I have only read a couple prior books by John Sandford but was interested to see this was a new series. However, it still felt like I was catching up on learning about the characters and didn't really connect with Letty. I also thought this was going to be another type of story. I found the pacing to be uneven and that portions were repetitive. I am thankful to NetGalley and Penguin/Putnam for the chance to read this ebook. It was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased. 3.5 stars

The Investigator
by John Sandford
Pub Date: April 12, 2022
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I was excited to read it as soon as I read the title.
Letty Davenport, Lucas' grown up adopted daughter, has graduated from Stanford and is bored working for a Florida politician when he gives her a job that proves challenging..looking into a mystery in Texas...oil going missing, but to what end. Letty gets paired up with ex-Delta forces Kaiser and together they uncover a scheme by a band of militia to take down a caravan of immigrants. Great action scenes and Letty, more and more like a young Lucas, is right in the thick of it all.
I am glad to recommend this book!
5 stars

John Sandford has my eternal gratitude for finally giving Letty, one of the best characters he's ever created, her own book..and hopefully the first in a long series. Letty Davenport, Lucas' grown up adopted daughter, has graduated Stanford and is bored working for a FL politician, when he gives her a job that proves challenging..looking into a mystery in TX...oil going missing, but to what end. Letty gets paired up with ex-Delta forces Kaiser and together they uncover a scheme by a band of militia to take down a caravan of immigrants. Great action scenes and Letty, more and more like a young Lucas, is right in the thick of it all. Loved it. Highly recommend.

Sanford has expanded his focus to the next generation of investigators introducing us to a finally fully realized Letty as she grows up and his other main characters inch toward retirement age. Pragmatic, Letty does not second guess her decisions even when the decision is to kill. She still has much to learn and is aware of her deficits. She is neither all knowing nor all powerful, but is analytical and resourceful. This is the first procedural I’ve read that was emotionally accurate enough for me to cry. In the end her primary prey escapes and I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see what Letty does. A smooth captivating action novel building inexorably to a violent confrontation. Highly recommend.

This starter to a new series begins fast and never let's up. I am fairly new to John Sandford's books, so haven't gotten to where Lucas Davenport meets Letty yet. If you are coming to this series, without knowing any of the writer's other work, that is not a problem. This series gives you all the background you need to enjoy it for itself.
Letty is an awesome character and I want more of her. I am really looking forward to meeting her younger self when I reach that point in the Prey Series. Letty is smart, tough and quick to learn new skills. She is definitely not some one to underestimate.
This story focuses around Letty and her DHS partner John Kaiser, as they investigate oil thefts in Texas. The oil is a relatively small loss but Letty and Kaiser know that the money could lead to some major problems. Soon they discover that they are up against a militia group led by a fanatical woman known only as Jael. Whatever the militia is planning will be big and time is running out for Letty and Kaiser to stop what is coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the opportunity to enjoy this amazing e-ARC.

Lucas Davenport fans have undoubtedly already met his daughter Letty, now 24 and a recent graduate of Stanford with a master’s degree in economics. Hmm. I didn’t really know much about Letty until reading The Investigator, but econ? Really? She’s just given her notice to her boss, U.S. Senator Colles. Her desk job offered too little excitement. The senator, however, has other things in mind for Letty. He tears up her resignation and offers her an investigative job with the Department of Homeland Security. It comes complete with her own closet-sized office and a partner, DHS agent John Kaiser, a 47-year-old former Army Master Sergeant and war veteran. The two don't immediately bond, but good chemistry sometimes takes a while. I enjoyed watching these two work together.

John and Letty’s job is to head to Texas to find out about some missing oil and what’s being done with the profits. There are rumors about various militia groups, including one that is led by a mystery woman.

Jane Jael Hawkes is former Army. Now she works at a Fleet & Ranch store in El Paso making $9.00 an hour. Feeling stuck with no future, she decides to do something about it. She organizes a whole passel of like-minded right-wing folks who think that foreigners from across the southern border and big corporations are keeping people like “Jael” and themselves from making decent wages. They start their own militia with a “ResistUS” website. Jael’s got plans, big plans.

There are some long sections that describe the group and the members interactions with one another. This wasn’t particularly in my bailiwick, but I was intrigued by where this was going. It had the makings of a horror story, ala January 6, 2020. While the gun-toting mentality is spooky, I did get some chuckles along the way. Sandford gets in some jabs at the GOP and right-wing groups. I should point out that Letty and John both love their guns. Letty has killed more than once. She is like her adoptive father in that regard, pragmatic and focused. As former military, John has different experiences; those experiences prove invaluable when they get to Texas.

