Dark of the Moon (A Virgil Flowers Novel)

The first novel in the Virgil Flowers series, author Sandford has created a spinoff from the Lucas Davenport-Prey series. An enjoyable and suspenseful investigative story with intelligent characters spanning all the typical small town folks such as former sheriff, undertaker, businessmen, newspaper guy, farmer (she) etc. Sandford is a master at creating multiple characters that could have murder motives keeping the reader on his/her toes. Always an adventure with Sandford stories, never a moment when you are feeling things have slowed down. In fact, I found myself having a hard time processing clues faster than they were flying at me!

Now, about the story...
Virgil Flowers is a different guy. He's hired by Lucas Davenport at the BCA, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to take on some of the more challenging cases. As I said, Flowers is different. He is sensitive to the hurt and additional killings that sometimes occur in the course of an investigation. Charming in his own tough way, he seems to get noticed by women whether he is in the middle of an investigation or during idle time. An avid outdoorsman, he has a budding side career as a writer for a hunting and fishing magazine. He frequently tows his boat with him on cases and he usually leaves his gun under the seat of his truck. He seems to know when the person he is interrogating is lying and he's adept at piecing complex, seemingly disjointed clues together in his pursuit of the truth. All that at Mach 1 speed. What you might not like about him is his outwardly and verbal appreciation of womens' body shapes. If that offends you, it will likely color the book, so pass this one by.

So Virgil is dispatched to a small town in southeastern Minnesota, near Worthington, to investigate an elderly couple's murder. He arrives to find there is a second murder to investigate (the most hated person in Bluestem) and subsequently another. It always amazes me when the sick minds of murderers find the most distasteful ways to display their work. You will have to read this to find out more.

Ive read all the Virgil Flowers series, they keep getting better. Virgil makes mistakes, fixes them, stumbles, but gets up, has friends you want to have too, and reminds you a little of yourself at times. Waiting for the next book. Impatiently.

Virgil is a master of being aware of the smallest details that lead to solving a small town crime spree. Throw In a little romance just adds to more suspense. A real page turner from a master John Sanford.

Virgil Flowers is the character and he is definitely a different sort of character than you would normally read. He is not the strong silent type, but tends to be more the thoughtful and grounded investigator. Enjoyable read

I really enjoy these Virgil Flowers novels. He seems to be a little more realistic than Lucas Davenport, and maybe more down to earth. My favorite Sandford character is Kidd and unfortunately there are only 3 novels featuring him. This novel does keep one's interest and the plot continues to keep one turning the pages. I would highly recommend reading it.

enjoyed every minute of the book. I have really like the author of this books writing-I have read all the prey books and now onto the flower books series. I sometime ignore my husband and read these good books. am not sure if that is a good thing or not. lol. My husband says me or the book. I say the book. lol-i enjoy when I get halfway through the book. then it gets really interesting to finish- sometimes I stay up all night reading if it is really a good book.

I cannot say enough about how I like John Sandford's books. To me, he is the ultimate American story teller. The Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series of books are great reads.. The kind of books I can't put down to go to bed. I spent many all nighter's reading his books. His next Virgil Flowers book comes out in Oct. 14'. I have already pre-ordered it.

Pretty standard "closed room" whodunnit, albeit set in a small Prairie town where everyone knows everyone's business.
Lead character is somewhat engaging, though oh-so cool & hip as he selects which Rock-T to wear: Sheryl Crow or Flaming Lips today? Decisions, decisions. The rest of the characters are 2 dimensional and too many in quantity- hard to keep track of who's who and who knew who when & where etc. Ultimately it became hard to care.
The bones of the story are not bad & I generally enjoy mysteries that are rooted in the histories of the characters, but this was underdeveloped. Try Robert Goddard if you like that sort of thing. The worst of it is the lack of explanation of the actions of the villain- made no sense within the frame of the story and isn't addressed by the end.
Won't be reading any more Sandford- too bad, as this came well recommended. Too many good authors out there to waste time with this.

This book provided everything I look for in a fictional work; excitement, suspense, romance, plot twists and more than my limited brain can remember. My only regret was that the book, like all books, had to end.

I have enjoyed all of the John Sandford books that I have read and have read and own most of them. I am not tired of the characters in the "Prey" books but am glad he has added a new character to get to know. Virgil Flowers is quite different from Lucas, Del and Sloan but just as interesting. I also like the connection that exists between Lucas and Virgil.

There were lots of characters in play in this one. And I'm a little incredulous about Virgil Flowers' ability to sift through the clues by writing 'fictional' accounts of the players. I'm glad that Sandford appears to have abandoned this method in later books... it is just not believable.

I generally like Johns Sanford Novels (although now your not sure how much of it he actually
wrote, a common thing now with best selling fiction writers) but I always enjoy Virgil Flowers.
It has the usual story line but it reads well and I enjoyed it

Virgil draws us into his rural Minnesota world. With typical Sandford pragmatism, he moves calmly through to the solution, treating the other characters, in a friendly fashion. I have always noticed the respect for women evidenced in this writer's books.

All the characters are a little wild and Virgil flowers combines crazy with smart and it's so much fun to follow his thinking while he solves the crime...and a few funny bits to make it e English better

Kinky sex and bloody violence is said to sell books, and I believe it. This effort by Sandford is one of his best. Some five bloody murders and as many prime suspects. Once the culprit is identified, obtaining proof requires much historical research. Along the way is a side action involving a DEA action taking down a meth lab. The final chase scene is a little weak, but dramatic, our protagonist somewhat tired from all of the casuaL sex he has encountered throughout the story.

I have enjoyed everything John Sandford has written and I've read most of it. Virgil Flowers is especially cool, because he's the kind of guy most girls would like to take home and keep and most guys would like him as a friend or hunting buddy. He has all the right qualities to please, plus he's quietly smart. A good read and I'm always sorry when a story is over.

This was a great adventure / action story. the narration was good as well. It was not so far fetched that you could not relate to it. It had enough fiction that you knew you were reading fiction, but that is part of the fun. I will be getting more of these.