MADreads

Murders in Bluestem

May 14th, 2008 Lesley - Central

In Dark of the Moon Virgil Flowers, a member of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), gets the starring role after playing a supporting one in earlier books in the John Sandford Prey series.

Bluestem, Minnesota is a small town southwest of Minneapolis where murder is unheard of until someone starts killing off a generation of elderly residents.  Flowers is sent to investigate and discovers a house fire on the edge of town.  The owner Bill Judd is killed in the blaze and the investigator soon learns that the recluse is hated by many in town for a scheme years ago that made him rich and others in Bluestem poor.  Judd escaped conviction and the money was never recovered.

After three murders in a couple of weeks , Flowers begins digging for a connection between the victims and discovers a variety of suspects and motives from a criminal leader of a religious/survivalist cult to the many participants in Judd’s wild lifestyle years ago.

Virgil is an appealing character on his own with his self-deprecating humor and carefully chosen alternative-rock t-shirts which match his day’s agenda.  Sandford* keeps the reader guessing throughout the story and fans of the “Prey” series will enjoy the emergence of Flowers as an alternative to the popular Minneapolis investigator, Lucas Davenport (who does make an appearance).

*According to his acknowledgements Sandford says this novel was “written in cooperation” with Larry Millett.  Some reviews have suggested he was a co-author.

Entry Filed under: Mystery, Recreational Fiction