''Evil, bigotry and doing the right thing. All are done as expertly as ever by a master writer'' DAILY TELEGRAPH

Lucas Smothers, nineteen and from the wrong end of town, has been arrested for the rape and murder of a local girl. His lawyer Billy Bob Holland is convinced of Lucas''s innocence but proving it means unearthing the truth from a seething mass of deceit and corruption. A corruption endemic in the way it can be only in a gossipy small town where everybody knows everybody else''s business.

Billy Bob''s relationship with Lucas''s family is not an easy one - years back he was a close friend of Mrs Smothers, too close according to her husband Vernon. And when Lucas overhears gruesome tales of serial murder from a neighbouring cell in the local lock-up, the waters are muddied even further and Lucas himself looks like a candidate for an untimely death.

Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:

''James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.'' Michael Connelly

''A gorgeous prose stylist.'' Stephen King

''Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.'' Daily Mail

Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke:

Billy Bob Holland Series

1. Cimarron Rose
2. Heartwood
3. Bitterroot
4. In The Moon of Red Ponies

Dave Robicheaux Series

1. The Neon Rain
2. Heaven''s Prisoners
3. Black Cherry Blues
4. A Morning for Flamingos
5. A Stained White Radiance
6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead
7. Dixie City Jam
8. Burning Angel
9. Cadillac Jukebox
10. Sunset Limited
11. Purple Cane Road
12. Jolie Blon''s Bounce
13. Last Car to Elysian Fields
14. Crusader''s Cross
15. Pegasus Descending
16. The Tin Roof Blowdown
17. Swan Peak
18. The Glass Rainbow
19. Creole Belle
20. Light of the World
21. Robicheaux

Hackberry Holland Series

1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield
2. Rain Gods
3. Feast Day of Fools
4. House of the Rising Sun


* Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *