Review: A Private Cathedral

A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read all but one of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux novels, and I still find that I enjoy the writing. His description of the swamps and bayous and bars and fishing boats and mansions are like Westerns, where place becomes as important as characters. Characters are where Burke is wearing out his welcome, though. Or more plot. The last more than half dozen Robicheaux books have a killer with what seems to be supernatural powers that tend to show up about halfway into the story and disappear before the finale. This killer is usually not the focus of the book, but at times you feel like you’ve wandered into a bayou version of the old TV show “The Night Stalker”. Burke’s bad guys are usually rich and connected. And almost every one of his plots involve musicians or actors. This book followed his formula. And I’m hoping it’s out of Burke’s system. I can't bring myself to say this was just OK, so I'll give it 3 stars based on the descriptive writing and the narration of the audiobook by the always awesome Will Patton.

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