Pun Salad

James Lee Burke is, as I type, 82 years young. His Louisiana cop hero, Dave Robicheaux, is at best only a few years younger than that. But he's still working. And as long as that goes on, I'm on board to watch. So I snapped up this one when the hardcover price dropped to $11.84 at Amazon. (Right now, it's down to $10.26, even better.)

I can't say that it isn't more of the same, but for JLB, "the same" means "pretty darn good". Dave is confronted with an array of corpses, dispatched with few clues other than deranged references to Tarot cards. Also, an array of suspects, lowlifes, corrupt cops, a weirdo hitman operating under his own twisted moral code, decadent Hollywood types, and … well, there's an attractive new lady cop who's way too young for Dave, but seems to show some inklings of romantic interest in him. Too good to be true? It doesn't help that she's got dark secrets in her past. Also not helping: Dave's daughter Alafair is involved with the Hollywood folks. Gee, I wonder if that will work out well.

And the ghosts that appear in these books also show up. Bad news: they tend to show up for people who are about to kick the bucket.