Books by James Lee Burke

Portrait of James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke is celebrated for his richly atmospheric crime fiction, blending the grit of noir with the lyricism of Southern storytelling. His novels, often set against the sultry landscapes of Louisiana and Montana, explore justice, morality, and the human spirit through complex, deeply drawn characters such as detective Dave Robicheaux.

Renowned for his evocative prose and keen sense of place, Burke has earned a devoted readership and numerous literary accolades. Each book immerses readers in a world of haunting beauty and moral tension, where the lines between right and wrong are never entirely clear.

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129 products


  • Feast Day of Fools

    Orion Publishing Co Feast Day of Fools

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisA powerful and unforgettable thriller from 'one of the finest American writers' GUARDIANTrade ReviewJames Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed. * Michael Connelly *A gorgeous prose stylist. * Stephen King *Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced. * Daily Mail *There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society. * Independent *The king of Southern noir. * Daily Mirror *His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly. * Sunday Telegraph *One of the finest American writers. * Guardian *When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers. * Daily Express *

    5 in stock

    £9.49

  • A Morning For Flamingos

    Orion Publishing Co A Morning For Flamingos

    15 in stock

    Book Synopsis'No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists' DAILY MAILTrade ReviewJames Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed. * Michael Connelly *A gorgeous prose stylist. * Stephen King *Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced. * Daily Mail *The gentle giant of US crime writers, Burke always ensures that his Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux grapples with hot topics as much as with his own inner demons. * i newspaper *There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society. * Independent *The king of Southern noir. * Daily Mirror *His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly. * Sunday Telegraph *One of the finest American writers. * Guardian *When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers. * Daily Express *

    15 in stock

    £9.49

  • House of the Rising Sun

    Orion Publishing Co House of the Rising Sun

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisNew York Times bestseller and ''one of the finest crime writer''s America has ever produced'' James Lee Burke returns with his latest masterpiece, the story of a father and son separated by war.From its opening scene in revolutionary Mexico to the Battle of the Marne in 1918, and on to the bordellos and saloons of San Antonio during the reign of the Hole in the Wall Gang, House of the Rising Sun is an epic tale of love, loss, betrayal, vengeance, and retribution that follows Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland on his journey to reunite with his estranged son, Ishmael, a captain in the United States Army.After a violent encounter that leaves four Mexican soldiers dead, Hackberry escapes the country in possession of a stolen artifact, earning the ire of a bloodthirsty Austrian arms dealer who then places Hack''s son Ishmael squarely in the cross hairs of a plot to recapture his prize, believed to be the mythic cup of Christ.Along the way, we meeTrade ReviewJames Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed. * Michael Connelly *A gorgeous prose stylist. * Stephen King *Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced. * Daily Mail *There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society. * Independent *The king of Southern noir. * Daily Mirror *His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly. * Sunday Telegraph *One of the finest American writers. * Guardian *When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers. * Daily Express *

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Jealous Kind

    Orion Publishing Co The Jealous Kind

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke - an atmospheric, coming-of-age story set in Texas, 1952. Perfect for fans of Cormac McCarthy and Michael Connelly.Trade ReviewOne of America's greatest thriller writers ... this story of growing up in Texas in the 50s punches all the hallowed Burke buttons of valour and honour when a man does what he's got to do ... outstanding! * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *This tale of the getting of wisdom - terrific in every sense - is the perfect place to start enjoying one of the world's finest (crime) writers. * Evening Standard *'a hugely powerful coming-of-age tale ... unmissable' * Irish Independent *Don't miss it, whatever you do. * promotingcrime.blogspot.co.uk *

