Book Review: Dark of the Moon

Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett

Dark of the Moon     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
John Sandford
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Putnam, Oct. 2007

Lucas Davenport, protagonist of Sandford’s “Prey” series, takes a backseat to one of his recruits, Virgil Flowers, of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, in this suspenseful, character-driven thriller. Flowers, who had a supporting role in “Invisible Prey,” is a thrice-divorced, deceptively laid-back loose cannon.

Sent to the small town of Bluestem to investigate the murder of an elderly couple, Flowers arrives in the middle of a second murder. Half the town has turned out to watch a huge conflagration consume Bill Judd’s house, with the wealthy, hated old man inside.

It’s not likely two vicious murder scenes are coincidence though Flowers has a bit of trouble making a connection. But even the sheriff is a suspect in a place so small almost everyone had some passable reason to kill Judd. An arrogant, heartless playboy, he’d ruined many while enriching himself in a pyramid scheme years before, and he’d left behind at least one illegitimate child, along with one money-hungry legitimate son.

Laconic, easy-going and chatty, Flowers spreads information around town and waits to see what develops while he pursues a casual affair with the sheriff’s pretty sister (also a suspect) and does a fair amount of deep digging himself. But it soon becomes apparent that the killer is following an agenda and the killing isn’t done yet.

As Flowers himself becomes a target, the pace accelerates, the bullets fly, the chat and banter sharpen and old secrets make unseemly appearances. Smart and observant and much more of a stickler than he seems behind his casual demeanor and rock-n-roll t-shirts, Virgil Flowers is a welcome protagonist in another witty, humorous and suspenseful series from Sanford.

Lynn Harnett

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett