The Devils Punchbowl by Greg Iles (Scribner, $26.99)

Mississippi novelist Greg Iles brings back Penn Cage, who appeared in two of Iles previous novels, for The Devils Punchbowl, a knockout thriller thats just the right degree of chilly to combat the dog days of summer.

Like Anne Rice with New Orleans and Faulkner with Oxford, Miss., Iles has a true gift for making his Southern setting into a crucial character in his storytelling. His depiction of Natchez, which is older than New Orleans, rings exactly true: a Southern belle of a city, justifiably proud of its antebellum mansions and Civil War past but struggling to drag itself into the 21st century.

In Punchbowl, Penn, a former prosecutor in Houston, is now mayor of his hometown. As the book opens, hes overseeing Natchezs annual balloon festival, three days of schmoozing and partying of which Penn expects to fully partake.

On the eve of the festival, though, an old and troubled friend, Tim Jessup, steamrolls back into Penns life. Hes working as a card dealer on the Magnolia Queen, the largest of the casino boats that line the citys riverbanks, and he spins a horrid tale of dogfighting and underage prostitution that are coexisting with the gambling.

As Penn gets drawn into the nastiness, his family is threatened and he calls on Daniel Kelly, an operative with Blackhawk, a private security firm. One of the books most powerful elements is the attention Iles pays to the secondary characters, from the fiercely loyal Kelly to Penns dad, a doctor wholl make you question any notions youve ever had about senior citizen meaning frail.

As with his other books, Iles builds the story slowly and deliberately, dropping hints like candy on a witchs trail that leads straight into hell. Especially in reference to the dogfights, Punchbowl contains scenes that rate it a strong R for disturbing violence. But the indecencies visited on both animals and humans seem necessary in Penns devolution from morality-obsessed public servant to fierce patriarchal protector, willing to do anything to save those he loves.

Iles goes a bit overboard with the narrative in The Devils Punchbowl, which at 577 pages might seem a bit hefty for this traditional beach book time of year. And while Penns obsession with fixing the school system in Natchez is mentioned often, it always seems more like an author cause than one thats central to this book.

But Iles knack for perfectly integrating character and plot could serve as a masters class for other authors, so readers will surely allow him those bits of indulgence.