Goodreads meta-data is 244 pages rated 3.97 by 252 litizens.
Genre: krimi
Verdict: Tenderfoot badge.
Second outing for Archer.
Trying too hard. Every page has another etched metaphor in the description. Seems more intellect went into those metaphors than into the characters who seem lifeless stereotypes, and this is from a reader who greatly admires RM. This volume has a nice introduction by John Banville, himself a kriminologist of note.
The screenplay for the 1975 movie is far more coherent and creditable. Not often I admit that. Plus the shift to NOLA adds immeasurably to the atmosphere, Copain. The bayous, the mist, that bridge to somewhere, the Cajun music (but no cuisine), the Spanish moss, the corruption, the magnolia trees…. Murray Hamilton made a larger than life villain in the film and not the cipher he is in the book. This is krimi country that James Lee Burke now owns lock, stock, and many gun barrels.
Footnote: Tenderfoot is the first of forty-seven boy scout merit badges. Impressive, huh? Just remember that one is for paper-making, and I don’t mean journalism.