerning a blues man half a century ago reminded me of a great book by a friend of mine I read some 12 years ago.

I must admit, the actor they chose to read this book probably influenced my experience for the worse. Since the protagonist is a native Louisianan, I guess they figured somebody with a Deep South accent would be appropriate. Between the accent and his rasping about-to-kick-the-bucket squawk,...more

like · see review

Jan 30, 2008 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fantastic book! Great read! If you are a fan of true detective/suspense/mystery you will love James Lee Burke. This is actually part of an ongoing series with protagonist, Dave Robicheaux. I could not put this book down!

1 like · like · see review

Jan 05, 2012 Barbra rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

13th in the Robicheaux series. A lovely novel that continues to show Burke for the great writer of this genre that he is.

Back Cover Blurb:
It is a rainy late-summer's night in New Orleans. Detective Dave Robicheaux is about to confront the man who may have savagely assaulted his friend, Father Jimmie Dolan, a Catholic priest who's always at the centre of controversy. But things are never as they seem and soon Robicheaux is back in New Iberia, probing a car crash that killed three teenage girls. A...more

like · see review

Oct 02, 2012 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another great trip down to New Orleans and New Iberia without ever having to leave Kansas. Last year I actually went to New Iberia because I had to see for myself this place that James Lee Burke brings to life so vividly. As I was reading this I wanted to head back down there again. His hauntingly beautiful descriptions of the area just make we want to go there to walk the streets and drive out into the bayou areas. I love Dave and Clete .... they are the perfect team ... each balances the other...more

like · see review

Jul 13, 2011 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love sitting down and getting to know Dave every time I open up one of these books. Dave is very human and has issues, like the rest of the world. This was a rather sad one for me, as I hate to see Dave all by himself with only Tripod and the cat. Hopefully in the next books things will change. I certainly can't see Cletus staying with him forever.

I loved every minute of this one and Father Jimmie and the hit man were sadly funny in a way. James Lee Burke seems to write with a sense of humor...more

like · see review

Dec 28, 2010 Rex New rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Jun 25, 2010 Sherry Chandler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: betterthantelevision

I still wish these books weren't so violent. I don't approve of torture and I'm not entertained by cops who beat information out of people. Still, there's something to Burke that makes me want to persist in reading these novels. He can create a great atmosphere. This one engaged me more than some of the others have. Maybe it was because the back story is so compelling -- the story of the bluesman/convict Junior Crudup (who doesn't even make the cover blurb). If Angola was anything like Burke des...more

like · see review

Apr 15, 2009 Richard Kunzmann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

James Lee Burke is arguably one of America’s greatest hardboiled detective authors, and Last Car to Elysian Fields not only does that reputation justice, it strengthens his position as a crime writer with an immense literary range that borders on the poetic.

Detective Dave Robicheaux is asked by Father Jimmie Dolan to join him on a trip into St. James Parish, where he meets the daughter of a musician who disappeared years before. Soon strange links begin to emerge between the musician, a savage a...more

like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Chenxiaoyu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

New Orleans, 2002. La città ha il fascino di sempre: i colori delle buganvillee che coprono le case, per le strade l’odore http://www.obdii.co.uk/car-diagnostic-tools-c-2/kingscanner di gamberi bolliti e pesce gatto, le note di jazz che scivolano fuori dai locali. Ma New Orleans è anche la povertà, i barboni che dormono al cimitero, i ragazzi neri che spacciano amfetamine e china white nei quartieri popolari. Il detective Dave

like · see review

Sep 21, 2010 Cupcakencorset rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This dark novel of multiple murders in and near a small town outlying New Orleans is complex and engaging, with characters you will not soon forget. It covers two time periods in its fashion, the early 1950s and the early 2000s, with each period brought to life beautifully. Burke has won two Edgar Awards and one CWA Macallan Gold Dagger for other novels and was once nominated for a Pulitzer. Reading this book, you can see why.

like · see review

Mar 30, 2010 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Outstanding novel from one of my favorite authors. Really draws you into the Louisiana culture and atmosphere with well - drawn characters and brisk plot. Not really accurate to think of Burke as just a mystery novelist --- like John LeCarre, he looks at human nature and the effects one's choices have on others and oneself. Layers and layers of fine writing. Highly recommended for fiction lovers of all types.

