Blossom (Burke Series #5) Book

Burke leaves the Big Apple behind to help a former cellmate in a small town in Indiana. Virgil, the cellmate, has a nephew that's been accused of gunning down couples at a local lovers' lane. Can Burke figure out who the real killer is before he strikes again? And what about the mysterious Blossom who's tugging at Burke's heartstrings?

This Burke book was one of my favorites so far. Burke does a lot more detective work than usual and Vachss doesn't rely on the usual supporting cast. While the Prof has a role and the Mole makes an appearance, this one is mostly Burke and some new supporting characters. Burke's method of tracking down and entrapping the killer was well done and fairly novel. We got a few more glimpses into Burke's dark past. The plot moved fairly quickly and there was no padding. Virgil and Burke helping Lloyd learn how to be a man was probably my favorite part.

Any complaints? Not really except that Burke and his world view are so bleak I feel like reading some Jim Thompson afterwords to cheer myself up. Blossom is my Burke top two and is definitely worth a read.