The Convict and Other Stories by James Lee BurkeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Having listened to most of Burke’s mystery novel audiobooks, I didn’t know whether to expect short versions of his mysteries or something else. You get something else here, a collection of very readable short stories, many touching on the same themes Burke hits in his mysteries, especially his Dave Robicheaux stories set in New Iberia parish in Louisiana. I always said Burke knows how to write an atmospheric scene that drips humidity like bayou bald cypress trees in August, and he shows some of his writing expertise here. But there are also things missing in comparison to his novels. That’s not necessarily bad. Burke tends to write long, angsty, and over-literary inner monologues for his characters, and you don’t get as much of that in these short stories. I missed them. Burke also tends to repeat plot elements in his novels, but in these short stories he’s further afield than I am used to – there’s even a story about baseball here. (I’m currently reading Burke’s “The New Iberia Blues”, and it focuses around Hollywood filmmakers filming in rural Louisiana. I believe that means that more than 10% of his dozens of mystery novels revolve around this same theme – movie making in New Iberia. I suspect the Louisiana Film Board is way more successful in Burke’s novels than in real life! These stories must have preceded that plot theme.) Another interesting difference was the narrators of the audiobooks. Most of Burke’s unabridged audiobooks are narrated by Will Patton, and he has a way of amplifying Burke’s atmospheric descriptions. I would go out of my way to listen to Patton. Here, different narrators read each story. For this kind of collection, that worked fine. The variety helped separate the stories and keep my interest up. Overall, I liked these stories. They provided a taste of the writing of Burke without the deep investment required of his novels – kind of like a tourist version.
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