I got more and more invested as I continued reading. I enjoyed the investigatory parts of the story the most. Letty shows that she can be a take-charge person and a great problem solver. She also proves to be a good team player and seems able to learn from Kaiser’s experience. She’s able to think quickly on her feet, as is Kaiser. It’s obvious that this will be a series, and I hope that she will continue to be paired with Kaiser.

For those who love action, there is plenty of it. The plot is well constructed and frighteningly believable, at least from the militia perspective. I’m not sure that two individuals could accomplish what the two DHS personnel do. I will add that despite the violence, both of our protagonists have a very human, compassionate side, which takes the edge off the terror of what is portrayed in this book.

3.5 stars rounded up for a well-written, engaging story. My thanks to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and the author for this ARC copy of The Investigator in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the beginning of a new series starring Letty Davenport, the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport, the star of John Sandford's long running police procedural detective series. Letty Davenport works for a U.S. Senator and is assigned to help the Department of Homeland Security investigate oil thefts. It is well written, with great characters and a fast paced plot. I couldn't put it down and can't wait for the next Letty Davenport book. Highly recommended

I’ve been a fan of John Sandford’s books for decades, which makes this review especially difficult to write. I didn’t like The Investigator at all. In fact, I gave up halfway through.

I love that Letty now has her own series. She’s a great character, and I have high hopes for future books.

We immediately begin with a character dump. So many characters! Quite a few are interchangeable, and I found it difficult to keep track of who was doing what to whom and for what reason.

The plot is the kind of complex that becomes overly complicated. We spend a lot of time on oil fields, how they work, who does which job, and where the oil goes each step of the way. I was so incredibly bored because, quite honestly, I don’t care. I just wanted to get on with it already.

From there, we got into the ragtag militia group, more oil companies, and various government agencies. I just never connected with any of it.

I missed the character depth I’ve come to expect from Sandford’s novels.

Soon I was skimming, and by midway I saw no point in continuing.

Much of my disappointment here is a result of personal preference. The plot will no doubt work well for many readers.

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
This book was great! I really liked how Sandford has been able to age and mature his characters naturally, so getting this story with Letty as the lead is wonderful! She is every bit as smart, cunning, and ruthless as her dad, Lucas. Her partner Kaiser is also well rounded and the two make a great team. It’s also interesting to have Letty’s perspective on some of the events of her childhood and life that we’ve only seen through Lucas’ eyes.
I cannot wait until the next book!

The Investigator by John Sandford gives Lucas Davenport's adopted daughter Letty her own series. I enjoyed the plot and the book was a fun read. I'll definitely continue to read this series if there is more. On April 12th make sure to purchase this great novel. Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for this advanced copy.

And so begin the adventures of Lucas Davenport Jr.

Wait, I guess it’s technically the adventures of Letty, the adopted daughter of super-cop Lucas Davenport, but calling her Davenport Jr. is still accurate because she is definitely a chip off the old block. In fact, she may be even more dangerous than her father.

Letty has come a long way since we first met her when she was a desperately poor kid who had to depend on herself rather than her alcoholic mother. Her life got much better once Lucas Davenport and his wife took her in, but she’s remained an independent pragmatist capable of making tough choices and taking action when its needed. Now in her early ‘20s and just out of college, Letty is working in the office of a US senator, but she’s bored with it and thinking of moving on. After she pulls a couple of bold moves to help catch an embezzler, the senator wants Letty to check into an odd problem and offers her a spot with Homeland Security as an investigator.

Some petroleum companies in west Texas think that someone has been stealing oil from them, and there’s a suspicion that a right-wing militia group might be responsible. The amount of money involved is small for an oil company, but it’d fund a lot of domestic terrorism so Letty gets teamed up with an ex-soldier named John Kaiser to try and sort it out. Letty and Kaiser start by investigating the disappearance of an oil company employee who had been looking into the thefts. Soon enough Letty and Kaiser figure out that something big is in the works, and they may be the only people who might be able to stop a catastrophic attack.

