Black Cherry Blues: A Novel (Dave Robicheaux Book 3)

James Lee Burke is always a winner. I recommend his novels to any southerner who now lives in Tucson so they can read his beautiful descriptions and be taken back on a visual journey to their homes. His turn of phrases can break your heart they are so wonderful.

I’ve read a bunch of Robicheaux novels both in order and not. I really really enjoyed one. Ready for the next one!!

I'l give Burke this much: He has a way with dialogue. For all its faults, the book was worth reading just for the juicy, crackling outpourings of washed-up musician Dixie Lee Pugh. What a great character -- and, for all his outrageousness, a more believable character than the protagonist. I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of only two simply because of Dixie Lee Pugh. Also, I enjoy Burke's frequent clever turns of phrase -- people with a tenuous hold on reality, for instance, being described as people who "hung on to the sides of the planet with suction cups."But it seems to me the main reason everyone's ga-ga over James Lee Burke is his ability to evoke the Cajun bayou country. Hey, I love willows and cypresses and Spanish moss as much as the next person, but Burke gives us way too much of a good thing. Louisiana ambience is fine, but Burke hits you over the head with it -- over and over and over again. It got to the point where Burke would start describing, for the umpty-zillionth time, the mist coming up and the sky going all vermilion and purple in the Louisiana sunset, and my eyes would just start to glaze over.And then there's the omissions and gaps and just plain errors. Along with a good half-dozen not-believable plot elements (see James McDermott's 3-star review), there are a lot of annoying omissions. For example, why do we never, ever find out exactly what happened to the protagonist's wife? Why was she killed and why was the protagonist not even there? We're never told, even though the pre-existing fact of his wife's death is a HUGE thing in this story. And then, there's the protagonist's adopted daughter, a refugee from El Salvador who has the consummately British name Alafair. I'd about bet my life's savings that nowhere in the Spanish-speaking world is there a person named Alafair. Since Alafair is a pretty major character in the book, this isn't one of those little one-off errors that you can just gloss over and keep on reading -- one-offs like, say, the narrator's reference to a Kansas-born character as having grown up in the land of cornflowers and bluebonnets. I grew up in Texas, now live in Kansas. Believe me when I tell you that there are no bluebonnets in Kansas, not a single blessed one. Or how about this: The narrator talks about some rich Texans who like to go to the horse races at "Rio Dosa." There is no such place. Burke must have gotten confused when he heard Texans (who are notorious for their outrageous pronunciations of Hispanic names) talking about Ruidoso Downs, the famous horse racing track in Ruidoso (Texan pronunciation: "riodosa"), New Mexico. Yeah, I'm being picky, but when an author can't get details like this right, what other errors is he getting away with that I just don't happen to pick up on? He's ruined his credibility with me and now I can't trust him.In sum, I'll just say this is the last time I rely on the Edgar Award as a book recommendation! Pickings must have been slim that year for the judges to bestow the prize on this one. Or maybe I've just read so much Michael Connelly and Andrew Klavan and John Lescroart that they've spoiled me for everyone else. And I suppose they can't just give the Edgar Award to the same two or three people year after year.

This book takes you so high and far and under and up and on such a wild ride, you’ll never get over it. You’ll never guess the plot and you won’t be able to sleep or workout socialize until you finish it. Your first urge will be to immediately get the next book. He changes your DNA. No matter if you’ve read 10,000 books or more - you will be a different person.

As usual, Blake provides lots of visuals to help the reader see the settings. And lots of characters with complex and colorful personalities. Robicheaux is still fighting the need to binge drink and the thinking/adrenaline needs of an alcoholic. And he’s still a great detective. There are lots of story lines. He makes it work.

OVERALLLightweight but entertaining. Mostly succeeds at what it sets out to do, except when it comes to the female characters.READING STATSStarted the book on Jan 13 2019. Completed on Jan 25 2019. Averaged 24 pages a day. I read the Kindle version, on my Kindle Oasis.MY HIGHLIGHTED PASSAGESBeware of spoilers, which are not marked:NOTESSolid but lightweight Robicheaux southern gothic mystery yarn. After the crushing melodrama of the first two novels (note: I'm not complaining here, that thick, juicy southern gothic melodrama is one of the main reasons I read the series), the lightweight nature of the book is a nice change-of-pace; especially since we're settling in for a 20+ book series here.The mystery and plot of this one was a lot more clear-cut than the first two, whose plots were chock-full of ambiguous twists and turns and characters with murky motives. In retrospect, I think I prefer the moody, melodramatic murkiness of the first two (the True Detective TV series strikes a similar tone), but again the breeziness is a nice break after the intensity of the first two.I’m docking an entire star for the embarrassingly paper-thin female characters, whose portrayal in the series this far is borderline misogynist. Now, those are strong words, so I should clarify that I don't sense any intention of this kind of animosity from the author; in fact, quite the opposite, I sense a genuine warmth and affection for his doomed cardboard damsels, which makes me think that maybe James Lee Burke should stick to writing male characters? Hopefully this is an aspect of the series that will improve as we go.

James Lee Burke , he doesn't begin a paragraph but what he doesn't FIRST set the mood of the natural surroundings , Genius !

This is the third book of this excellent series by James Lee Burke and the best of the first three in my humble opinion. I like to read series in order and was turned on to Mr Burke by my brother over the Christmas holidays. This poor protagonist has been through so much in the first three books it is a wonder he is not a walking heart attack. One thing about the author, he is truly obsessed with rain. I have never read a series of books with so much reference to stormy weather. This third installment is much easier to follow as the first two have so many twists and turns it was almost impossible to follow. No spoilers here. Just enjoy this slick novel that is a page turner. I look forward to the rest of the series.

Never sure how to sum up a James Lee Burke novel in a word, they are hard, gritty, to me they often feel almost personal, erudite and go to some very dark places and they are also wonderful and open a window on both the good and bad. Black cherry Blues is all of that.

A really good read. A lot of descriptive writing which I largely skipped but a satisfying ending and am looking forward to the next one.

Another very good story from JLB, this time with a reduction in the violenceI guess. There is still plenty of heavy villains here, but a little more subtly put than usual.The development of Robicheaux continues and the links to Montana become more apparent.He also fills in a little more about Alafair, a little less about Cletus.As ever, Burke's writing has pace and vivacity,but no crime writer I know provides such brilliant atmospheric writing as he does.

Once again James Lee Burke takes us to the steamy bayous and back roads of southern Louisiana where life should be hard but simple. Robicheaux's obsessive struggles with himself and his alcoholic behaviour make his life anything but simple. If you get Robicheaux or love intigue and old school heavy handed law enforcement, this is the book for you!

This I think is the third of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels and it didn't disappoint.If you like well written crafted crime/thriller novels with a descriptive edge which puts you almost at the scene with the characters then James Lee Burke is the author of choice!