A truly diabolical premise with tension crackling off every page. A must-read for all who enjoy intelligently-written stories with great characterizations, and who enjoy surprise twists at every turn. A great addition to this genre, and highly recommended. I'll be reading more from this author!

*My sincerest thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the privilege of reviewing an ARC at no charge.*

Virgil Flowers gets called back to the town of Trippton (MN). The town folks know him because he led the investigation that put the local school board behind bars for multiple murders. The new case involves the discovery of the body of the local banker in the frozen river at the sewer plant. As with most Flowers cases, there is more going on. He is also needing to work with a California PI who want to shut down a Barbie modification factory in the area which affects his work on the case. The investigation is vintage Sandford with personal interactions guiding the investigation. The final confrontation is interesting for how Sandford works against expectations. A fun, quick read.

I liked this book, I've liked all the Flower books. It was hard to top the last one with the tigers though. That one was great, this one was good. It had a few slow spots but definitely picked up!

Sandford is always excellent. In this book, that focuses on Virgil Flowers, we get to know him better. There are two mysteries to be solved and both are satisfying.

never a dull moment with Virgil around. easy four stars

John Sandford continues to keep his characters relevant, even after having them around for such long periods of time. I can't think of any other author that still has me anxiously awaiting each new release with excited anticipation after decades of being a loyal reader. Long after other series are forgotten and left behind I still breathlessly await anything Sandford put out...

I have adored John Sandfords writing for years now. I'm a faithful reader of his Lucas Davenport series, and Virgil Flowers had been a character I enjoyed from the very beginning.

Deep Freeze was my first Virgil Flowers book.

What I love about the Prey series, is the recurring supporting cast, their camaraderie, the politics and his family. I think this is what's missing with Virgil, a supporting cast that is as hilarious and enjoyable as the main character.

Deep Freeze was captivating to a point. It didn't reach the heights of a Lucas Davenport novel. The case Virgil was asked to investigate had interesting moments but nothin shocking or outrages that would have made me sit on the edge of my seat.

I loved his way of detecting. Until the very end I wasn't sure if he was anywhere closer to finding the answer. His interviews lead him from one suspect to another. It's quite fascinating to see that everyone had some skeletons in the closet.

But at the end I felt a little let down. Maybe because there wasn't a big shootout à la Davenport.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Deep Freeze, I just don't think this particular case was memorable enough for me to remember it in 2 month time. Nothing really stood out, like I said, it was missing the "shock me effect".

John Sandford is one of my favorite authors, and Virgil is one of my favorite characters. Does that make me biased? Maybe a little. But being a little biased does not make me wrong. Not in the least. Really. Read this book and find out for yourself.

Virgil is a sought-after, accomplished investigator. He's also unconventional, independent, and, at times, irreverent. He's like a modernized Columbo. Do you remember Columbo? Sorry, my age is showing. Virgil has a quick sense of humor and a country boy kind of persona that belies his intelligence.

In Deep Freeze, Virgil is sucked into working two cases at once, in a rural Minnesota town during the heart of winter. One is a serious murder case and the other is just plain funny.

The pace is quick. Even the minor characters are well developed and feel real. The writing is all show, no tell. You're right there in the story with the characters.

While this book is part of an ongoing series, I think it reads well as a stand-alone. Readers unfamiliar with the character should have no problem getting into the story.

*I was provided with an advance ebook copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*

I have read every Virgil Flowers book, and I have to say John Sanford is back on track. I didn't enjoy the last two as much as I enjoyed this one. This one brings in the true essence of Minnesota, the cold, the ice fishing, the communities. It read well, it flowed well, the characters were colorful and interesting. I loved both story lines this time, typical Virgil flowers getting involved in more than he thought he would. It was very well done. I also like that the charter of Virgil is getting more involved, and we are learning more about him as a person. I look forward to seeing what Virgil will be up to soon!

A while ago I expressed a view that Michael Connelly is the best storyteller in the crime fiction. Whilst I’m not looking to recant this view I will say that I think John Sandford runs Connelly very close. They both have their own way of telling a tale: Connelly typically shows you the crime and then documents the chase for an unknown criminal (the classic, most often adopted form); in Sandford’s books you not only see the crime but you nearly always get to meet the malefactor too – this way you get to see subsequent events from the point of view of the the chaser and the chased. Its different – and I like it.

