The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux Series #18) Book

It is really surprising that the series does not end with The Glass Rainbow, because Burke almost leaves no stone unturned to suggest this is Robicheaux's swan song. There is a lot more focus on mortality than usual and the book has strained itself and reverted back to the series' core ideas. So the mystery gets a throwaway, blink and you will miss it explanation because the crime has always been anecdotal with Burke. It is a morality play where Robicheaux's end game is being a better man than anyone possibly could be in his place. Similarly Robicheaux's wife hardly figures in the narrative. He has had four wives throughout the series, so when the series shrinks to its basic tenets, his relationship with Clete Purcell and his daughter take up all the space. It reminded me of Chandler's The Long Goodbye as in how it was the weakest mystery yet the best entry in the series. Both are concerned with more important things than whodunnit.

The main suspect in a serial killer case is acquainted with Alafair's (Robicheaux's daughter) latest boyfriend - Kermit Abelard. The Abelards are rich Southern landlords, the kind that has played antagonists to Robicheaux since the series started. It is nice to see Alafair making errors in judgment, she has been too perfect in previous entries. Highlights include a great gunfight and an ending that would have been a fitting finale to the series.

Burke's breathtaking descriptions of Louisiana is stuff of legends. Like the great whore of Babylon, Louisiana was always desirable for her beauty and not her virtue. If Louisiana was a woman, this will be called a romance. His excellent prose is not only vivid but he subtly reinforces his themes. Like how in most scenes with Clete, he is eating. A symbol of gluttony for a character known for his insatiable urges or lack of restraint. Or the Abelard house is the oldest one in the parish surrounded by a dirty moat and accessible only via a bridge. It symbolizes how they live in the midst of moral vacuity and they are the last link to a forgotten past. No other crime writer will reward you for engaging with the writing to this extent. And in case you are here for the basal pleasures, Burke also writes some of the best hard boiled dialogue.

Robicheaux is the most layered protagonist in crime fiction history. With age both Burke and his protagonist has gotten more judgmental but he is often wondering whether his decisions are tinged with inherent biases and condescending attitudes. This sort of internal rumination makes him so appealing to me. He is certain about his motivations but confused about the morality of his actions.

Yet he changes. In a telling scene, one of Abelard's associates slut shames his daughter. Just before the scene Burke reminds how the same man has already been beaten up on three separate occasions because he is the sort of asshole that keeps dentists in business. Robicheaux however does not resort to violence though he has beaten up a guy before for saying similar stuff. And that in essence is why Robicheaux works so well for me. His first instinct is always to do the right thing and more importantly he does not always succeed.

For the last 6-7 entries, the series has been consistently good but formulaic. The Glass Rainbow however sizzles with a sense of impending doom that gives it an urgency the series has not seen in a long time. Add the best prose the genre has ever seen. And the only reason for not reading Burke as a crime fiction fan is if one finds the books too dark. But isn't it a bit like staying away from a stimulating and intelligent discussion because it is too smart for you? Rating - 5/5

Quotes : Like most Irish, the pagan in him was alive and well, but he kept a pew in a medieval cathedral where the knight-errant genuflected in a cone of stained light, blood-soaked cloak or not.

One that believed there was virtue in allowing memory to soften and revise the image of the deceased, that appearance was more important than substance, because ultimately appearance was, in its way, a fulfillment of aspiration.

Louisiana is a poem, but as with the Homeric epic, it's not good to examine its heroes too closely.