While I've greatly enjoyed Sandford's Virgil Flowers series, and to a lesser extent, the Lucas Davenport books, I found THE INVESTIGATOR, with Letty Davenport, a distinct disappointment. Letty, like Lucas, is practically superhuman, and (also kind of like Lucas) I didn't much like her. As with most of Sandford's books, the plot moves along quickly, and there's plenty of action and suspense. But I won't be reading another book with Letty as the protagonist.

Letty Davenport is the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport and his wife, Weather. She had a rough childhood, has seen and done things no child should ever have to, and retained some skills she learned along the way and has since added to. She also learned a lot from her father. Letty is bored with her job and ready to quit when she’s offered another opportunity tracking the theft of large amounts of oil. Not so much for the oil, but where the money from the sale of it is going and why.

Letty is partnered with John Kaiser, a DHS investigator. They get off to a rocky start, but Letty soon realizes John has a lot of experience she doesn’t, and it doesn’t take long for them to start working well together. They’re up against a bad militia group supposedly run by a woman named Jane, who also goes by Jael.

A lot of fast-paced action, murder, drama, danger, and more! I look forward to the next book in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Letty is offered some real investigative work instead of her current boring, routine work. Crude oil is being stolen and her job is to find out how, by whom and why. Along with her new partner, John, they follow various leads and I enjoyed the banter between them and their developing understanding of their different skills. The appearance of a sinister militia organising these thefts took, for me, a turn for the worse as they were essentially a group against immigrants and seemed happy to use violence as they saw fit. Obviously it's American and, for someone this side of the Pond, I found the language hard to follow at times - life with oil is clearly not my forte. There is then an awful lot about guns - types, ranges and so on, about which I know nothing and don't wish to and added nothing to the story. So, not a successful read for me although most other reviewers clearly thoroughly enjoyed it.. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This is the first book on a new series by the author. It features Letty Davenport the adopted daughter of Lucas Davenport who is the main character of the author’s Prey books. The premise of the novel is attempting to thwart a militia group from attempting an action that would result in the possibility of numerous deaths. A good start to the series. It is a fast paced, fairly quick read novel.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

I enjoyed The Investigator by John Sandford.

It was a well-crafted story that easily held my interest and made me want to know what was going to happen next. I very much enjoyed the two primary characters (Letty and Kaiser). Not only were they well written and included just enough backstory to invest the reader in them (even with no foreknowledge from previous books), but they made a great pair. A good part of the success of the story was their partnership and interactions.

Sandford has a long history of writing excellent books...this one is no exception and will not let you down. This is a great start to a new series--one that I will follow.

Full disclosure here, I love Lucas Davenport and have a major crush on Virgil Flowers, so I was more than a little biased going in to this.

I loved the plot and the storytelling, and all the characters, except Letty. I wasn’t expecting a female Lucas. He took time to become who he is, and even with all her life experience, Letty’s not there yet. She hasn’t made any mistakes or had any law enforcement street experience. She’s a little too perfect and the complete opposite of who she’s been in the Lucas books.

I’ve been following Letty for years and I was excited to see what she would do on her own. She’s doing a little too well.
I would have loved to have seen her out of her depth a little and having to actually listen and learn from the people she works with.

With all of that out of the way, it was a really interesting story and I can’t wait to see what Letty’s going to do next.

Thanks NetGalley for the book!

The author of the Prey series and Virgil Flowers novels lets another Davenport out into the world. Letty Davenport gets her turn at a series in The Investigator.

Letty is just out of college and bored in her job working for US Senator Chris Colles. He offers Letty a chance to partner with an experienced Department of Homeland Security agent, John Kaiser. Letty and John are investigating an oil theft and the subsequent disappearance of an oil executive and his wife in Texas.

Letty is not taken seriously by anyone because she is young and female. But she soon proves that she has the chops for espionage work (and a little wet work as well). Is there anything Letty cannot do?

