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You don’t need to have read any of Sandford’s Prey series, featuring Minnesota cop Lucas Davenport, to enjoy these offshoot books, but it does help to get a full picture of Virgil Flowers if you have. He can come across as lazy (he’d rather fish than do just about anything else) but on the other hand he’s pretty relentless when he gets his teeth into a case. He’s also likely to have left his gun in his truck just when he needs it most. But most of all, Virgil is a collaborator � he's inclined to use his gut feel to test whether he trusts someone and if they pass the test then they’re likely to become part of the team. In many cases these people are not law enforcement officers � in fact, far from it, often they are just random people he meets whilst he’s investigating cases. They trust him and he trusts them. They like him and start to share information and then actively participate in helping to solve the case. All in all, it’s a different, subtler approach to that taken by his boss, Davenport.

In this episode, Virgil’s downtime is interrupted by a friend who is seeking his help to track down some kidnapped dogs. Virgil works in the outlying areas of the state but this is the sort of Hillbilly problem that really shouldn’t be taking up his time. But it’s his friend. However, it isn’t long before the search for the murderer of a reporter - shot and left in a ditch � is taking up more of Virgil’s time. He soon finds out that the reporter was about to break a big story concerning a crooked school board.

Sandford tends to allow you to see both sides of the coin: whist you watch the cops chasing the crooks you’re also on the inside with the crooks as they attempt to wriggle and evade detection and capture. It makes for a fascinating and often amusing double view. As the net starts to close the efforts to avoid arrest become ever more desperate. Its very well done and hugely entertaining.

I’m a huge fan of John Sandford’s books. He’s managed to differentiate the Davenport and Virgil series sufficiently, so that you can appreciate the synergies but enjoy the individuality of the two men. I’m probably always going to be a Davenport man, but Flowers is beginning to breathe quite heavily down his neck.