This is the 10th book in the Virgil flowers series and to me it feels as fresh as ever. Here his vacation is interrupted by a request from his boss to return to the town featured in episode 8, Trippton, Minnesota. Last time around he managed to lock up the whole school board and run down a team of dogknappers. This time it should be more straightforward, a local resident has been murdered – surely he can wrap this up in a few days and get back to some serious relaxation. Or maybe not.

Flowers is an engaging character, who likes to talk to people and share information around. He’s loose of lip and takes risks, but it often pays dividends as he regularly picks up snippets of information he can use. Everyone in the town has a view and Virgil listens to them all. He normally works alone, although this time around he’s assisted, part-time, by his fishing buddy Johnson Johnson, who lives in the town. As he kicks off his investigation a second issue is bubbling in the background, a private investigator is in town trying to smoke out one of the residents who has set up a small cottage industry sexing up Barbie dolls. Flowers has been told to assist where he can, and on the basis this instruction seems to be coming down from the State Governor he sees no way of avoiding getting entangled.

It’s all great fun and the story is, as always, brilliantly told. I love spending time with Sandford’s two, very different, crime stoppers. Lucas Davenport is all stomp, preen and bully, whereas Flowers adopts a very different - but no less effective - approach. I cant wait for the next offering.

Well what can I say, this is Flowers!!! Two cases draw Flowers off his vacation, unwillingly as fans know how seriously Flowers takes his time off, which more often than not, he doesn't ever complete. A woman found dead, in the lake, a prominent member of the community, owner of the local bank, and Barbie and Ken dolls being altered in a sexual way. So we get the usual suspects of stereotypical type that seem to populate this place, people who are harboring secrets, and those who harbor or hide evidence, so that Virgil can't figure out if he is coming or going. We know from the beginning who committed both crimes, the draw is of course the detecting, following of clues, and discovering who is hiding what and why.

At this point it really doesn't matter what the case is, whether it attracts me not. These are just fun, rather quick reads, and the biggest draw is the dialogue, the lines, the funny situations and of course the trouble Flowers causes others and himself.

ARC from Netgalley

The 10th Virgil Flowers mystery opens with our grief-stricken killer going over the death of banker Gina Hemming in his mind. It had been an accident, but he’d been too overcome with shame to do the right thing and call it in. Instead, he staged her death as a fall down her stairs. So when her body is ice-fished out of the local river a few days later, even he is flummoxed by the news.

Enter the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Virgil Flowers. He’s on vacation, but his boss, Jon Duncan, knows of Virgil’s history with the town of Trippton where Gina Hemming lived. He successfully bribes Virgil into investigating the death, which looks to be connected to Hemming’s upcoming 25th high school reunion. As Virgil starts asking around, he soon discovers that there are about 25 years of drama and bad blood that might very well have culminated in Gina’s death.

Add to this another case the governor himself wants Virgil to assist with: The Mattel Toy Company has discovered that someone based in Trippton is manufacturing sex toys based on their Barbie and Ken dolls. They've sent the Los Angeles-based private investigator Margaret Griffin to serve a cease-and-desist order to an elusive Jesse McGovern, the only name they can connect to the knock-offs. Trouble is, Margaret can’t find Jesse, and none of the locals are interested in helping—not even the local Sheriff Purdy. Purdy explains why to Virgil:

“If you ever [run for office], this is what you’ll find out,” Purdy said. “Every year, you piss off one percent of your constituents. No way around it. They’ll vote against you every chance they get. I’ve been sheriff for twenty years, so there’s twenty percent of the electorate who’ll vote against me every chance they get.”

“I don’t think the math would work exactly like that,” Virgil pointed out. “Some of them you’d piss off twice.”

“Okay, okay, not exactly, but I try not to piss off influential people any more than I have to, and pointing you at Jesse would probably cost me five hundred votes,” Purdy said. “So I ain’t gonna do it. You want her, catch her on your own. To tell you the truth, if I were you, I’d catch whoever killed Gina Hemming and let Jesse McGovern slide. Catching her wouldn’t do nobody any good except some big corporation out in California. Which doesn’t have any votes in Buchanan County.”

