The Tin Roof Blowdown

By James Lee Burke

A Dave Robicheaux novel.

As fans of the series know, Dave Robicheaux is a former New Orleans police officer who now works for the New Iberia police force. Set at the time of Hurricane Katrina, Dave has to deal with the aftermath of looting that involves his best friend Clete Purcel and his adopted daughter, Alafair.
Water and chaos fill the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A group of hapless looters think they have struck the motherlode when they discover the walls of the house they are looting are filled with bundles of cash, drugs and diamonds. While making off with their loot, two of them are shot by what appears to be a vigilante. One is killed and the other is paralyzed when the bullet pierces his spinal cord. A third looter stashes the loot and manages to get the wounded man, his brother, to a medical facility. What the men don't know is the house they stole the loot from belongs to notorious New Orleans crime boss Sidney Kovick. Some very bad people are anxious to get their hands on the property the looters made off with and will do almost anything to get it. Standing in the way is Dave Robicheaux and his best friend Clete Purcel.

A fascinating look at the aftermath of the hurricane that devastated south Louisiana, one can feel the author's grief at the fate that has fallen his beloved country. The hurricane serves as the blank canvas against which the callousness and cruelty of humankind are painted as Burke tells a tale of evil men doing evil for their own corrupt ends. Like the previous Robicheaux stories, this one is well worth reading.

Review from Leslie Budewitz for BookPage.

New Word:
Boudin: A Cajun sausage filled with anything from meat to crawfish, mixed with rice, and temptingly seasoned. It comes in two varieties: boudin rouge, which is blood sausage; and boudin blanc (white boudin), which is made with pork shoulder. "In a booth at the back of the club I saw a young black man sitting by himself, a beer and a length of microwave white boudin unwrapped from its wax paper in front of him."