Top ten crime locations

The crime fiction expert and novelist Maxim Jakubowski named his top ten crime locations for the Guardian.

One entry on the list:

New Orleans in James Lee Burke's The Neon Rain (1987)

This was the first novel in which Burke introduced his ex-Vietnam vet anti-hero Dave Robicheaux as he roamed ceaselessly through the humid streets of the French Quarter, the Garden District and the adjoining bayou country in search of justice while wrestling with his own demons. The shimmering prose catches the smells, colours and unique atmosphere of the Louisiana city. The decline of the Crescent City has been chronicled in his following books, all the way to hurricane Katrina.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Page 69 Test: James Lee Burke's The Tin Roof Blowdown.

Learn more about Following the Detectives: Real Locations in Crime Fiction, a volume of 21 essays about cities and other places in the world that are closely associated with famous fictional sleuths, edited by

--Marshal Zeringue