A Morning for Flamingoes

There are currently 23 books in the Dave Robicheaux series and I have read (and own) most of the later novels. So I decided to go back to the beginning and see how Book 4 (written in 1990) was put together compared to Mr. Burke’s more recent efforts. Unsurprisingly the author was already using the same successful formula back in the beginning, pairing Dave with Cletus Purcell as the ex-New Orleans detectives now moved (or pushed) on to other endeavors.

In this episode “the Bobbsey Twins From Homicide” pair up once again to create a pair of tremendously damaged individuals able to combine their ‘do-gooder’ intentions with extreme methods in order to sort the innocent from the guilty, the doers from the talkers, the hard-core criminals from those on the fringe and barely involved. Dave seems to always be searching for the good in everyone while Clete is happier with taking them all on and letting God sort them out.

Way back in 1990 James Lee Burke was already showing his phenomenal writing skills, painting vivid pictures of the Louisiana bayous with all of its heat and humidity, brilliant tropical flora, and swamp dwellers known by their sounds and smells. But it is of course the author’s ability to detect and dissect the human nature of various characters that Dave runs up against that draws the reader’s attention.

For while Dave and Clete are two of the most imperfect heroes in literature, many of the criminals they find themselves pitted against have some redeeming qualities of their own — that is other than the stone cold psychos they run up against on occasion whose own mothers’ would probably be happy sending to the death house.

Even back in 1990 James Lee Burke was lamenting the toxins and oils polluting the land and sea in Louisiana. He tries to look past that and describe the beauty of the areas that he grew up in, but it’s very obvious that he wanted people to know what was already going on down in the bayous.

Nobody can grab my imagination from the first line, then carry me gently through his wonderful assortment of characters, poetic, vivid imagery of the deep South, carefully crafted plots, well told stories, make me laugh, shudder with disbelief, relieve my daily tensions, then proceed gently to just the right ending like James Lee Burke. I first read Black Cherry Blues 30 years ago, struggled to find more books over the years, even found some in Ecuador, S.A., still read them over again after a year or so and now have most of his novels in my private collection. After reading, re-readin and collecting all John D. McDonald detective novels for 40 years, then wondering what next, along came James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly, but growing up in the deep South, Burke is still my number one favorite yet I can hardly wait for Connley to come out with the next book!

Dave Robicheaux is a troubled soul. If the horrific stuff he endured as a Marine in Vietnam was not enough, his years as a detective on the New Orleans PD dealing with every form of low life clinches it. He finally quit the NOPD after more than a decade and now runs a fishing camp in the bayous of Louisiana. But, he really cannot escape his past; trouble constantly comes looking for Dave.

Hes lately joined the New Iberia PD, but that blew up in his face. He barely survived being shot by a death row inmate who pulled a fast one on Daves partner when they were transporting the man to another prison.

With an opportunity to capture the man who shot him, Dave agrees to go undercover into the drug world. Since everyone knows that Dave is an ex-cop this is a very dangerous gambit. Between failed drug transactions and living in the kingpins house, Dave is hanging on by a thread, not knowing who to trust. An old cop buddy and a woman from his early years provide much needed support.

The author portrays so well the dark, gloomy, treacherous nature of the underworld and its inhabitants. The lushness of the swamps and bayous with who knows what lurking below the surface adds to the sense of unease. Dave is a compelling character but the wonder is how does he survive.

This was my 4th Burke novel. A Morning for Flamingos was as good as the other Burke novels I’ve read. His Characters, plots, and descriptions are as good as they come. If you haven’t read this author, you’re missing out on writing that will awe you.

In this fourth volume of the Dave Robicheaux series he and another deputy are transporting two prisoners to Angola prison when there is a successful escape and Dave is shot and left for dead beside the road. One of the prisoners is a young black man convicted of murder but his mother has tried to convince Dave that he is innocent. The other escapee is a psychotic killer.

While recovering from his wounds a DEA agent convinces Dave to go undercover as a potential major drug dealer in an attempt to take down Tony Cardo, a notorious gangster in New Orleans. I found this rather implausible since Dave is a known former homicide detective and his conduct is simply to straight arrow to fit into the underworld drug culture. Also, he forms a quite strange relationship with Tony as he becomes his confessor. Also the ever good samaritan, Dave gets involved with a woman that works in one of Tony’s clubs and another woman named Bootsie who was his first love as a teenager.

Given these reservations this is still a very good book and ends in a rather stunning conclusion. I recommend reading this book as well as all of the others in this lengthy journey with Dave and his sidekick Clete who as always brings so much to their adventures together.

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