Letty was introduced as a character in the Prey novels almost 20 years ago, and I’ve often suspected that Sandford would someday do a book or series with her in the lead. (In reality, Letty would be in her 30s by now, but Sandford characters exist in a slowed down version of reality.) She’s been a big part of several of the books, often driving her adopted father crazy by her stubborn insistence on doing things her way, but also saving the day a couple of times. Despite the Prey books having one successful spin-off series with the Virgil Flower novels, I was always a little uneasy about how Letty seemed destined to be the hero of a Sandford thriller someday. I’m not sure why, it just seemed like nepotism even if these are all fictional characters.

However, at one point in one of the recent books Lucas and Letty had a conversation which indicated that she wasn’t interested in a career in law enforcement so it seemed like maybe Sandford was letting us know that the long teased Letty-book would never happen. Yet here we are so I don’t know if this was always the plan, or if something changed, but it did seem a little odd to me.

I got nervous right at the start of this one when Letty is pulling a break-in to investigate the embezzling going on at one of the senator’s campaign offices. She has several tricks to get into an office building that Sandford has used before in both the Davenport and Kidd novels, so I was instantly worried that this was just going to be a rehash of things done before with just a new character in the lead.

As usual, I was wrong to doubt Sandford.

While that opening was familiar, Letty quickly establishes herself as a different person than Lucas, Virgil Flowers, Kidd, or any other Sandford hero. Like all of them, Letty is smart and resourceful and capable of pulling a sneaky and/or illegal move when necessary, but what sets her apart is that Letty has what might best be described as a mean streak. Yeah, Lucas could be a real bastard when necessary, and capable of outright murder when the situation calls for it. But Letty takes that a step further and seems even more ruthless than her father at times.

The plot of this one also seems like Sandford kicked things up a notch. There’s the usual cat-and-mouse thing where he follows the bad guys for part of the book and lets us know some of what they’re planning, but just enough is held back to give us some twists and turns. The last act is one of the biggest and most ambitious things to happen in any of the books. A few years back, I might have said that it seemed unlikely, but these days, it sounds horrifyingly plausible.

Through it all, we’ve got Letty doing a lot of good detective work as she’s hot on the trail of the militia, and while she’s already a force to be reckoned with, there are still things for her to learn as well so she doesn’t seem too perfect as an action hero. The partner Kaiser provides a nice counterpoint to her as a veteran soldier who knows a lot about some aspects of the job, but he isn’t really an investigator so lets Letty take point.

It's just once again Sandford doing what he does so well, creating a high-octane mystery-thriller that keeps you turning pages. If the next book also stars Letty, I won’t be disappointed.

As a longtime reader of this author's series featuring U.S. Marshals Service officer Lucas Davenport, I'm familiar with his adopted daughter Letty, who comes from a troubled background (to say the least) but has thrived under the care of Lucas and his physician wife, Weather. Now, she's 24, a college graduate and off on her own working in a ho-hum job for a U.S. Senator. When he learns of her unrest, he gives her an assignment of looking into the theft of oil from several Texas companies. The amount of oil missing and how much money the thefts amount to - chickenfeed in the overall scheme of oil industry profits - aren't of serious interest, but the senator is curious about where the profits are going and wants to make sure it's not to a right-wing militia group.

In part because Letty is still green around the ears when it comes to investigative skills, she's teamed with John Kaiser, a Department of Homeland Security investigator. At first, she's not delighted with that and neither is he, but they manage to put those feelings aside and, ultimately, develop real respect for each other (if it matters, he won me over as well). The thinking is that a woman who runs a far-right website and a male accomplice may be behind the thefts; when Letty and John head for Texas and find a couple of dead bodies clearly related to the two suspects, it moves into the sure-thing department and the chase is on.

But exactly who they're chasing and what they're planning to do isn't quite so clear; all Letty and John know for sure is that many lives could be in the balance if they can't figure it out in time. Readers, of course, come along for the ride as chapters shift from the perspectives of the heroes and villains before reaching an explosive conclusion. From this reader's perspective, it was a heck of a journey - during which Letty earned her investigator stripes and made a believer out of me. Already, I'm looking forward to her next adventure. Meantime, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy of this one. Well done!

I loved this thriller by John Sanford. Absolutely perfect characters. The intricate plot was expertly woven and delivered. I enjoyed the alternating POVs. This book brought up so many passionate causes in the US today. I read in one day and was fully invested from the beginning to the very last page.
Highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was such an awesome book. Letty is the main character and if your familiar with John Sanfords Prey novels, she is the daughter of Lucas Davenport (who is the main character in that series). As a spinoff series, this was phenomenal right out of the gate. I finished it in one day.