The Investigator is a good start to a new thriller series—though I miss Virgil’s laid-back sense of humor. There is humor here, but it reminds me more of the Prey series. The criminal mastermind that Letty and John are trailing, Jane Jael Hawkes, is the leader of a right-wing militia. She is also female making this book very different from the traditional testosterone-fueled shoot-em-up.

If you are looking for excitement within a feminist plotline, look no further than The Investigator. It is an exhilarating look into Letty’s new world. 4 stars!

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Canelo, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Once again, Sandford has successfully launched a spinoff from his excellent Prey series. This new line of adventures, following Davenport's daughter Lettie, starts strong. Both Lettie and her sidekick are well drawn, and fun to spend time with. The crime story is appropriately twisty and takes Davenport to a new part of the country. It was a page turner, and I"ll be coming back for more Lettie Davenport adventures as soon as Sandford writes them!

I have enjoyed all the other series and here is a great new one. Well done. I know this is the first but hope it continues for many more.

I love reading about smart and tough women, and this excellent book has such a main character. The plot is also very good, which is promising for the rest of the series, and the storytelling is just professional.

Another great John Sandford book starring Letty Davenport. She is a wonderful addition to the Davenport family sagas as she’s clever, experienced, and fearless. Sandford writes with a fun humor that sneaks up in the character dialogue. A great read in this ongoing series!


Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the opportunity to read this excellent ARC.

I love the Lucas Davenport books the Author writes and here we are introduced to his adopted daughter's foray into the workplace .

Letty is bored , working as an intern for Senator Colles , she is ready to quit ........... that is until he tempts her into working alongside Homeland Security officer John Kaiser in a real investigation .
Someone is stealing crude oil - the question is not just who is doing the stealing BUT what are they doing with the money .?
When Letty and Kaiser find two dead bodies links to illegal militia come to light .
Just what is their aim , where and what is their target ............. the action takes the pair to Pershing and the border with Mexico - can they avert a major disaster ?

This is a fast paced thriller with twists and turns around every corner .......... Kaiser is a perfect mentor for Letty
with his Forces background and her unique upbringing .
I look forward to reading more from the Author featuring this pair in the future

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This new series is fantastic! Letty is a congressional aid tasked with an unusual project. When pressed into service, she is also provided with Kaiser, a former Delta, current DHS, officer. While Letty is young, smart, and very well educated, what she lacks is practical experience. Kaiser brings that to the table, along with his extensive history of hunting bad buys.

What begins as a simple question, quickly turns into a complex conspiracy that has them fighting for justice and their lives. This book is fast paced suspense at its best. The plot is tightly woven and had me staying up way to late in the night to see what happened next - I couldn't put it down.

If you enjoy the genre, you will love this book. Put this one at the top of your TBR list. The author is on my must read authors' list.

Fantastic! I loved Letty and the links back to Lucas Davenport from earlier Sandford works. This book hits the ground running and keeps the pace up for every single page. It’s a very contemporary plot with many references to current issues and this makes it extremely credible,

The Investigator is a new series from John Sandford with Letty Davenport as the main character. Lucas Davenport is not named and is referred to as Dad.

"Letty Davenport has graduated from Stanford with a Master's in Economics and is working for a Senator in DC. She is bored and ready to move on when the Senator convinces her to work as an investigator for Homeland Security. She teams up with John Kaiser, a former Delta operator. Their investigation into some missing oil turns up a bigger plot of possible domestic terrorism."

I love that Sandford gives Letty has her own book. She is a character that is constantly underestimated but over-delivers. This feels a lot like a Prey book but Letty has a similar but different style to Lucas. There are flashbacks to her first appearance in the Prey series (Naked Prey) to give the casual reader some background. The story is fast-paced and I had a hard time putting it down. Sandford fans will love this book. Crime fiction/thriller fans should also enjoy this one. I hope we see a lot more of Letty Davenport.