like · see review

Feb 27, 2013 Nranger7 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but felt a bit lost throughout the whole thing. I think that was because it was the first "Dave Robicheaux" novel I've ever read and there was a lot of backstory that I've missed from past novels. Also, I'm not familiar with the New Orleans area and some of the descriptions of life there threw me. I just can't picture an oyster shell driveway...we don't have that in Arizona! :)

like · see review

Aug 13, 2012 Bob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

David Robicheaux confronts low lives and upper society bad guys as he struggles with his own personal problems in this suspense novel set in New Orleans and the surrounding bayous. Murders and mayhem abound as he and his good buddy try to find out who attacked a Catholic Priest, killed the owner of a drive by margaritas stand that sold to an underage girl who ended up crashing a burning in her car. Plenty of atmosphere as well as action in this one.

like · see review

Sep 28, 2009 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This book was a hard read. Usually, I throughly enjoy the Dave Robicheaux series of James Lee Burke. But the primary character is so depressed I came away depressed myself. I suppose that could be seen to be a good indicator that Burke is a strong writer w/well developed characters. I can only hope my condition doesn't linger as long as Robicheaux's.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who has read this book to compare thoughts (or symptoms).

like · see review

Feb 07, 2010 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to this book on tape. Often a really good reader of an audio book can make the book richer than reading it on a page. This is a good example of that scenario. I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I love the milieu that is New Orleans; it's cultures and ambiance, the people, etc. I find it intriguing. This book did a good job of making me feel I was there again.

like · see review

May 26, 2009 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great descriptions of New Orleans and New Iberia, Louisiana and excellent plotting. Dave Robicheaux and his violent, oddly-moral side-kick, Clete Purcell take on corruption in Louisiana, trying to solve the twenty-five year-old murder of a black, musically-gifted convict. En route they tangle with a Catholic hit-man who has been contracted to kill a liberal priest.

like · see review

Apr 29, 2012 Annie Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, huge crush...I just love his writing, he takes me back where I used to live with the sights, smell, sounds and tastes. I happened upon the paperback Black Cherry Blues one day while looking in the stacks when I came across this guy who wrote about NOLA, I just had to check it out, next day I went out and bought as many as I could get my hands on!

like · see review

Sep 10, 2011 Alan Williams rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Hard core fans of JLB only

Shelves: crime

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 97 98 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (28)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

65 users

Mystery > Crime

22 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

12 users

Suspense

8 users

Thriller

6 users

Mystery > Detective

6 users

American > Southern

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Judgment Calls
by Alafair Burke
Soul Circus
by George Pelecanos
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes
by Lawrence Block
Indigo Slam
by Robert Crais
Winter of the Wolf Moon
by Steve Hamilton

About James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for Black Cherry Blues in 1990 and Cimarron Rose in 1998.

Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a...more

More about James Lee Burke...

Books by James Lee Burke

The Tin Roof Blowdown (Dave Robicheaux, #16)

Black Cherry Blues (Dave Robicheaux, #3)

The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux, #18)

In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (Dave Robicheaux, #6)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Dernier tramway p...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Last Car To Elysian Fi...

“I long ago became convinced that the most reliable source for arcane and obscure and seemingly unobtainable information does not lie with the government or law enforcement agencies. Apparently neither the CIA nor the military intelligence apparatus inside the Pentagon had even a slight inkling of the Soviet Union's impending collapse, right up to the moment the Kremlin's leaders were trying to cut deals for their memoirs with New York publishers. Or, if a person really wishes a lesson in the subjective nature of official information, he can always call the IRS and ask for help with his tax forms, then call back a half hour later and ask the same questions to a different representative. So where do you go to find a researcher who is intelligent, imaginative, skilled in the use of computers, devoted to discovering the truth, and knowledgeable about science, technology, history, and literature, and who usually works for dirt and gets credit for nothing? After lunch I drove to the city library on Main and asked the reference librarian to find what she could on Junior Crudup.” — 25 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Last Car To Elysian Fields
avg rating	preview: Last Car To Elysian Fields Goodreads rating: 4.06 (2186 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/571941.Last_Car_To_Elysian_Fields?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348564841l/571941.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/571941.Last_Car_To_Elysian_Fields?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Last Car To Elysian Fields by James Lee Burke[/url]

Last Car To Elysian Fields (Dave Robicheaux #13)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website