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • The Tin Roof Blowdown

    Orion Publishing Co The Tin Roof Blowdown

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisNew edition of award-winner James Lee Burke's powerful crime novel set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina and its devastating effects on New Orleans.Trade ReviewTHE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN is more than a crime novel; more than a literary novel even. It is a work of profound historical value and importance ... To say I enjoyed this book is an understatement ... there were moments when I wanted to put the book down, it was so painful to continue. But I couldn't. Nor, I dare say, will anyone else * Independent on Sunday *THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN is the novel James Lee Burke was born to write. His imagination has always tended to the apocalyptical - but Hurricane Katrina outdid his worst inventions ... The passages describing the actual flooding are tremendously powerful but Burke also weaves a fully satisfying story into this extreme event * Evening Standard *This New Orleans looks like Bosch and reads like Ballard ... it's worth emphasising that no 'literary' novelist has performed this task of imaginative witness to disaster yet. And none will do it half so well as Burke. ... he proves more forcefully than ever that he can dive down these mean - or drowned - streets and strike both a tragic, and epic, note * Independent *In the US, he's often regarded as the crimewriter's crimewriter. But that was before Hurricane Katrina ripped the soul out of Burke's beloved New Orleans and inspired him to write what has to be his most gripping thriller to date ... Burke's descriptions, especially of the aftermath of the hurricane, are more vivid and powerful than any piece of reportage I've yet to come across * The Mirror *Probably his finest novel ... it's quite an achievement to make the 16th novel in a series a personal best, but it's more than that - it stands comparison with the best of Southern fiction * Observer *The story, about greed and murder and redemption, contains some of Burke's most brilliantly realised characters ... a compelling and moving narrative, punctuated by his devastating descriptions of the ravaged city * Sunday Telegraph *You feel guilty for enjoying it so much ... a great piece of art has come out of human trouble ... it is his greatest novel -- Boyd Hilton * Simon Mayo Book Club *A beautifully written howl of rage and pain over the disaster - social, political, human - that was Hurricane Katrina ... Burke has crafted a killer mystery and a passionate tribute to to his beloved New Orleans * Time Out *THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN is, inevitably, sadder and angrier than previous Robicheaux novels. We always knew James Lee Burke was a master craftsman of the crime genre. This proves him to be more than that * The Times *This crime writer wears Faulkner's mantle now -- Boyd Tonkin * INDEPENDENT *Brutal, lyrical and brilliant * GUARDIAN *James Lee Burke is one of our finest writers of crime fiction * DEADLY PLEASURES *

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • The New Iberia Blues

    Orion Publishing Co The New Iberia Blues

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisDetective Dave Robicheaux first met Desmond Cormier on the backstreets of New Orleans. He was a young pretender who dreamt of stardom whilst Robicheaux had his path all figured out. Now, twenty-five years later, their roles have reversed. When Robicheaux knocks on Cormier''s door, he sees a successful Hollywood director. It seems dreams can come true. But so can nightmares.A young woman has been crucified, wearing only a small chain on her ankle, and all the evidence points to Cormier. Robicheaux wants to believe his old friend wouldn''t be capable of such a crime - but Cormier''s silence is deafening.And he isn''t the only ghost from Robicheaux''s past which comes back to haunt him...Trade ReviewA gripping thriller from a master of the form * I paper *One of crime fiction's great creations. He's like no other cop. Haunted by the Vietnam War, prone to violence, heavy drinking and fits of depression, he emerges as a flawed man of honour, an enemy of injustice and of racial hatred. And Burke is like no other crime writer, his prose is lyrical, swirling and nostalgic. -- Marcel Berlins * THE TIMES *After 22 books, Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels have established their own unforgettable world ... Utterly unique -- John Williams * MAIL ON SUNDAY *James Lee Burke is a wonderful writer with a particular talent for describing the light and landscape of Louisiana -- Natasha Cooper * LITERARY REVIEW *Once again James Lee Burke has created a phantasmagoric fable set amid the rank luxuriance of the Louisiana bayous ... The fact that this gruesome, stunningly beautiful novel ends on a note of hope is testament to Burke's narrative genius -- Mark Sanderson * EVENING STANDARD *The New Iberia Blues should be greeted with a fanfare of trumpets: it is a masterpiece -- Michael Henderson * THE SPECTATOR *The prose is, as always, dreamily fabulous as Robicheaux, one of American crime fiction's great knight errants, embarks on one last tilt against evil's windmills. * IRISH TIMES *The prose is, as always, dreamily fabulous as Robicheaux, one of American crime fiction's great knight errants, embarks on one last tilt against evil's windmills. * The Irish Times *

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • A Private Cathedral

    Orion Publishing Co A Private Cathedral

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisDetective Dave Robicheaux is caught in the crossfire of Louisiana''s oldest and bloodiest gangland feud...From the wreckage of Louisiana''s oldest and family rivalry, Detective Dave Robicheaux faces his most sinister enemy yet . . .Isolde and Johnny - the star-crossed teenage heirs to New Iberia''s criminal empires - have run away together, and Robicheaux is tasked with finding them. But when his investigation brings him too close to both Isolde''s mother and her father''s mistress, the venomous mafioso orders a hit on Robicheaux and his partner, Clete Purcel.In order to rescue the young lovers, and save hi self, Robicheaux must face a terrifying time-traveling superhuman hitman capable of inflicting horrifying hallucinations on his victims, and overcome the demons that have tormented him his whole life...Trade ReviewIf you don't know Lee Burke and his steamy underworld, you're missing a lifelong pleasure -- James Naughtie * RADIO TIMES *Burke is peerless, his novels setting the standard for his genre -- Paschal Donohoe * THE IRISH TIMES *

