I always thought Burke's main character was Dave Robicheaux, a cop in rural Louisiana. Now I've met up with Billy Bob Holland in this 2001 book. Billy Bob is a former Texas Ranger and now a lawyer is some backwater Texas town who talks to the ghost of his former partner whom Billy Bob accidentally killed while chasing some drug mules out of their jurisdiction in Mexicon. His longtime friend and former Seal, "Doc" Voss ran away from life with his daughter when his wife died, settling outside of Bozeman, Montana. The doc invites Billy Bob up for the summer. Everybody in town hates the doc cuz he is more of an environmentalist in a town that favors progress. Not only is some company doing nasty things in some mines, but the Bitterroots are home to a white supremacist group, a 'retired' mob chief, and a sociopath that Billy Bob put in prison only to see him paroled, Wade Dixon.
To intimidate the doc, some whack jobs rape his daughter but all that does is freak him out to the point of being accused of murdering one of the perps. Billy Bob tries to help out but mostly succeeds in pissing off everyone be they perp or police or Wade Dixon.
In the end, the bad guys and strange women meet their maker, the doc and daughter reconcile, Billy Bob stops screwing locals and his investigator long enough to do some camping and fishing with his sone.
I've come to like the Robicheaux thread of stories, but I actually thought Billy Bob was a bit like Robicheaux only way more annoying, to me and to the other characters. Maybe if I'd read a Billy Bob Holland book first, I'd think differently. Next time I pick up Burke, I'll make sure it is about Deputy Dave.
East Coast Don
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