I finished this in the early hours of the morning. James Lee Burke is a very talented and powerful writer. I marked this sentence as just one example of his descriptive powers "A line of blood drops preceded me up the steps, like red dimes that had spilled from a hole in someone's trouser pocket." I particularly love his descriptions of small town New Iberia--he really evokes the beauty and the atmosphere. I also admire Burke for taking on the racism and elitism that pervades Louisiana culture, and his comments about the oil rig explosion and those who were complicit in it are to the point without detracting from the story. I was swept up in this story, but it didn't seem to gel for me quite like some of his others. Nevertheless, worth a read. I can't get enough of the Bobbsey Twins from Homicide.