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Harbor Lights

    Orion Publishing Co Harbor Lights

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisA story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella.****These eight stories move between the marshlands of the Gulf of Mexico, the sweeping plains of Colorado, and the prisons, saloons, and trailer parks of the South, weaving together quiet acts of love and survival with shocking eruptions of violence and revenge. Harbor Lights is populated with unforgettable characters, unfolds in lyrical prose, and displays James Lee Burke''s singular skills in this masterful anthology.****PRAISE FOR JAMES LEE BURKE, THE AWARD-WINNING KING OF SOUTHERN NOIR:''James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed'' Michael Connelly''A gorgeous prose stylist'' Stephen King''No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contempo

    1 in stock

    £8.99

  • Gale, a Cengage Group Clete

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £21.78

  • Lay Down My Sword and Shield

    Simon & Schuster Lay Down My Sword and Shield

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • Feast Day of Fools

    Simon & Schuster Audio Feast Day of Fools

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £37.49

  • Creole Belle Dave Robicheaux

    Simon & Schuster Audio Creole Belle Dave Robicheaux

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £37.49

  • Two for Texas

    Simon & Schuster Audio Two for Texas

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £22.49

  • Light of the World Dave Robicheaux

    Simon & Schuster Audio Light of the World Dave Robicheaux

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £37.49

  • Wayfaring Stranger

    Simon & Schuster Audio Wayfaring Stranger

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £29.99

  • Light of the World Dave Robicheaux

    Simon & Schuster Audio Light of the World Dave Robicheaux

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £12.74

  • Wayfaring Stranger

    Simon & Schuster Audio Wayfaring Stranger

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £12.74

  • In the Moon of Red Ponies

    Gallery Books In the Moon of Red Ponies

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £19.27

  • Swan Peak

    Simon & Schuster Swan Peak

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • Crusaders Cross

    Simon & Schuster Crusaders Cross

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisCritically acclaimed and bestselling crime writer James Lee Burke returns to Louisiana where his ever-popular hero, Dave Robicheaux, sleuths his way through a hotbed of sin and uncertainty.For Dave Robicheaux, life in Louisiana is filled with haunting memories of the past—images from Vietnam, the violent streets of New Orleans, and his own troubled youth. In Crusader’s Cross, a deathbed confession from an old schoolmate resurrects a story of injustice, the murder of a young woman, and a time in Robicheaux’s life he has tried to forget. Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin. It was back in the innocent days of the 1950s when Robicheaux and his brother, Jimmie, met her on a Galveston beach. She was pretty and Jimmie fell for her hard—not knowing she was a prostitute on infamous Post Office Street, with ties to the mob. Then Ida was abducted and never seen again. Now, decades later, Robicheaux is asking questions about I

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • Pegasus Descending

    Simon & Schuster Pegasus Descending

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £14.45

  • The Tin Roof Blowdown

    Simon & Schuster The Tin Roof Blowdown

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.19

  • House of the Rising Sun

    Simon & Schuster Audio House of the Rising Sun

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £12.74

  • The Jealous Kind

    Simon & Schuster Audio The Jealous Kind

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.99

  • Robicheaux

    Simon & Schuster Audio Robicheaux

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.99

  • Simon & Schuster Audio Dont Forget Me Little Bessie

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis

    Out of stock

    £33.74

  • A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    Simon & Schuster Audio A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £29.99

  • Another Kind of Eden

    Simon & Schuster Audio Another Kind of Eden

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £22.49

  • Every Cloak Rolled in Blood

    Simon & Schuster Audio Every Cloak Rolled in Blood

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £22.49

  • Jolie Blon's Bounce: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    Simon & Schuster Jolie Blon's Bounce: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • A Stained White Radiance: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    Simon & Schuster A Stained White Radiance: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • The Glass Rainbow

    Simon & Schuster The Glass Rainbow

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • Last Car to Elysian Fields

    Simon & Schuster Last Car to Elysian Fields

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • Light of the World

    Simon & Schuster Light of the World

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £16.99

  • Creole Belle

    Simon & Schuster Creole Belle

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £16.99

  • In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead

    Simon & Schuster In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • Cadillac Jukebox

