Charming detective story
A review of Holy Ghost by John Sandford
by Christine Yunn-Yu Sun

Holy Ghost, by U.S.-based bestselling author John Sandford, is the 11th in a series of 12 books featuring Virgil Flowers, a charismatic detective working at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Flowers is tall, athletic, in his late 30s, with “longish blond hair and a easy smile” for a cop. He wears jeans, cowboy boots, and t-shirts featuring obscure rock bands. He loves fishing, and often tows a boat while on duty “in case an emergency fishing opportunity should jump out in front of him”. He is also a photographer and writes for outdoor and hunting magazines

This unorthodox detective arrives in Wheatfield, Minnesota, a town of about 650 people that is only one hour's drive from his own place. Five months earlier, the dying town gained a new life thanks to the supposed appearance of the Virgin Mary at the local church.

Trouble is, as religious pilgrims and tourists arrive in droves, much to the delight of local businesses and residents – someone also decides to start shooting. By the time Wheatfield is in close resemblance to Midsomer in Midsomer Murders or Saint Marie in Death in Paradise, Flowers is getting desperate, “running around like a chicken with my head cut off”.

A former journalist and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, Sandford has an intriguing style as a crime novelist. He presents the who, where, what, when, why and how, but spares no time for probing the hearts and minds of his characters. As such, the story consists almost entirely of dialogues and descriptions of people, locations and events.

This style can work if the plot is excellent – and if the dialogues are witty enough to adequately reflect the often quirky characteristics of the characters involved. Luckily, we have both in the book. The result is an intimate portrayal of life in a small town where everyone knows everyone else's petty business but tolerates it with kindness and humour. (That is, of course, until common decency is breached and someone ends up being seriously injured or killed.)

This is also a small town in America where everyone owns at least one gun and shooting, like buying groceries, is a part of daily life. One character has 40 guns, because: “There's a day coming in this country when you're gonna need a gun to survive. That's why I'm living here in Wheatfield. It'll take the dictator's men a while to get here, and that'll give us time to organise.”

Indeed, when asked whether he would rather give up guns or women, that character replies: “I'd say, sure, women are important, but guns are fundamental. You know, our Constitution doesn't even mention women, but it does mention our right to bear arms.”

Thus Holy Ghost makes interesting reading, in the way that one aspect of a nation's culture is laid bare on the table, sliced and diced, for everyone to see. It would be fun to discover whether the other books in the Virgil Flowers series take the same approach.

Note: This review is based on a digital copy of the book borrowed from this reviewer's local library, as this reviewer somehow missed the opportunity of reading the NetGalley copy back in 2018. The review is scheduled to appear in this reviewer's weekly column "Passion for Prose" via The Star Mail in Melbourne, Australia, on September 19, 2023. After that, it will appear on this reviewer's blog, "Voices under the Sun".,

I had not read a John Sandford Virgil Flowers book before but that will be sure to change now.

The pacing is fast, which is something I look for in a novel. When I had to stop reading I couldn't wait to return to it and knew exactly where I had left off.

The way Sandford created memorable characters using few descriptors meant that after reading a couple of sentences they're embedded in your mind throughout the story.

It was a total guessing game as to who did it or what the motive was as there were lots of twists and turns.
Pure brilliance. Well written and definitely worth the read.

Thrilling story with a plot that kept me turning the pages, really well written with great characters. Highly recommend to everyone who is a fan of this genre.

