I just finished John Sandford’s latest Virgil Flowers novel, Holy Ghost.  Thoroughly enjoyable.   When I first started reading Sandford’s novels, I started with the “Prey” books.  After completing all of that series to date,  I decided to give the Virgil Flowers series a try.  I enjoy those just as much as the Prey series.  Sandford is able to produce crime who-done-it stories mixed with just the right touch of humor and lightheartedness.  But the aspect of his novels that I enjoy most would have to be his characters.  They are always so likable and relatable.  I would definitely recommend the Virgil Flowers series to anyone who has yet to try one. This latest installment is right on par with the rest of the series, and I will definitely be continuing with further Sandford novels!

really liked it

Holy Ghost is the eleventh book in John Sandford's Virgil Flowers series, but my first foray into this series.

A small town in Minnesota is dying--not an unusual plight for small towns anywhere that are off the main highways. Wardell Holland and teenager John Jacob Skinner come up with an idea to put Pinion, MN back on the map, a sketchy ruse to attract tourists. They are going to use the Catholic Church, a faked Marian appearance, and turn the town into draw for religious tourists.

Unfortunately, a series of shootings, followed by several murders take place. Virgil Flowers, an investigator for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is called in. What began as two serious injuries turns into a series of murders, and Virgil is at a loss to determine motive. A number of interesting characters and some humorous conversations, and a long struggle to figure out what was really going on kept me involved.

I've never read anything by John Sandford before, but I'll certainly be interested in his other series now--and of course, I will be checking the library for more Virgil Flowers. Thanks to James Thane whose review of a Virgil Flowers book made me try this one!

NetGalley/Penguin Group

Mystery/Crime. Oct. 9, 2018. Print length: 400 pages.

I've been a long time fan of Sandfords Davenport prey series. The Virgil Flowers keeps everything I love while discovering more about "that F-ing Flowers" Love it!

I adore the “F*cking Flowers” books. They read a touch lighter than John Sandford’s Prey series. Virgil Flowers investigates a shooting in a town that the Virgin Mary has been sighted. There’s a great typo that I’m sure will be fixed...the “Virgil Mary” is mentioned at one point in the book.

Another winner for John Sandford. I never get tired of reading Virgil Flowers stories... lots of action, intelligent problem solving and a wicked sense of humor. Highly recommended.

As a reader who's followed all of John Sandford's fiction series, I feel like I've gone home for a family reunion when I pick up one of the Virgil Flowers, Lucas Davenport or Joe Kidd books. Nobody depicts rural life -- where nothing ever happens, yet something is happening all the time -- and rural people better than John Sandford.

This was a particularly fun installment. Virgil is sent to a tiny farming village that is barely holding on to practice his unconventional brand of investigation. None of the typical secretive, us-against-them manner for Flowers: this agent of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension uses instead a more-the-merrier approach to solving crime.

Sounds goofball, but this is seriously good writing, with spot-on dialogue, and a plot that considers, and abandons, a significant percentage of the town's residents as the possible perpetrator of shootings against -- churchgoers?

Just as Sandford doesn't condescend to his characters, he never talks down to his readers. He respects their intelligence, and the frequent funny bits rely less on wisecracks than on the humor inherent in the situation.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC!

Full review time be published online in mid October.

Virgil Flowers has overtaken the Lucas Davenport series as my favorite reads by John Standford. Virgil is very human, down-to-earth, and rambunctious. Lucas lost his edge when he married and settled down; but Virgil is just plain fun. HOLY GHOST is about a series of assaults and murders that take place in Pinion, Minnesota after a vision of Mary appears in the local Catholic Church. After getting nowhere in solving the crime due to a lack of clues, Virgil sets a trap for the killer. This also goes fails; but with typical Virgil persistence, the murders are solved in due time.

HOLY GHOST has trademark John Standford humour, a satisfying conclusion, and typical (and often funny) scenes of Virgil ruminating on the meaning of Life. Recommended read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group / Putnam for this arc.

If you want a good time....call Virgil F*** Flowers!

I thought Holy Ghost was a great read. Not to be confused with great literature, but a fun, fun good time.

This was a typical Virgil story. Poking around in a wide spot in the woods (or corn fields) a very small town just chock full of all sorts of interesting folks leading rural lives. most pretty typical of small town (read dying) business owners, just trying to keep the heads above water and a few up to no good.

Daggum if someone didn't get really bad and start shooting! Enter Virgil. Overall, the pacing of the story was small town slow, That's okay -- made for a better showcasing of all those interesting characters. There was some gore and violence, but the story needed at least some, but I found nothing to be overly graphic. There were just a few "action scenes" (unless eating potpies counts as action). Mostly just Virgil rambling around and conversating with everyone. Always the best part of the Virgil books.