What Can Happen When White Supremists Get Funded

The novel opens with the heroine waiting, almost invisibly, outside a building for everyone to leave. She sneaks into the building, goes straight to an office, finds the password to a computer as promised, and starts opening files. She leaves in the morning and travels back to Washington, DC. She reports to her boss, Senator Colles that two persons have stolen about $340K in campaign funds from him. From this beginning, this storyline starts.

This is an action thriller through and through. While a little slow in the beginning, the pace and action increase with every page. There are two threads. The first is the heroine, Letty Davenport, who proved her usefulness to her boss, Senator Colles in the first chapter. Through his influence, Letty is offered a job at Homeland Security as an investigator but reporting to the senator. She is paired with John Kaiser. Their first assignment is to find out if there is an active oil-stealing scheme, and, if so, where the money is going and is being used. The second thread is the has multiple voices from the main characters in a white supremist group. The use of multiple voices was not confusing and was needed to show the scope and depth of this group’s activities. The tension is based upon what could such a group do with the level of funds they are receiving and is reinforced by the viciousness of their actions. That the group is planning something horrific is quite clear. Letty and John spend their initial time to work through several layers, like an onion, to get to the core group. I quickly fell for the story hook, line and sinker. This is my major criterion for a high star rating.

As this novel appears to be the start of a new series, Letty and John must establish their bona fides for this type of work to each other. John, as a former Delta Team member, it was assumed. For Letty, a woman, she had to prove herself. Once the “I’m better shooter than you!” contest is over, they bond as partners. During this section, much background on both characters is provided although the preponderance is on Letty’s background. I have found that Action-Thrillers tend to be lighter in the B-storyline but a little more than usual here. Her background didn’t seem consistent with someone who worked in the bullpen for a US Senator.

This story also had a noticeable C-storyline where Letty changes or at least see where she needs to approve. This was seen when she remarked John’s thinking about what needs to be done in preparations before going into a situation where a confrontation is probable. This gave more depth to her character and the author’s attention to detail.

As for content some readers may find an issue here. Vulgar, rude and some impious language is definitely present. Some colorful phases also are present. As for intimate scenes, there are only references to them. Violence is definitely present. Most of it is described in the more edgy as it occurs. The white supremacist group are all sociopaths so their violence is particularly heartless. I mention the above because I want you to be forewarned. All of these aspects were not at a level that would make me stop reading.

All of the characteristics of an Action-Thriller are here in this novel. I liked that this novel was easy to read and to follow the action. I liked the snarky humor and generally playful and cutting repartee between Letty and John. On the negative side, the start where Letty had to establish her bona fetes was a little over-the-top. I am also ambivalent with the ending. I liked it but had some issues with it. This is the first novel from this author that I have read. As such, I tentatively placed the author in my Will-Read category, the second highest of four categories. I want to read at least one more novel by this author before I solidify that rating. Overall, I did enjoy reading this novel, but this novel was not quite at the same level as other action thrillers that I have rated with five stars. I rate The Investigator with four stars. If you like action thrillers, do consider this novel.

I received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from Penguin Group - Putnam. My review is based only by my own reading experience of this novel. I wish to thank Penguin Group - Putnam for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.

This was an okay book. I love John Sandford, but I just couldn't get into the story! I gave this 3 stars, and wouldn't recommend this book!