The mayor of Wheatfield, Minnesota Wardell Holland teams up with John Jacob Skinner (aka Skinner) with the aim of reviving their town and make money for everyone with the Virgin Mary's help.
Virgil Flowers is an agent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension employed by Holland to catch a sniper in the town. It will be his job to work out if the shooter is one of their own, unbalanced or holding a grudge or an issue connected to the Virgin Mary's appearance at the local church.
The first half of the story seemed to drag a little for me. Virgil seemed to be spend a lot of time searching premises for the sniper and after a while I became impatient for something else to happen. On the other hand the storyline had a lot of potential and the characters were great particularly Virgil and Skinner. I enjoyed getting to know them as I read.
Friends have read other books by this author and recommended them to me. Unfortunately this one didn’t grip me in the way I expected and that’s the reason I gave it a 3 star rating.
These are just my thoughts and readers who enjoy crime/mystery stories need to form their own opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Pinion, Minnesota: a huge city of all of seven hundred folks who define the phrase ‘small town’. Nothing has ever happened in Pinion and nothing ever will… until the mayor of sorts (campaign promise: ‘I'll Do What I Can’) comes up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map.
He’s heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of curious people and making the townsfolk rich overnight. Why not stage a prank in Pinion and do the same? No one gets hurt and everyone gets rich. What could go wrong?
And then a dead body shows up. It turns out that lots can go wrong with a get-rich-quick scheme like this one… and lots will.
It’ll take everything Virgil Flowers has to put things to right – before someone else dies.

It would be very simplistic to just say "Everything you expect from a Flowers novel..."

It would also be extremely accurate.

Sure, the events that bring Virgil to town are somewhat unusual, but his investigate skills are to the forefront, as usual. The small town setting brings out the usual assortment of oddbods and weirdos. Flowers gets the usual frustrations during the investigations but, for me, that is part of the charm of Virgil.

If you have read a Virgil Flowers novel before, then this is one of the better ones.
If you haven't read a Flowers novel, this isn't a bad place to start!


Paul
ARH

Holy Ghost first struck me as a blokey kind of book and the more I read the more certain I was of this book’s most likely audience. For men it’s a perfect, laid back relaxing kind of a murder mystery. It doesn’t rush but it does keep you interested as clues and red herrings are dripped into the story. What surprised me a little is how much I enjoyed reading it as I tend to lean towards romances and murder mysteries or thrillers with strong female leads.
This story is well paced and well written with a carefully thought out plot and intriguing characters. A story that at first I expected to put aside after a chapter or two held me in its thrall throughout. The moral of this is not to judge a book by it’s cover but to dive into uncharted waters every now and then as you might just find you like the adventure. I certainly did. Excellent reading!

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I was frustrated with Virgil supposed to be a investigator but not doing a very good job. Also I'm sure there was other food he could eat besides potpies. .

Wheatfield’s population has fallen to 650 and the prairie town is slowly dying
Wardell Holland – Mayor – elected as a gag on the town elite. He lives on a military disability pension John Jacob Skinner – aged 17 does after school deliveries. He also dislikes police
Virgil Flowers – an Agent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
Karl Zimmer – Sheriff of Wheatfield

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary at St Mary’s Catholic Church is now bringing people to the town and Church. Sales are brisk and everything is booked out. Then two visitors to the Church are shot, at exactly 4.15pm each time, and leaving no clues. Is the shooter a religious nut or crazy.

Virgil has been summoned by Sheriff Zimmer to investigate. Virgil’s girlfriend, Frankie is expecting a baby and his dog, Honus, is desperate not to be left behind.

An addictive mystery thriller with a small town focus and connection to its people. With a multitude of twists and turns, Detective Flowers has to uncover the mysteries and secrets people are hiding.

A fun read and intriguing to boot! First book I’ve read from this series but easy to jump right in. Highly recommended for a rollicking read!

Sorry but this book wasn't for me. I did not realise it was part of a series. I tried to get interested in the story but I struggled. I like crime thrillers but I couldn't connect with the characters or story. Can't love them all.

Is this is a miracle or a hoax? Virgil is meant to be finding out who is taking pot shots at the townsfolk but nothing is that simple as the case has now turned to murder. Can he find the killer before even more people get killed? But everyone could be a suspect and even with the extra help nothing makes sense. All the usual suspects check out and the longer that they have to deal with the crazies the harder it is going to be but can Virgil figure it out so he can go home to his family? Must say the townsfolk are all unique in their own way from Skinner to Holland who only want to make a quick buck to Janet that only wants to keep her town alive to everyone else how calls Wheatfield home. A entertaining read. Very funny in parts. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley and the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

‘Honest to God, what is the world coming to?’