He had a point, but somehow it didn’t seem entirely congruent with the American Way, the Rule of Law, and all that. But a job was a job, and times were bad in small out-of-state towns.

Jesse’s operation hires quite a few locals with no means of supporting their families otherwise, so Virgil, too, is inclined to let the case slide—until he himself is jumped by a gang of her female employees. It’s a terrific ethical conundrum handled well by John Sandford, who also details the investigation into the circumstances of Gina’s death with both empathy and intelligence. And above all, he infuses the proceedings with the sense of humor that has become a hallmark of the Virgil Flowers series.

The humor that permeates Deep Freeze is impressive in its range, from innocent dad jokes to the blackest humor, from the lowest form of scatological references to Elizabethan literature callbacks, as here, when Duncan has finally persuaded Virgil to take the case despite Virgil's upcoming plans with his girlfriend, Frankie:

“All right,” Virgil said. “If Frankie gets pissed, I’m gonna blame it on you.”

“That’s one of the fardels I must bear,” Duncan said.

“What?”

“You must not be familiar with Hamlet,” Duncan said. “You know, by Shakespeare.”

“Oh, that one,” Virgil said.

“Yeah. One of my ancestors is in Macbeth.”

“I’ll buy a copy, maybe you can autograph it for me,” Virgil said. “I’ll call you back tomorrow night about the banker lady.”

“Virgil, I owe you.”

“You keep saying that, but you never pay off.”

“That’s one of your fardels,” Duncan said.

Deep Freeze is a wacky but heartfelt look at murder and mayhem in the Minnesota cold. For all its wry bluntness, it’s a gracious novel that doesn’t condescend to any of the characters it depicts, no matter how hard-up, self-sabotaging, or unlucky. Fans will also be pleased by the continuing developments in Virgil and Frankie's relationship; I certainly ended the book by saying “Aw!” out loud, and I’m very much looking forward to the next installment of this deservedly popular series.

Deep Freeze by John Sandford is the very highly recommended tenth investigation by Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent Virgil Flowers.

The body of banker Gina Hemmings was found in the river, by the outflow from the sewage plant. The murder happened in her house after an evening meeting of the committee to organize their 25th high school class reunion. We know from the opening the whole backstory of her murder and that she was hit in the head by a champagne bottle. This murder results in Virgil being called back early from his vacation and sent back to Trippton, Minnesota to investigate. Now Virgil has to look into small town gossip along with a host of suspects.

If murder isn't enough on Virgil's agenda, the governor has asked him to help PI Margaret Griffin, who is representing the toy company Mattel, to serve a federal cease and desist order to Jesse McGovern. Apparently Jesse is providing needed jobs to many locals in an underground workshop where Barbie and Ken dolls are turned into x-rated versions. Locals are playing dumb and denying knowing Jesse or anything about the dolls when questioned by Griffin. It is thought that Virgil can find Jesse and help get the papers served. This side investigation seems to get Virgil into more trouble than the murder case.

Much of the enjoyment in Deep Freeze is found in the character of Virgil Flowers and his intuitive deductions, quick wit, and the humorous dialogue and interactions with the locals. It is to Sandford's credit that he can write such a compelling novel with the focus on a character who is solving the case, in spite of the fact that he reveals who the killer is from the first chapter. This novel just flew along and held my attention from start to finish.

Sandford also does an excellent job describing the setting and capturing the life and people in small town Minnesota. Virgil wades through a plethora of gossip and meets with numerous small town characters as he pieces together what happened to Hemmings and tries to find out the location of Jesse McGovern. Additionally, he provides along the way some insights into life that aren't just related to his novel. There are several times he has Virgil make an observation that is so true to life that you want to yell a loud, "Yes! That is so true."

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
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I first discovered John Sanford many years ago when I picked up the first Prey book. I was hooked from the beginning. I have read most of them. Whenever I saw the name Sanford, I would order the book or get it out of the library. So it was by accident that I read the first Virgil Flowers book in this series. Virgil is laugh out loud funny while solving similar murder mysteries or thrillers as Luke Davenport. Davenport always seems to earn at least one line in all the Virgil Flowers books. This series is a completely different animal than the Prey series and I've come to prefer Virgil Flowers.

