James Lee Burke has been hailed as a “national treasure” (Tampa Bay Times), and in his ninth Dave Robicheaux thriller, it’s easy to see why. This taut, twisted tale of corruption in the Louisiana bayou truly brands Burke as “America’s best novelist” (Denver Post).

Aaron Crown comes from a long line of shady Cajun characters, and rumors of Klan ties swirl around his family—so his arrest for the murder of a black civil rights leader would seem to be an open and shut case. But when the man who worked hardest to put Crown away ascends to the governor’s mansion, detective Dave Robicheaux begins to suspect that Aaron may be innocent of the crime. Soon key figures in high places start pressuring Dave to drop his investigation…but that only makes him more determined to uncover the truth at any cost.

About The Author

Photograph by James McDavid

James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Product Details

Publisher: Pocket Books (May 11, 2015)
Length: 416 pages
ISBN13: 9781501122132

Raves and Reviews

“James Lee Burke is the heavy weight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.”

– #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly

“For five decades, Burke has created memorable novels that weave exquisite language, unforgettable characters, and social commentary into written tapestries that mirror the contemporary scene. His work transcends genre classification.”

– Philadelphia Inquirer

“James Lee Burke is the reigning champ of nostalgia noir.”

– The New York Times Book Review

"Burke is a genius, an exemplar of all that is great in American writing."

– John Connolly, New York Times bestselling author of The Burning Soul

“You can call Burke a crime fiction writer, but I call him a national treasure . . . a master of propulsive plots, rich prose and achingly real characters.”

– Tampa Bay Times

“Burke seems to get better and better with every book. During the last few years in particular, he has opened up a larger canvas to paint brilliant allegorical plots – involving good and evil, money and power, Christianity and morality – and in some ways he has lifted the work above the level of crime fiction in a way that is more obvious to readers. . . . [Wayfaring Stranger] is one of the most hopeful and ambitious books he’s ever written, 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

“Burke's fans will recognize his lyrical strengths regarding the themes of social justice and class struggle, violence set to a stunning backdrop of natural beauty and destruction, and a Gulf Coast region that includes historically accurate details to delight Texas and Louisiana natives. . . . Perhaps more than any of Burke's previous work, Wayfaring Stranger is a tender love story, proving yet again his versatility and skill in creating gorgeous, luscious, painful stories of the American experience. Beautifully composed and tragic, Wayfaring Stranger is a sweeping historical epic of war and the American dream.”

– ShelfAwareness.com

“Burke’s evocative prose remains a thing of reliably fierce wonder.”

– Entertainment Weekly

“[Burke] has produced a magnificent and 'unput-downable' tome that encompasses the whole of his career as a great writer.”

– Providence Journal

"My favorite fiction author."

– Bill O'Reilly