IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD by James Lee Burke

Refinished Mo 10/2/17  I originally read this in two days and finished on Xmas Eve, We 12/24/03. The note on the flyleaf says that I had a bad chest cold.

QUIRKY CAST OF CHARACTERS-

Batiste- Dave's helper/partner at the fishing shop

Alafair-  Dave and Bootsie's adopted daughter, Tripod is her pet.

Elrod T. Sykes- Drunken actor that's starring in the Civil War picture that's being shot in New Iberia.

Rosa (Rosie) Gomez- FBI (Fart- Barf- and Itch) agent and Dave's partner in the investigation.

Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni- This man grew up in New Iberia and played baseball with Dave in high school. He's a prominent mob figure in New Orleans. A huge man, shaped like a tapered banana- small head and tiny feet.

Kelly Drummond- Actress/girlfriend of Sykes. This woman is shot and killed. The killer thought she was Dave- she was wearing one of his t shirts.

Dewitt Prejean- Old black  Zydeco guitarist. He fills in the details of the murder of a black man, Hogman Pucet, that Dave witnessed in 1957. This man was having an affair with a white man- Twinky Herbert Lemoyne.

'The Ghost of' John Bell Hood- A Confederate general who appears (with his soldiers) to Dave throughout the book. He offers offbeat and eery advice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bell_Hood

Cherry Le Blanc- A prostitute who is murdered and mutilated by Murphy Ducet.

Mike Goldman- The loud and obnoxious director of the movie. He knows that he's tied to the mob, but he thinks he can keep things under control- he can't.

SUB-PLOT;

Murphy Doucet and Twinky Herbert Lemoyne killed Hogman Pucet for having an affair with Mrs. Lemoyne. Doucet was a state cop and arrested Hogman, then brought him out to the swamp and shot him dead- no belt and no shoe laces. Dave was a sophomore in college and working for an oil company on summer break. He was across the bayou and witnessed the killing- the two killers couldn't care less. I guess they thought it was only a black man and no one would give a damn.

In the end of the book, Doucet kidnaps Alafair and takes her to a deserted fishing cabin. Dave and Rosie track them down and Rosie empties her 357 into him. But, Julie Balboni ends up in prison. He runs the show on the inside and has many male lovers. One of these men throws gasoline on him while Baby Feet is asleep. Covered in flames, he jumps to his death on the jail room floor. 

James Lee Burke is a brilliant writer and I'd read anything by him, although my favorites are the Dave Robicheaux series.

QUOTES-

"What we do not do is let the other side make us be like them"

"Maybe we have so much collective guilt as a society that we fear to punish our individual members"