Deep Freeze takes Virgil back to a town from an earlier book. Everyone in this small community knows him and respects him. Here, we know who the killer is from page one. The fun is walking with Virgil and his various cohorts with equally amusing names (Johnson Johnson because his parents named their sons after tractors they loved) through the task of learning for themselves who murdered Gina. A secondary plot involves the hilarious transformation of Barbie dolls by people who wouldn't be able to survive without the income of this illegal operation. Virgil, of the noble heart, is torn between upholding the law and empathy for these residents. His dilemma gets more complicated when he gets beat up badly by three women.

As a budding writer, I found myself periodically pulling back from the action and shaking my head with wonder at Sanford's ability to give us story after story of all the residents that may or may not take him closer to knowing who the killer is. For those who are new to these series, John Sanford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist, John Camp. He has certainly earned his chops to have all the fun he wants in his fiction writing. And the ten Virgil Flowers books are definitely fun.

His descriptions of small towns in Minnesota are spot on. His ability to convey the pros and cons of everybody knowing your name - and your business - sheds all romantic notions one may have of moving to a small town that has eight months of winter. I live in the Bay Area and Paris and wandering Minnesota with Virgil is armchair travelog for me. One that is satisfying and doesn't entice me one bit to live anywhere other than where I am.

Some authors seem to wind down their creativity as a series lengthens. There are a few authors of long series that I don't read anymore. The latter books just aren't as good or interesting. Not true, in my opinion, of the Virgil Flowers series. Deep Freeze is a fast and fun ride and I, once more, look forward to the next Sanford book.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on October 17, 2017

David Birkmann starts Deep Freeze by killing a woman he was hoping to seduce. The killing is unplanned, not quite an accident but certainly not premeditated. After arranging the body to make the death appear to have been accidental, Dave the Bug Boy (exterminator by trade) bugs out. But why does the dead woman’s body turn up in the water by the sewage treatment plant?

Virgil Flowers’ latest mystery involves small town secrets, and there are a lot of those in Deep Freeze. Some involve affairs, some involve adventurous sex, some involve rivalries and jealousies. Of course, nothing is really a secret in a small Minnesota town that craves gossip.

A subplot involves Barbie and Ken dolls that have been modified in ways that … well, let’s just say that Mattel doesn’t like it. That’s a fun diversion from the main story, although the subplot raises serious questions about whether law enforcement agencies (at the bidding of politicians) should use their scarce resources to help corporations with civil matters like copyright infringement. Virgil doesn’t dwell on the issue, but he’s clearly annoyed to have his murder investigation interrupted by an investigation of people who really aren’t harming anyone (unless you count Barbie’s reputation).

The plot hustles along as Virgil interviews one town resident after another, matching stories, discarding theories, trying to figure out who is telling the truth and whether their lies relate to the murder. A couple of brawls enliven the story, but this is more a police procedural, a detective at work, than anything else. It isn’t a whodunit (we know whodunit from the opening pages) and the mystery of the displaced body gets solved well before the ending, so Deep Freeze is less a novel of suspense than an entertaining slice of Virgil Flowers’ life. To be fair, there are some tense moments at the end, but this isn’t an action novel. Since Virgil is an entertaining character who surrounds himself with entertaining characters, I’m fine with the story’s low-key nature.

I love John Sandford’s deadly accurate portrayal of small town politics, including the sheriff who doesn’t want to investigate anyone if the investigation might irritate influential people or cost him votes. I also love the friendly insults that characters exchange. Sandford’s novels are worth reading for the banter, apart from the plots. Readers searching for a traditional mystery will need to search elsewhere, but Sandford fans who want to spend time with an old friend will find little to complain about in Deep Freeze.

RECOMMENDED

In a prior John Sandford book, Deadline (2014), Virgil Flowers went to Trippton, Minnesota to investigate the death of a journalist; he ended up arresting the murderous school board, as well as breaking up a dog theft ring. Now, in Deep Freeze, Sandford’s latest Flowers novel, Virgil returns to Trippton to find out who murdered the woman whose body was found in the frozen river.

I really enjoyed Deadline, as well as the Flowers book that followed, Escape Clause (2016). In my opinion, they are two more examples supporting my contention that the clever Sandford of old has returned. I am not so sure, however, about Deep Freeze.

