Creole Belle (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

• Dave Robicheaux: Police officer with the New Iberia Police Department. He was injured on his last case and is recovering from the injury at the start of the story.
• Gretchen Horowitz: A hitman with a conscience and a relative to someone readers of Burke know very well.
• Tee Jolie Melton: A Creole girl who comes to visit Dave while he is recovering.
• Clete Purcel: Dave's long time friend.
• Frankie Gee (Giacano): A mobster who found a marker signed by Clete and sold it to Bix Golightly.
• Bix Golightly: A criminal who purchased Clete's marker from Frankie Gee and wants to collect owed money and years of built up interest.
• Waylon Grimes: A part time killer who works for Bix Golightly.
• Alice Werenhaus, i.e. Miss Alice: A former nun who works for Clete Purcel as his secretary.
• Mr. Benoit: An appraiser who is hired by Bix Golightly to appraise a building Clete owns.
• Dana Magelli: A New Orleans Police Department officer.
• Molly Robicheaux: Dave's wife.
• Alafair Robicheaux: Dave's daughter.
• Avery DeBlanc: Tee Jolie's grandfather.
• Blue: Tee Jolie's little sister.
• Nig Rosewater: A bail bondsman who sometimes gives Clete work.
• Helen Soileau: Dave's boss. She is the sheriff of the New Iberia Sheriff's Department.
• Pierre Dupree: A building owner in New Orleans.
• Cecil Barbour: The Sheriff of St Mary Parish
• Jimmy the Dime: A person with a book store who gives Purcel and Dave information.
• Count Carbone a.k.a. Baron Belladonna: Jimmy the Dime's business partner.
• Alexis Dupree, i.e. Mr. Alexis: Pierre Dupree's elderly grandfather, a man with a questionable past.
• Etienne Pollard: A sheriff's deputy in St Mary Parish
• Candy: A woman Clete knows who gives him information.
• Varina Leboeuf: Pierre's wife but they are getting a divorce and it's not amiable.
• Jesse Leboeuf: Vera's father. He's a retired police officer with a grudge against everybody.
• Depty Catin Segura: A black female police officer in New Iberia. She is about to be promoted to detective.
• Ronnie Earl Patin: A man Dave sent to prison but is now released and is thought to have taken a shot at Dave.
• Chad Patin: Ronnie's brother who thinks people are after him.
• Angel or Angelle: The name of the man running an illegal operation.
• Rev. Amidee Brossard: Varina's spiritual adviser. They want to hire Purcell.
• Karl Engels: A German submarine officer in WWII who owned a weapon that was used in a murder in New Orleans.
• Marco: A person who calls Gretchen and tries to give her orders.
• Lamont Woolsey: A businessman who is a friend of Pierre Dupree. He also owns a boat that has interest to Dave and Clete.
• Herbert Donnelly: A businessman with an English accent, he's in business with Lamont Woolsey and perhaps Pierre Dupree.
• Bobby Joe Guidry: A man Dave meets and tries to help.
• Wally: The head dispatcher at New Iberia Police Department.
• Ilene Soileau: Helen Soileau's sister, who is in a hospital.

Quotes edit see section history

• “I cannot say with certainty what constitutes a sociopath. My guess is they love evil for its own sake, that they choose roles and vocations endowing them with sufficient authority and power to impose their agenda on their fellow man.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “But it's hard to hate the dead, no matter what they have done. That's the power they hold over us.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “Saint Augustine once said we should not use the truth to injure.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “No one likes to be afraid. Fear is the enemy of love and faith and robs us of all serenity. It steals both our sleep and our sunrise and makes us treacherous and venal and dishonorable.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “Age is a peculiar kind of thief. It slips up on you and steps inside your skin and is so quiet and methodical in its work that you never realize it has stolen your youth until you look into the mirror one morning and see a man you don't recognize.”

  Reverend Broussard

• “My experience has been that when people are frightened and do not understand the historical changes taking place around them, they seek magic and power to solve their problems.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “Meditations upon morality become cheap stuff and offer little succor when it comes to dealing with evil. The latter is not an abstraction, and ignoring it is to become its victim. The earth abides forever, but so does the canker inside the rose, and the canker never sleeps.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “He (Clete) saw the truth but never pushed the burden onto someone else.”

• “I would like to believe the instincts of the mob can be exorcised from the species or genetically bred out of it. But there is no culture in the history of the world that has not lauded its warriors over its mystics. Sometimes in an idle moment, I try to recall the names of five slaves out of the whole sorry history of human bondage whose lives we celebrate. I have never had much success.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “You should never keep score in your life or anyone else's. And you never measure yourself or anyone else by one deed, whether it's for good or bad.”

  Dave Robicheaux

• “Is there any worse curse than approval? Have you ever learned anything new from people who accept the world as it is? ... it's a fine thing to belong to a private club based on rejection and difference. I'll go a step further. I believe excoriation is the true measure of our merit.”

  Dave Robicheaux

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• New Orleans: Where Dave is recovering from injuries at the start of the story.
• St. Charles Avenue: The street in New Orleans where the facility is where Dave is a patient.
• Jackson Square: A popular area in New Orleans and close to where Clete Purcel has his office.
• Cafe du Monde: A famous eating establishment in New Orleans. It is near Clete's office.
• Clementine's: A bar that Clete and Dave patronize.
• St. Martinville: A part of New Orleans where one of the characters lives.
• Des Allemands: An area near New Orleans where a number of 911 calls came in.
• Pinhook Road: Where a Chamber of Commerce is having a luncheon at a restaurant.
• Chesapeake Bay: Where the Chamber of Commerce buys oysters and has them flown in to the luncheon.
• Shreveport: Where Helen goes to be with her sister.
• Jeanerette: Where Catin Segura lives with her two children.

First Sentence edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• NOPD: New Orleans Police Department.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by The Glass Rainbow.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. James Lee Burke (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3552.U723 C74 2012
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary