Holy Ghost (Virgil Flowers #11) – John Sandford (2018)
Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of seven hundred souls for which the word “moribund” might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there and nothing ever would—until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: “I’ll Do What I Can”) and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They’d heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They’d all get rich! What could go wrong?
When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that’s only the beginning of their troubles—and Virgil Flowers’—as they are all about to discover all too soon.
My Review of Holy Ghost
(3 / 5)
This was my very first John Sandford novel, so my first Virgil Flowers. I always worry about coming into a series so far in, but from the review’s I had read, it didn’t seem to matter. But I think it kinda did…
Seasoned detective Virgil Flowers is sent to a small town to investigate some sniper shootings. Was the killer a local? Or one of the many visitors who have recently flocked to the town after apparitions of the Virgin Mary had appeared in a church? And then more bodies start showing up, and as he gets closer to the truth – Virgil becomes the next target.
Reiterating, it is probably because this is the first Virgil Flowers book that I have read… I just couldn’t find myself warming to him much. I didn’t know enough about his past or how he works, his relationship with Frankie, or his humour or personality. And it took a while to get used to him. I did enjoy his banter, but I also found him and some decisions that he made to be silly and unrealistic.
I also found the book extremely sexist. Again, most people who have read this series are probably used to the writing and the settings, however almost every single female character was portrayed as promiscuous, or a bad tempered, ill mouthed yokel and if they weren’t portrayed that way, inappropriate remarks were still made about them as soon as they were out of the scene by one of the many superior male characters… It just didn’t sit well with me. Even the token female police officer in the novel was “too pretty” to be a police officer and made them uncomfortable. I was inwardly cringing.
However, it was a good premise, clever. It had loads of twists and turns, and the writing took you in different directions that you weren’t expecting and ultimately left the identity of the perpetrator a surprise until the end.
There were quite a few characters to keep track of. Lots of suspects.
Would I recommend Holy Ghost?
Probably not as a stand alone. I wish I had read some of the other Virgil Flowers books before I delved into this one. It fell a bit flat for me, although I did enjoy it.
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia for a copy of Holy Ghost for me to review.
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