As I have stated in prior reviews, I love Virgil Flowers. Deep Freeze is a typical Flowers book, with the usual Sandford humor. But, I was less than thrilled to join Virgil in Trippton once again. It is not as if Trippton is a big place that has enough area or facets to support a second book; Virgil simply returns to the same people and same Trippton that was so successful in Deadline. Been there; done that. It feels lazy. In addition, the plot itself is so-so – nothing particularly exciting or challenging. It also does not appear to live up to the billing in the official blurb.

Deadline and Escape Clause are both good reads that reflect the Sandford of old. But, Deep Freeze does not appear to advance Virgil’s series, professionally or personally. I still look forward to the next Virgil Flowers book, but Deep Freeze is a bit of a disappointment.

I love John Sandford's books and Deep Freeze was no exception. This is the first book in The Virgil Flowers series that I have read and I must say that I loved it. Now I have to read earlier books in the series. If you love a good suspense I recommend this book!

Virgil Flowers solves another mystery in his unique way. Great ending! Look forward to the next installment.

It’s John Sandford. I think it’s a great story, naturally. I started reading his Lucas Davenport series many years ago and fell in love with the Sandford style. In fact, I recently read and reviewed the latest in that series, Golden Prey, which you can find elsewhere on this blog. Already being a fan of that series, I picked up the Virgil Flowers series immediately! I was not disappointed. When an author has a long running, best-selling series, spin-offs don’t always work, and this is a spin-off. Lucas was actually Virgil’s boss for a while. The main difference in the two series, in my opinion, is the difference in the two men. While Lucas Davenport is a tall, hunky, drop-dead gorgeous guy wearing expensive suits and buffed to a high shine every day with a hard-core attitude about “the law”, Virgil is more laid-back and easy-going. Virgil is tall and lanky, wearing jeans and cowboy boots with a tiny bit looser attitude about law enforcement. What never changes is John Sandford’s amazing talent. He can drag you, willing or not, into his story in the first pages…I’m willing, and I think you will be too. His books are full of insights into the unpredictability of love, life in general and particularly what makes a murderer. The following quote, where I have taken out the name of the suspect, is an example….

“What I think is, <name> got used to killing stuff over the years,” Johnson said. “Bugs, coons, rats . . . whatever. You do it long enough, and casually enough, snuffing them out without thinking, that’d make it easier to kill a human being.” Virgil: “You really think so?” “I do,” Johnson said. “Not if a guy goes out and knocks over a deer or two during hunting season—I know a lot of hunters who jump through their asses telling themselves that it’s all right, it’s the way of the world and all that, and they feel kinda bad about the dead animal. But I think if you kill things every day, day in and day out, for years . . . you get some calluses.”

I love that and believe it to be true. Mr. Sandford fills his books with those bits of wisdom. He also has created the best supporting cast for Virgil. Johnson Johnson is Virgil’s best friend. Haha! That’s not a mistake, his name is really Johnson Johnson. You’ll have to read the books to find out why he has such an unusual name! Johnson has a habit of crashing things…moving vehicle things, like cars and boats and airplanes. He survives and moves on, and occasionally turns up in one of Virgil’s cases. Johnson’s latest project is the purchase of a restored Beaver and wants Virgil to go with him to pick it up and fly it home. I think I see another adventure in Virgil’s future. I hope.

In summary, let me just say that if Mr. Sandford decided to write steamy romance, sci-fi, horror or anything else, I would be first in line for the book. I might not read his grocery list, then again, I might. You never know what he might have to say about a loaf of bread, a common potato or a sweet, juicy peach. I think every reader will love this book and everything else by this author. Pick up your copy and…

Enjoy!

2shay

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.75 Hearts I am not exactly sure when these books became a “pleasure” to read but they are. There is something about them that while there is suspense (even though we know who-dun-it from the beginning) there is just something oddly endearing about Flowers even though he is a major pain in the butt.

This case involved some really weird things including Barbie dolls. What? But it does. While beach time is over this is a perfect beach read if the genre is one of your choosing.

You can’t go wrong with Flowers even though everything about Flowers is just well… wrong.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.