"VOODOO RIVER" By Robert Crais (A)

I have become a Robert Crais junkie for the simple reason that all of his Elvis Cole mysteries have given me a delightful literary "hit." I have nothing but wholehearted admiration for this author who has brought so much pleasure into my life. His beautifully written novels with their exceptional characterizations are the very best that I have found so far.

I will always continue looking for his equal, but I am not optimistic. My fear is that one day soon I will run out of Crais novels to feed my fix, and then what will become of me? Will I really have to wait another long, long two years for his next novel? I should probably take a hiatus and treat the few remaining Elvis Cole books that I have yet to read like a fine bottle of vintage wine that is only opened on special occasions.

"Voodoo River" is Crais' fifth novel in the Elvis Cole series, and it is another literary gem. Published in 1995, it is significant because Crais moves the locale of the story from Los Angeles back to Louisiana, where he was born. His comments about that area, its people, and its unique cuisine ring with a verisimilitude and a cajun patois that adds even more spice and character to the story. Just reading his descriptions of the local food makes me hungry even though I would be well advised to have plenty of antacid pills handy for the spicy cuisine.

This novel is also significant in that it is where private eye Elvis Cole first meets Lucille Chenier, a Louisiana attorney with whom he later becomes romantically involved. Elvis is smitten with her from the very first moment that he lays his eyes upon her, but his favorable impressions aren't returned. The beautiful but buttoned down Chenier is unimpressed with this oddball stranger from Los Angeles in spite of his wit and charm. Having a name like Elvis doesn't help either. Furthermore, Chenier believes that Cole was sent on a fool's errand at the expense of her client, a Hollywood actress. Nevertheless, she soon learns to respect him for his results, and then she comes to admire him for his integrity.

The gradual development of their relationship is portrayed in this novel with great affection and tenderness. In the following Crais novels, Lucy visits Elvis in "Sunset Express," and then she eventually moves out to Los Angeles in "L.A. Requiem" to see if they can make it together as a couple. Having read these later novels, I have now gone back to read this earlier one to find out how it all began. It's a wonderful journey.

Chenier's client, Jodi Taylor, is a rising television star who happens to have been adopted shortly after her birth in Ville Platt, Louisiana. With the help of her agent, Sid Markowitz, Jodi hires Elvis to conduct the research into her unknown Louisiana origins. Jodi is none too sure herself that this is a wise step to take, but she tells Elvis that she wishes to know about her family history to see if she might have any congenital health problems that she should worry about.

Jodi is a singing actress and the lead star of a new television series called "Songbird." Like Doris Day, she is fresh, appealing, and wholesome. The show is in its sixteenth week, and it is a certifiable hit with Jodi gracing the covers of tabloids and fan magazines. She portrays a mother and a wife who is the anchor of her family. Sort of like "Mother Knows Best" comes to television in a show about strong family values that has become a hit in the nation's heartland.

Finding out who Jodi's biological parents are will not be as simple as it might first appear. Once an adoption has taken place in Louisiana, the court records are sealed and all knowledge of the biological parents is hidden from view. After Jodi was born 36 years ago, she was adopted by Steven and Cecelia Taylor of Ville Platte. While both of her adoptive parents are deceased, Jodi still holds their memory in the deepest love and fondest regard. After all, they ARE her real parents. Still...

Elvis accepts the case and is instructed to contact attorney Lucille Chenier at the law firm of Sonnier, Melancon, & Burke in Baton Rouge. Chenier is cool but professional with Elvis, in spite of the fact that he is flustered and acts like a schoolboy in her presence. Elvis has been around the lot, but he is thunderstruck by this lovely woman. He leaves her office feeling suitably foolish, but with enough information to head north to Ville Platte.

In the days before computerization, it is library microfiche that provides the archival records of the local newspapers from three decades before. Cole searches through the records during the month of Jodi's birth to look for any births that might have taken place then along with any other local news that may prove to be useful. Meanwhile, the librarian is flustered to find out that all of the microfiche records for the month of May of that year have disappeared.

Ville Platt was a small community where an unwanted pregnancy back then would have generated a lot of gossip. Cole spends his time trying to check out the local gossips and midwives from that era, and eventually he hits pay dirt. However, Elvis is disturbed to observe that the now elderly people are reacting somewhat strangely to his questions. The clear implication is that they have already gone through this uncomfortable process before. The problem is, who else could possibly have been interested in finding out who Jodi's biological parents were?

Then a wild, red-haired young man with the unlikely name of Jimmy Ray Rebenack begins to tail Cole in his late model Thunderbird. Rebenack is rather silly and ineffectual as a private eye, but Cole quickly ascertains that he knows a lot more than he is letting on. The question remains as to who hired Rebenack to tail him.

Rebenack may be a dilettante, but the two men who follow after him certainly aren't. They are murderous pros, one of whom is built like a refrigerator that has been assembled out of spare parts. It isn't long before Elvis meets a mean, crusty catfish farmer with a criminal past. He also has a run-in with a less than helpful sheriff. Something about those long buried secrets which will surely prove to be even murkier than the dark bayou backwaters. 1995, Hyperion Publishers, 298 pages.