The Investigators: A Letty Davenport novel
Many of us longtime fans of the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford have expected a spin off series featuring his adopted daughter, Letty. That series is now here with the first book, The Investigators: A Letty Davenport Novel which releases in April.
In the aftermath of a black bag style operation for Senator Christopher Colles, Republican of Florida, Letty Davenport is getting some blow back from his staff. She accomplished the mission she was sent to do, skirted the lines legally, and got the goods. Some of his staff have questions about her methods. It does not help that she comes from a radically different life experience, dresses nothing like her Washington, D. C. coworkers, and has absolutely nothing in common with them. They bore her. She does not fit in or play well with others and is sick of the internal crap from folks who don’t see the world and people like she does. Her unique childhood gives her a different perspective. It also gave her a set of skills that she has built on over the years with the help of her father.
Letty hates her job and plans to quit. The recently completed assignment in Tallahassee was the most interesting thing she has done during her tenure working for Colles. It also serves a reminder that it is time to quit and find something else to do. Instead of allowing her to quit, Colles has an idea about a different job that could be far more interesting.
Senator Colles sits as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee. That means he is very aware of numerous issues in the Department of Homeland Security. What he wants is for her to stay, become his liaison to the Homeland Security Inspector General’s Office, label her a “researcher” (code for Investigator), and turn her lose on cases that Colles believes are important and fit her skill set. The Inspector General’s will give her carry permit. That means she can carry a gun to protect herself. She won’t have arrest powers, but she will be able to work cases and investigate things. Colles will give her own small office and freedom to do her job. The rest of the staff will, for the most part, leave her alone.
It isn’t long before her and DHS agent John Kaiser are grating each other’s nerves due to age and far different life experiences while headed south to work a case. First stop is Oklahoma City where they get a slew of briefings about oil thefts that are happening in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Somebody is stealing a little bit here and there from various operators. While it is not hurting or endangering the big operators who are losing a very small percentage of their oil, for the person doing it and getting the money, the financial haul could be huge.
Where the oil is going, who is selling it, and what that money being raised is used for, are three important questions. Especially the final question in this time of concern over domestic terrorism. Letty and Kaiser need to identify the thieves as well as their method and their endgame.
That means a trip to the oil fields in Texas, stakeouts at night, and day time surveillance while dealing with the locals, civilians and police. It isn’t long before they are in the thick of it with many lives, including their own at stake.
The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a fast moving and enjoyable read. Folks who believe the author is a left leaning idiot who hates the right, far and otherwise, will no doubt righteously scream on social media about how they quit very early in the book and will never read another. Those of us born and raised Texans will see some of the obvious criticism about life here, wince a little, and nod as the criticisms are accurate. Those who expected, as this reader did, a more obvious distinction between a Letty novel and a Lucas Davenport novel might be a little disappointed. If one removes the flash back scenes, the book reads as if it is a Lucas Davenport novel and not a separate series.
Though in the big picture that is a good thing. Letty can hold her own when she finds herself in violent confrontations. The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is a violent action filled read, that moves forward at a steady pace as events escalate. As often happens in Sandford’s books the last few years, the bad actors are identified early on, and readers soon understand why they are doing what they are doing.

The result is a solidly good novel and a good foundation for what should be an interesting series. The Investigator: A Letty Davenport Novel by John Sandford is well worth your time. Might just make you think about things as well, regardless of your pollical party lens.



My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley. Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, the book is currently scheduled to be released on April 12th in a variety of formats.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

I am a huge fan of John Sandford’s Prey series and Virgil Flowers novels but his newest novel, The Investigator, was a little hard to get into. Letty Davenport, Lucas’s daughter, is now 24 years old and working for Senator Colles and the DHS. She and her partner John Kaiser, a former Delta Force soldier, are tasked will investigating oil thefts in Texas. Their investigation leads in to a much darker plot involving a home grown militia group attempting to right what they see as a wrong against the citizens of the US.

It is an action packed thriller told not only from Letty’s point of view but also from the perspective of the leaders of the militia group. At times it was a little hard to keep all the characters straight and understand exactly what was going on. I enjoyed the fact that we saw a main new character and met John Kaiser. The interactions among the characters was entertaining and once the plot picked up steam , it began to come up to Sandford’s usual standards. Not my favorite Sandford novel but definitely worth the read.

I think Letty Davenport may get her own series from author John Sandford. She is grown up now and has taken a job as a special investigator, working for a Senator. In her first case she heads off to Texas to investigate missing oil and possible domestic terrorism. Her co-agent, Kaiser, thinks he is along to be her babysitter - WRONG!
As usual, Sandford gives us memorable characters and the domestic terrorism issue has potential for a book discussion.
This is a review of an advanced reader eGalley provided by NetGalley.

This book is about Letty Davenport, Lucas' adopted daughter. At 24 she has seen more action than most agents in any of the alphabet agencies. Letty has been working with a senator but has become board and has decided to leave, when the Senator offers her a chance to work with homeland security on a oil theft case in Texas. She takes the job and will see what happens after before she makes a final decision on whether to leave or not. But can she break the boys club and be accepted, and what about that missing oil?

This was wonderful action packed book, with a lot of suspense. I like the Letty character and her no one can stop her attitude. Kaiser is part of the boys club and hates he has to babysit her until they find a happy medium where they can help, teach, and learn from each other. Any women in a more male driven job has had to deal with this issue of acceptance so it's nice to see characters have to as well. I really liked this book and hope to see more of Letty and Kaiser again.

This review will appear on my blog on April 12th.