The Hadacol Boogie

Dave Robicheaux, James Lee Burke’s iconic detective, returns to investigate the death of an unidentified woman—pulling him into a vortex of corruption and violence in the Louisiana bayou.

When a cloaked, disfigured man leaves a dead woman in a garbage bag on Dave Robicheaux’s property, he knows something bigger—and even darker—is at play. And his daughter Alafair knew someone with the same tattoos: a rose on each breast.

Dave’s longtime friend and former partner, the volatile but fiercely loyal Clete Purcel, searches for clues in the seedy underworld of the local saloon, but he’s being targeted by a violent man with potential Mob connections. Dave’s new partner, a homicide detective who faces sexist and racist harassment from their colleagues, hides a past that may link her to the murder. And the local handyman leaves cryptic notes and warns of the ghosts who roam the shores of the bayou.

With his brilliant prose and quintessential cast of characters, James Lee Burke weaves a portrait of a gritty, violent Louisiana at the turn of the 20th century. Visceral, atmospheric, and wholly original, The Hadacol Boogie reminds us of Dave Robicheaux’s fierce determination to confront evil both past and present.