Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford

Mystery readers know John Sandford as the creator of the memorable Prey series with Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis police detective, in the lead role in 31 books. Sandford is the pseudonym of John Roswell Camp, an American author and journalist. Camp won the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1986, and was one of four finalists for the prize in 1980. He also won the Distinguished Writing Award of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1985. In addition to his long-running Davenport series, he created a spin-off with one of Davenport’s subordinates named Virgil Flowers, an often-married smart aleck in the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Davenport and Flowers join forces in Sandford’s latest, Ocean Prey (Putnam, 2021).

The twelfth book with Flowers as the primary detective is Bloody Genius (Putnam, 2019). When a well-known doctor and researcher is found bludgeoned to death in his library study carrel at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis police turned out in full force. After two weeks and no arrests, the victim’s wealthy sister called the governor, who believed his elevation to the governorship from district attorney was due in part to Flowers’ work in Deadline (Putnam, 2014), possibly my favorite of the series, and the governor pulled strings to have Flowers assigned to the case.

The first hurdle for Flowers to overcome was the hostility of the Minneapolis police, who deeply resented his presence, then he sorted through the public feud the late doctor had had with the chair of another department at the University. At one meeting, violence between the supporters of the two had broken out and everyone present had to be evaluated as possible suspects. The discovery of a small supply of cocaine in a secret compartment of the doctor’s home office took the investigation in a completely different direction. One lead after another appeared in a lengthy investigation full of surprises. That Flowers’ long-time girlfriend was expecting the birth of their twins any day made him extremely anxious to wrap the case up so he could go home.

Intricately plotted with more suspects than I remember in other books in the series. Indirect jabs at the U.S. health care system are woven in, as medical malpractice suits are discussed and the cost of providing home hospice care comes up a couple of times. Flowers is the most likable of Sandford’s many characters and he continues to deliver equal parts of charm and competence in this book. Starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

 

  

·         Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons; First Edition (October 1, 2019)

·         Language: English

·         Hardcover: 384 pages

·         ISBN-10: 0525536612

·         ISBN-13: 978-0525536611

  

Aubrey Hamilton ©2021 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Review: Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford

It took a few days for the body of Dr. Quill to be found behind the locked door of a personal study carrel at the University Library. A subsequent two week investigation by the local police went nowhere. It was clear that he was murdered and that had been accomplished by two massive blows to his head with a heavy object of some sort. Who did it and why, the location of the murder weapon which might have been his very expensive computer, and a host of other questions have yet to be answered. Dr. Bathelemy Quill came from serious money and had connections despite his arrogance and other issues. His surviving sister has serious money and powerful connections so it is no problem at all for her to call the Minnesota Governor and express her dissatisfaction. Before long the request rolls downhill to land squarely on one BCA agent named Virgil Flowers.

Virgil Flowers is less than thrilled to be sent to the University of Minnesota to investigate the murder, but Minneapolis Homicide is not getting anywhere. As it is Thursday the Governor would like the whole deal wrapped up by the end of the weekend and has made that thought clear all down the chain of command. The Governor may be a weasel or worse as Flowers sees him, but he can’t be ignored either. The only good thing is he won’t have to go out of state or to the far corners of Minnesota as he has in the past. This time Flowers will be relatively close in case the very pregnant Frankie needs him or an issue happens out at their farm. He is going to have to go home, explain all and pack and get some sleep, and then go see Sergeant Margaret Trane of Minneapolis Homicide.

By noon the next day, he is Minneapolis City Hall meeting with Sergeant Trane and reviewing the case. Trane is justifiably enraged by the media coverage that has become increasingly negative towards her and the Department as well as being second guessed by the family and Governor to the point that Flowers is present to work the case. She is also more than a little frustrated and annoyed with herself and her own failure to solve the case.

It becomes clear to Flowers that the fact the case isn’t solved is not because of a lack of effort by Trane. The issue is a lack of clues and leads. The few leads they do have do not seem to have any merit at all and are next to worthless. The evidence found to this point is very limited and seems to have no merit. Despite all the hard work by Trane and support stuff, there does not seem to be anything to really go on, let alone a pattern or order to things, or a connection to the murder. The only idea Flowers has initially is to go to talk to everyone Trane has interviewed so that he can get a feel for them. He also needs to go walk the crime scene in the library.

Before long Flowers is doing his thing of talking to people and, metaphorically speaking, kicking over rocks. His doing so starts sending things into motion. Eever so gradually, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, progress begins to be made on this case and several other situations that may or may not be connected.

Regardless of which series it is, author John Sandford can always be counted on for complex reads with many moving pieces. Sometimes readers know from the get go who the bad guy or guys are. Other times, as in this case, readers don’t. One also knows that in his books, there will be plenty of adult language and fast moving actions, references to at least one latest book by a major author, and plenty of the everyday minutiae in the main series character’s life. All these elements and more make Bloody Genius: A Vergil Flowers Novel well worth reading. While it could be read by readers new to the series, there are several references to books in earlier in the series that could impact readers well as multiple references to running jokes that have been in place since the start.

For another take on the book, please read this September 2019 review by Lesa Holstine.

Bloody Genius: A Virgil Flowers Novel   

John Sandford

http://www.johnsandford.org/author.html

Random House Large Print

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/large-print-format-books/

October 2019

ISBN# 978-1-9848-8285-1

Large Print Paperback (also available in audio, digital, and hardback formats)

480 Pages 

My reading copy came from the Bachman Lake Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019