As promised, I’ve read Dark of the Moon by John Sandford mostly while exercising. I do admit to finishing up the last 30 pages or so lying on the couch last night but  I was at the end of the book and at a spot where you just don’t want to put it away yet, so sue me. I managed to get in some 8 hours on the treadmill while reading this book. Usually a 400 page book takes me half that time to read, but limiting myself to reading only while exercising made it last longer. The jury is still out on whether that made the book any better or worse, but it did make exercising more pleasurable.

Anyway, Virgil Flowers has taken on a dimension I never would have expected. He’s a sensitive cop who, in 8 years on the force and another spate of years as an investigator for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has never killed a man although he once shot at (and missed) one 14 times. The guy ended up surrenderring. He’s the son of a Presbyterian minister, a three-time divorcee, a freelance writer for outdoor magazines and holds a degree in ecology.  He wears musical t-shirts, faded jeans and scuffed cowboy boots and, when necessary to hide the fact that he’s carrying a gun, a sports coat. He resists carrying that gun on his person, but is comfortable enough with them that he’s got several rifles (and a shotgun) in his truck and a handgun that’s either under the seat or in his briefcase.

He’s called to the town of Bluestem, Minnesota where an retired doctor and his wife have been brutally murdered and no likely suspects are in sight. The night he arrives in Bluestem, another murder is commited of yet another, prominent, older citizen with a past that includes many people who have reason to hate him.

Virgil spends the next couple of weeks wooing the people of Bluestem and discovering their secrets. He finds many and in the process also uncovers a  meth lab being operated by the local nut-case right-wing racist religious reformer. That Virgil and the local sherrif get that brought to the attention of the DEA and subsequently closed down just adds a side trip in the investigation of the murders in Bluestem. By the time Virgil has his suspect on the run, he needs cheap auto insurance for the damage the perp ends up doing to his truck.

Dark of the Moon is a very entertaining read. John Sandford has brought to life a  new character with different interests and this has revived his writing which was getting a bit stale with the Lucas Davenport character. I don’t particularly understand Virgil Flowers. He’s a pretty complex fellow with many interests and skills. I do like him though.

If you’re interested in reading Dark of the Moon yourself, please click my link to Amazon.com for great prices and availabilities.

Dark of the Moon by John Sandford
Published by The Berkley Publishing Group 2007
ISBN: 978-0-425-22413-7

Tags: Dark of the Moon, John Sandford, Lucas Davenport, Murder, Virgil Flowers

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