"It's impossible to think of the Louisiana bayou without conjuring up James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books" ("Chicago Tribune"), including this early masterwork that pits the Cajun police detective against one of the New South's most twisted and powerful forces. Oil speculator Weldon Sonnier is the patriarch of a troubled family intimately bound to the CIA, the Mob, and the Klan. Now, the murder of a cop and a bizarre assassination attempt pull Robicheaux into the Sonniers' hellish world of madness, murder, and incest. But Robicheaux has devils of his own-- and they may just destroy the tormented investigator and the two people he holds most dear.

Reviews

Sadistic villains and interior demons plague Cajun police detective Dave Robicheaux as the murder of a local cop draws him into the painful conflicts of the Sonnier family, with whom he grew up near the bayous. Weldon Sonnier, an oil speculator perhaps involved with organized crime in New Orleans, is married to the sister of racist Louisiana politician Bobby Earl; Lyle Sonnier is a televangelist with a widely publicized gift of healing that antagonizes the detective, whose wife has lupus; Weldon and Lyle's sister, Drew, whom Robicheaux loved as a teenager, is New Iberia's liberal eccentric. Harshly abused as children, the Sonniers exert a strong pull on Robicheaux, whose desire to help pits him and his former New Orleans police department partner Cletus Purcel against southern Louisiana's fierce Mafia leader and his hired thugs, one of whom, Robicheaux observes, has a face with the ``moral depth and complexity of freshly poured cement.'' While attending AA meetings, trying to cope with both his response to his wife's illness and his moral rage at Earl's politicking, Robicheaux pursues killers through biker bars and unearths long-buried secrets in the Sonnier past. Burke ( A Morning for Flamingos ) resolves the complex case in a satisfying climax as Robicheaux comes to terms with social ills, the evil of individuals and his own helplessness to overcome them. $100,000 ad/promo. (Apr.)

The investigation of a bullet shot through the windowpane of Welton Sonnier's home brings New Iberia, Louisiana, sheriff's deputy Dave Robicheaux (In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, Audio Reviews, LJ 5/1/93) back into contact with the Sonnier family (Welton, Lyle, and Drew), who, along with their abusive father, could have been the model for the dysfunctional family. As Dave investigates, he is drawn into their lives and begins to suspect that the father did not die in an explosion years ago, as everyone believes. Dave is also coping with his wife's lupus and threats made against his family because of his current case. Burke has once again written a perceptive, finely observed, and complex story, which is further enhanced by Mark Hammer's fine performance. Hammer, who has read other Burke titles for Recorded Books (e.g., Black Cherry Blues, Audio Reviews, LJ 3/15/93), has a voice that is ideally suited to the region and the dark nature of Burke's narrative. This title is sure to be relished by those who love a good story. Highly recommended for most libraries.-Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, N.C.

"""James Lee Burke is the best writer of detective fiction on the American scene and "A Stained White Radiance" is proof. . . . It takes the crime novel into places it's never gone before."

--"San Francisco Examiner"