James Lee Burke has won the Edgar Award three times and received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America — the highest honor in American crime fiction — for a body of work set almost entirely in the specific geography of New Iberia, Louisiana. His detective Dave Robicheaux works out of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, drinks at specific bars, drives specific roads, and sees the ghosts of the Civil War and Vietnam layered over the same bayou landscape. A statue of Burke was erected in downtown New Iberia in April 2024. The walking tour of his geography is a real thing. The restaurant where Dave Robicheaux eats has a plaque.
Quick facts
- ·Three-time Edgar Award winner and recipient of the Grand Master Award — the highest honor in American crime fiction.
- ·His detective Dave Robicheaux works out of the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office and lives on East Main Street in New Iberia.
- ·Burke's novels have been adapted into two films: 'Heaven's Prisoners' (1996) and 'In the Electric Mist' (2009), both shot in the area.
- ·A bronze statue of Burke was erected in downtown New Iberia in April 2024.
- ·Burke has written over 40 novels, nearly all set in the specific bayou geography of Iberia Parish.
- ·The walking tour of Robicheaux's New Iberia is a real thing — the bars, the roads, and the restaurant with the plaque are all findable.
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Editorial content compiled with AI assistance. Place details verified against public records.