Wheatfield, Minnesota, is one of those small towns teetering on the edge of oblivion. A small town with a declining population, probably down to around 650, located off the main highway. Why would anyone need or want to visit? But then a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared at St Mary’s Catholic Church in front of the congregation of worshippers, some of whom take photographs. And when the Virgin appeared a second time, well Wheatfield was on the map. Religious tourists descended on the town. Accommodation was at a premium, business was booming.

What could possibly go wrong? How about a series of shootings followed by several murders? Wardell Holland, the Mayor, whose successful campaign slogans included ‘I’ll Do What I Can’, calls in Virgil Flowers from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Shootings and murders were not part of his plan for putting Wheatfield back on the map.

So, who is behind the shootings and murders, and why? It seems like plenty of people have both the equipment and the opportunity, but motive? And where are the clues that usually help an investigator solve such crimes? In his search for answers, Virgil Flowers has some humorous conversations with some very interesting characters.

Virgil Flowers is an unorthodox crime investigator, he’s quite happy to speculate about what might be happening as part of his information gathering. He’s also happy to involve the locals if this might help him flush out the criminals. Unconventional, but ultimately effective. There’s some great dialogue, some interesting characters (meet John Jacob Skinner), and more than I need to know about the awfulness of diner food and chicken pot pies.

This novel held my attention from beginning to end. This is the eleventh novel in John Sanford’s Virgil Flowers series. It is the first I’ve read (and it reads fine as a standalone novel), but I’ll be looking out for some of the earlier ones.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

A miracle... and a murder... in an entertaining thriller? Sure, sign me up to read that book!

I've not read any of the Virgil (Effing) Flowers books before, but I didn't let that stop me from reading this one. It's a great read. Sure, it's not going to be going up on my classics shelf, but it was still an entertaining read from start to finish. Despite being eleventh in a series, I don't feel that I missed anything joining in mid way. It's definitely the kind of book you can jump right into and not need to catch up too much on characters and relationships.

It had a bit of everything - some murder, some mystery, small town gossip and kooky characters. It was the sort of book that is perfect for a holiday read, just enough content to keep you engaged but not so much that you need to concentrate reading it the whole way through. The action is slow and steady throughout, then picks up in the last quarter.

Overall, a good solid read, although I am left wondering about the specifics of a microwave pot pie... is the pot aluminium? How does that even work to microwave it? Can it be a pot pie if there is no pot? The mind boggles and wanders around, much like Virgil's entertaining conversations throughout the novel.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy to read and review!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia and Netgalley for a free ARC of this novel.

This is my first Virgil Flowers novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The mystery isn't far-fetched, the characters are believable and I didn't have the story figured out in the first 20 pages, which kept me reading eagerly to the end.

Virgil is a likeable character, not to brilliant and not too dark and broken like so many police detective heroes. I love the way he figures things out.

I really enjoyed this novel and would happily read more of John Sandford's work.

Note to editor: There are quite a few proofreading errors in the electronic copy I read. It could do with another going-over before the final copy goes out.

Another book in the Virgil Flowers series. Flowes has a different style of investigating crimes which are usually in small towns in Minnesota. He doesn’t mind spreading facts and theories about the crime to all and sundry and he doesn’t mind co-opting some of the colourful locals to assist him.
This one is about a series of assaults and murders that take place after a vision of Mary appears in the local Catholic Church. After going nowhere in solving the crime due to a lack of clues, he sets a trap which also leads nowhere but with persistence of course the murders are solved.
This book has humour, a satisfying conclusion interspersed with Flowers reflecting on the meaning of Life. Flowers started off as a minor character in the Davenport series of Prey novels but has become an interesting detective in his own right.

Holy Ghost moves along at a rollicking pace. A sleepy town in Minnesota experiences a holy vision followed by some inexplicable murders. Virgil Flowers investigates with assistance from some local characters, fuelled by terrible diner food and chicken pot pies. An honest law enforcer he manages to do some matchmaking, throw in some career counselling and learns from a local ballistics expert. But can he find this elusive killer?