Here's an easygoing review for a book starring an easygoing character.
Dark of the Moon is the first book in John Sanford's
Virgil Flowers series, which I'm finally starting. Virgil is a laid-back, easygoing guy who like who likes women, bars, and fishing. And though
redneck would be taking the description too far, Virgil definitely does have a, let's say, a relaxed, country sensibility.
And that quality often drives his law-enforcement colleagues crazy, until they are reminded that Virgil, once he gets started on a case, is sharp as a tack, tracking a solution like a barracuda searching prey (Virgil, by the way, often appears as a supporting character in Mr. Sandford's Prey series, starring police investigator Lucas Davenport). You don't want Virgil Flowers sniffing around, no matter how relaxed he may appear, if you don't want him to find out about something you did.
Dark of the Moon finds Virgil investigating a couple of murders in a small community, and then several more murders that occur shortly after he arrives in town to investigate (the first of the additional murders, with arson thrown in to boot, occurs the very night Virgil hits town to investigate the initial murders). As well as the interesting case he's working on, Dark of the Moon also entertains with colorful local politics and a romance or two- one for Virgil, and one for the sheriff assisting him. And yes, a double date is thrown into the mix during some downtime.
Anyway, after enjoying Virgil's presence as an entertaining supporting player in the Prey series over the years, it was great to see that he can ably occupy the spotlight in his own series, the other entries of which I'll look forward to checking out in 2021.
