Rough Country Hardcover - 2009

by Sandford, John

It's a joy to announce that John Sandford is still doing everythingright," wrote the Cleveland Plain Dealer about thesecond adventure of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehensioninvestigator Virgil Flowers. "Virgil acts like the best seriesprotagonists-becoming someone we just enjoy spendingtime with."

Virgil's always been known for having a somewhat active, er,social life, but he's probably not going to be getting too manyopportunities for that during his new case. While competing ina fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota,he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder ata nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking.The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recoverfrom plastic surgery, commune with nature, and while it didn'tstart out to be a place mostly for those with Sapphic inclinations,that's pretty much what it is today.

Which makes things all the more complicated for Virgil,because as he begins investigating, he finds a web of connectionsbetween the people at the resort, the victim, and somelocal women, notably a talented country singer. The more hedigs, the more he discovers the arrows of suspicion that point inmany directions, encompassing a multitude of motivations: jealousy,blackmail, greed, anger, fear. Then he finds that this is notthe first murder, that there was a second, seemingly unrelatedone, the year before. And that there's about to be a third, definitelyrelated one, any time now. And as for the fourth . . . well,Virgil better hope he can catch the killer before that happens.Because it could be his own.

Rich with the brilliant plotting and compulsively readableprose that are his hallmarks, Rough Country is another immenselysatisfying tale by one of our very best suspense writers.