Rough Country is actually the third is a series by John Sandford written around Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers. I have not read the first two books but I was able to glisten from this one that Virgil is somewhat of a ladies man and has been successful in using this to his advantage in previous murder investigations. Well, this is not going to work in this case.

The discovery of Erica McDill’s body in a cove at the Eagle Nest Lodge opens up the proverbial can of worms when it comes to suspects. Love triangles (and squares), money, prejudice, and every other motive are all exposed when Virgil starts taking at closer look at Erica’s associates – personal and business – as well as the locals surrounding the Lodge. Is the killer a local who has something against lesbians, the primary guests at the lodge? Or is it an act of jealousy since Erica has had her share of affairs and was planning on leaving her live-in partner? Virgil’s sexual prowess will not provide him with any secret information with this band of suspects and the fact that information is hidden, lies are told and secrets are kept does not make his job any easier.

I enjoyed the fast pace of this book. And I especially like Virgil Flowers as a lead character. He is a authority bucking, lady loving, rock and roll t-shirt wearing man’s man who happens to pray every night before bed and he is just plain fun to follow. The mystery aspect of the story was decent and there were some great moments of humor. Most of the minor players added a nice local flavor of being in the rough country of Minnesota. There were a few moment of displeasure though. Quite a bit of the actions and dialogue of many of the female (and mostly lesbian) characters were somewhat stereotypical in nature and there were some derogatory remarks, of course made by men, concerning the ladies in the story. Perhaps these remarks were made to relay that feeling of being in the back woods and to provide a reason for the killing but I found them a tad disconcerting and distracting. These minor faults did not take away from a quick and entertaining read though and have made me curious about the two other Virgil Flower’s books. ( )

Good read. Quick, easy to read. ( )

Rough Country is a new whodunnit by John Sandford. It stars Virgil Flowers, investigator for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Minnesota. Boy, I wish we had something like that in Oklahoma. It would be nice to apprehend more criminals. Virgil is quite a guy. He has long hair. For work he wears jeans and obscure rock band tshirts. He doesn't like carrying a gun. He keeps it under the seat of his car. He talks to God every night before he goes to bed.

He is also pretty confident. Mostly about the women he pursues. He has "an active social life" as he describes it. He has this bad habit though of keeping his cell phone close to hand. One of the memorable lines in the novel is "Virgil . . . For God's sake you left your phone on." I think he likes his phone better than female companionship.

In this book Virgil has his work cut out for him. I'm not going to spoil anything for you. Lets just say he has to solve a murder that involves country music, multiple lesbian and heterosexual love triangles, some Deliverance type guys, old unsolved murders, fishing, gardening, boating, hunting dogs, and NASCAR. There is something in this book for everybody ( )

Virgil Flowers returns in this entertaining story of an investigation into the murder of a prominent lesbian vacationing at a women only retreat. The plot twists and turns as Flowers investigates and longs for the vacation interrupted by the murder. ( )

Not bad and getting better. Either John taught his friend to write more like him or he's actually doing more of the writing on this series. The character of Virgil is too good to get half ass stories. Hopefully these will continue to pick up steam. Good for a week end read. ( )