Life in Montana is good for author James Lee Burke

It’s up a draw outside this town that, from here on out, Dave Robicheaux and Billy Bob Holland will get tangled up with some of the sorriest saps, nastiest ne’er do wells and twisted messes this side of the Mississippi.

By the time you read about them, their stories will unfold in the sticky heat of a Louisiana bayou or the shaded mansions of the rich and powerful in New Orleans, in the dark alleys of Missoula or an isolated cabin on the Blackfoot River.

But it is here, from his office in a beautiful new home on 120 mountainous acres, that James Lee Burke will put their fictional exploits on paper.

At the age of 68, life has never looked better nor the world in worse shape to the author.

His 25th novel and the 15th in his popular series featuring the Cajun detective Robicheaux, "Crusader’s Cross," is released this week. He and Pearl, his wife of 43 years, are getting settled in their brand-new home, where there is plenty of room for visiting grandchildren and permanent critters.

"This is as close to heaven as it gets," Burke says. "You cannot use it up. The day is not long enough for Montana." Burke first came to Missoula in 1966, to teach at the University of Montana.

By Vince Devlin of Montana Lee Newspapers

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2005/07/11/newsstate/hjjejciijchdfj.txt