    Simon & Schuster Cadillac Jukebox

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • The Jealous Kind

    Simon & Schuster The Jealous Kind

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.19

  • House of the Rising Sun

    Simon & Schuster House of the Rising Sun

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • A Private Cathedral

    Simon & Schuster A Private Cathedral

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • Another Kind of Eden

    Simon & Schuster Another Kind of Eden

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke brings readers a captivating tale of justice, love, brutality, and mysticism set in the turbulent 1960s.The American West in the early 1960s appears to be a pastoral paradise: golden wheat fields, mist-filled canyons, frolicking animals. Aspiring novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has observed it from the open door of a boxcar, riding the rails for both inspiration and odd jobs. Jumping off in Denver, he finds work on a farm and meets Joanne McDuffy, an articulate and fierce college student and gifted painter. Their soul connection is immediate, but their romance is complicated by Joanne’s involvement with a shady professor who is mixed up with a drug-addled cult. When a sinister businessman and his son who wield their influence through vicious cruelty set their sights on Aaron, drawing him into an investigation of grotesque murders, it is clear that this idyllic landscape harbors tremendous power—and evil. Followed by a mysterious shrouded figure who might not be human, Aaron will have to face down all these foes to save the life of the woman he loves and his own. The latest installment in James Lee Burke’s masterful Holland family saga, Another Kind of Eden is both riveting and one of Burke’s most ambitious works to date. It dismantles the myths of both the twentieth-century American West and the peace-and-love decade, excavating the beauty and idealism of the era to show the menace and chaos that lay simmering just beneath the surface.

    Out of stock

    £21.60

  • Another Kind of Eden

    Simon & Schuster Another Kind of Eden

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £13.60

  • Bitterroot

    Simon & Schuster Bitterroot

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • Cimarron Rose: A Billy Bob Holland Novel

    Simon & Schuster Cimarron Rose: A Billy Bob Holland Novel

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £14.45

  • The Lost Get-Back Boogie

    Simon & Schuster The Lost Get-Back Boogie

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisRecently paroled from prison, Iry Paret becomes drawn into a tragic conflict involving an ex-convict and their neighbors in this page-turning thriller from New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke.Iry Paret’s done his time—two years for manslaughter in Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary. Now the war vet and blues singer is headed to Montana, where he hopes to live clean working on a ranch owned by the father of his prison pal, Buddy Riordan. In prison, Iry tinkered with a song—“The Lost Get-Back Boogie”—that never came out quite right. Now, the Riordan family’s problems hand him a new kind of trouble, with some tragic consequences. And Iry must get the tune right at last, or pay a fateful price.

    10 in stock

    £15.30

  • Rain Gods

    Simon & Schuster Rain Gods

    15 in stock

    Book Synopsis“America’s best novelist” (The Denver Post) brings back one of his most fascinating characters—Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland, cousin to lawman Billy Bob Holland—in this heart-pounding bestseller.In a heat-cracked border town, the bodies of nine illegal aliens—women and girls, killed execution-style—are unearthed in a shallow grave. Haunted by a past he can’t shake and his own private demons, Hack attempts to untangle the grisly case, which may lead to more bloodshed. Damaged young Iraq vet Pete Flores, who saw too much before fleeing the crime scene, and his girlfriend, Vikki Gaddis, are running for their lives. Sorting through the lowlifes who are hunting down Pete, and with Preacher Jack Collins, a Godfearing serial killer for hire, in the mix, Hack is caught up in a terrifying race for survival—for Pete, Vikki, and himself.

    15 in stock

    £17.10

  • Wayfaring Stranger

    Simon & Schuster Wayfaring Stranger

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn his most ambitious work yet, New York Times bestseller James Lee Burke tells a classic American story through one man’s unforgettable life.In 1934, sixteen-year-old Weldon Avery Holland happens upon infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after one of their notorious armed robberies. A confrontation with the outlaws ends with Weldon firing a gun, unsure whether it hit its mark. Ten years later, Second Lieutenant Weldon Holland barely survives the Battle of the Bulge, in the process saving the lives of his sergeant, Hershel Pine, and a young Spanish prisoner of war, Rosita Lowenstein—a woman who holds the same romantic power over him as the strawberry blonde Bonnie Parker, and is equally mysterious. The three return to Texas where Weldon and Hershel get in on the ground floor of the nascent oil business. In just a few years’ time Weldon will spar with the jackals of the industry, rub shoulders with dangerous men, and win and lose fortunes twice over. But it is the prospect of losing his one true love that will spur his most reckless act yet—one inspired by that encounter long ago with the outlaws of his youth. A tender love story and pulse-pounding thriller, Wayfaring Stranger “is a sprawling historical epic full of courage and loyalty and optimism and good-heartedness that reads like an ode to the American Dream” (Benjamin Percy, Poets & Writers).

    10 in stock

    £15.29

  • Two for Texas

    Simon & Schuster Two for Texas

    10 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    10 in stock

    £13.60

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