James Lee Burke returns to his bestselling Dave Robicheaux series, bringing Dave’s partner and friend Clete Purcel to the forefront for the first time as Clete and Dave attempt to stop ruthless smugglers of a dangerous new drug. Clete Purcel — private investigator, forner cop, and war veteran with a hard shell covering just a few soft spots — is Dave Robicheaux’s longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has a troubled past. When Clete finds his beloved Caddy ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug trade, it feels personal — his grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose, and his fists curl when he thinks of the dealers who sold it. Just as Clete traces the connections in this far-reaching criminal enterprise, Clara Bow, a woman with a dark past, hires Clete to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a string of brutal deaths all link back to a heavily tattooed man who lurk around every corner. Clete experiences shockingly lifelike hallucinations and questions Clara’s ulterior motives when he and Dave start to hear rumors of a dangerous substance with potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed Clete’s car might have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could’ve imagined. Gripping and violent, yet interlaced with Clete’s humor and fierce drive to protect those he loves, Clete brings a fresh perspective to an iconic series. James Lee Burke proves yet again that he is the “heavyweight champ” and “great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed” (Michael Connelly)