Holy Ghost

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?

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.

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.

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!

‘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

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.

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!

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.

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!

(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