Scott Rhee's Reviews > Black Cherry Blues

Former New Orleans police detective Dave Robicheaux has been arrested for murder, and he’s not even completely sure he’s not guilty.

In James Lee Burke’s third Robicheaux novel, “Black Cherry Blues”, published in 1989, Burke continues his sadistic mistreatment of his tortured protagonist. The guy just lost his wife, Annie, after two Colombian drug cartel henchmen blew her away in her bed. Now, struggling to stay sober despite every fiber of his body telling him to take one sip of alcohol, Dave is raising his adopted daughter, Alafair, alone. When a Vegas mobster ends up dead in a hotel room, Dave is thrown in jail for the murder. He’s released on bail with the help of his old partner, Clete Purcel, who was supposed to be fleeing corruption charges in South America but is now working for the head of afore-mentioned mobsters. What the actual—-?

Needless to say, Dave’s life is a mess right now. Facing a trial date in a few months in which his own lawyer is telling him he doesn’t stand a chance, Dave and Alafair hop in his pick-up and drive to Montana, to help an old classmate of Dave’s, Dixie Lee, a has-been rockabilly star whose life has been ruined by drugs and bad career choices—-he does odd shit jobs for the mob. He’s also there to help himself, as he’s tracking the guy who framed Dave for the murder in Louisiana. Kill two birds with one stone. Maybe three or four. Maybe a dozen. Whatever it takes to clear his name of murder. (Wait, that doesn’t make any… Whatever…)

Burke’s series is one of the best detective series ever written. I’ve read most, if not all, of the Robicheaux novels. I’m just going back and re-reading them in chronological order. My second time reading this, and it’s still great.