In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead

Author/Guide: James Lee Burke

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: Book six in the Dave Robicheaux series

ISBN: 978-0752810652
Genre: Crime, Thriller

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What you need to know before your trail

Hunting a sadistic killer who targets young prostitutes, Detective Dave Robicheaux has no mind to be sidetracked into persuading ex-schoolmate mobster Julie ‘Baby Feet’ Balboni to leave town. And it turns out that Balboni is the money behind a Civil War movie that’s bringing in good business.

But then the film crew stumble on a skeleton out in the bayou, and the links between a thirty-year-old lynching, a Civil War general, Balboni and the serial killer lead Dave into treacherous waters, with only a handful of unexpected allies to help him protect his own.

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Travel Guide

BookTrail Travel to Lousiana Bayou Country

New Iberia

Robicheaux and his wife live on a boat here. He has now returned to the town after being away to work for the local police department.

This is Bayou country as described and evoked in the book. The author takes us to the steamy bayous and back roads of southern Louisiana where life is never what you think. The humidity, heat, vast expanse of landscape is a unique setting for this crime fiction.

New Orleans

The city where he works comes to life in every way. From the famous Bourbon Street where the jazz bars are, to the donuts and coffee on Decatur Street to the police stations, this is a city which moves, dances, shoots and thrills.

“I was on the New Orleans police force for 14 yeas, first as a beat cop and finally as a lieutenant in homicide. I never worked vice, but there are few areas in New Orleans law enforcement that don’t eventually lead you back into it. Without its pagan and decadent ambiance, its strip shows, hookers burlesque spielers, tai pimps and brain-damaged street dopers, the city would be as attractive to most tourists as an agrarian them park in Western Nebraska.”