Detective Dave Robicheaux is facing the most painful and dangerous case of his career. A troubled young woman breezes into his hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. She happens to be the daughter of Robicheaux's onetime best friend — a friend he witnessed gunned down in a bank robbery, a tragedy that forever changed Robicheaux's life.

In Pegasus Descending, James Lee Burke again explores psyches as much as evidence, and tries to make sense of human behavior as well as of his characters' crimes. Richly atmospheric, frightening in its sudden violence, and replete with the sort of puzzles only the best crime fiction creates, Burke's latest novel is an unforgettable roller coaster of passion, surprise, and regret.

The twists begin when Trish Klein — the only offspring of Robicheaux's Vietnam-era buddy — starts passing marked hundred-dollar bills in local casinos. Is she a good kid gone bad? A victim's child seeking revenge? A promiscuous beauty seducing everyone good within her grasp? And how does her behavior relate to the apparent suicide of another "good" girl, an ace student named Yvonne Darbonne, who apparently participated in a college frat orgy before her death?

Can Robicheaux make his peace with the demons that have haunted him since his friend's murder so many years ago? Can he figure out how a local mobster fits into all the schemes and deaths? Can Robicheaux's life be whole again when it has been shattered by so much tragedy?

Once again, Burke proves why he is the virtual poet laureate of southern Louisiana, and why his novels, especially those featuring Dave Robicheaux, stand as brilliant literature and entertainment for our time.

"Drawing on classical antecedents, bestseller Burke peoples his 15th Dave Robicheaux novel (after 2004's Crusader's Cross) with his usual assortment of near mythic characters, demonstrating how our everyday lives are beset with age-old, universal dilemmas. New Iberia, La., detective Dave Robicheaux, for whom redemption has become a lifelong pursuit, suits up once again to tilt against villains both real and in his own troubled psyche. Twenty-five years earlier, the young alcohol-soaked cop witnessed his friend and fellow Vietnam vet, Dallas Klein, executed by a group of cold-blooded thugs. He was unable to intercede because he was plastered. Now, a young grifter who may be the victim's daughter, Trish Klein, has appeared in New Iberia, passing counterfeit money and baiting Whitey Bruxal, the aging mobster responsible for Dallas's death. Meanwhile, Dave investigates the apparent suicide of pretty young co-ed Yvonne Darbonne. Are the two cases linked? Dave thinks so, and he enlists longtime loose-cannon sidekick Clete Purcel to prove it. With peerless naturalistic descriptions and lush, metaphysical imagery, Burke creates another challenging morality play for his flawed, everyman hero. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Seductive....Burke keep[s] a reader's blood pumping." Los Angeles Times

"Burke can touch you in ways few writers can." The Washington Post

"As usual, fans of this distinguished series will have a lot more sympathy for Dave than he can muster for himself." Kirkus Reviews

"Everything that makes this series so compelling — the elegiac, seductively lyrical prose; the complex character of Robicheaux; the lovingly evoked bayou setting — is here in abundance....[N]o serious reader of hard-boiled fiction should ever miss a moment of Dave Robicheaux in action." Booklist

"With his superbly written prose and intricate plotting, Burke's latest is sure to please his legion of fans. Highly recommended." Library Journal

"Burke takes the theme of generational guilt to Homeric levels of tragedy, writing with a kind of drunken rapture about those sins that cycle through the regional heritage, poisoning generations yet unborn." Marilyn Stassio, The New York Times Book Review

"No other contemporary detective fiction writer can imbue a novel with as many labyrinthine plot twists and action and still flesh out characters in such vivid and entertaining detail." BookReporter.com

"In this fine installment in a strong series, Burke continues to tackle the complicated race and class issues that dog his poor Southern state." Boston Globe

"There's never a lack of compelling characters in Burke's books....This is the 15th Dave Robicheaux novel, and like the first — and all the others in between — it's a story that transcends genre." Rocky Mountain News

"[A]rguably the best crime series in America these days." Dallas-Ft. Worth Star Telegram

In this haunting new novel, "New York Times" bestselling author Burke takes readers back to New Orleans, where detective Dave Robicheaux becomes engulfed in a dangerous mystery surrounding a beautiful girl and stolen money.

James Lee Burke, a rare winner of two Edgar Awards, is the author of twenty-three previous novels, including such New York Times bestsellers as Crusader's Cross, Bitterroot, Purple Cane Road, Cimarron Rose, Jolie Blon's Bounce, and Dixie City Jam. He lives in Missoula, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana.