Deep Freeze (Virgil Flowers Series #10)

by John Sandford

Overview

Class reunions: a time for memories—good, bad, and, as Virgil Flowers is about to find out, deadly—in this New York Times bestselling thriller from John Sandford. 

Virgil knows the town of Trippton, Minnesota, a little too well. A few years back, he investigated the corrupt—and as it turned out, homicidal—local school board, and now the town’s back in view with more alarming news: A woman’s been found dead, frozen in a block of ice. There’s a possibility that it might be connected to a high school class of twenty years ago that has a mid-winter reunion coming up, and so, wrapping his coat a little tighter, Virgil begins to dig into twenty years’ worth of traumas, feuds, and bad blood. In the process, one thing becomes increasingly clear to him. It’s true what they say: High school is murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399573781
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/25/2018
Series:	Virgil Flowers Series , #10
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	64,012
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of twenty-seven Prey novels, most recently Golden Prey; four Kidd novels, ten Virgil Flowers novels, and six other books, including three YA novels co-authored with his wife Michele Cook.

Hometown:

St. Paul, Minnesota

Date of Birth:

February 23, 1944

Place of Birth:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Education:

State University of Iowa, Iowa City: B.A., American History; M.A., Journalism

Website:

http://www.johnsandford.org

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Deep Freeze"
by .
Copyright © 2018 John Sandford.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Deep Freeze

“Along the way to the satisfying ending, Virgil displays the rough humor and rough justice that make him such an appealing character.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“The tenth Flowers novel is a knowing portrait of small-town life layered into a very well plotted mystery. Virgil understands that, in small towns, no one ever outgrows high school, and he uses that knowledge to unravel both mysteries by dissecting the relationships and economic realities in the town. One of the very best novels in a superior series.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“The reader’s quest to discover the whole truth will propel them forward, where [Sandford] has plenty of twists (and more than a few laughs) planted along the way. Deep Freeze is easily one of Sandford’s best Virgil Flowers novels yet.”—The Real Book Spy

“Add a gripping storyline, a generous helping of exquisitely conceived characters and laugh-out-loud humor that produce explosive guffaws, not muted chuckles, and you’re in for the usual late-night, don’t-even-think-of-stopping treat when Flowers hits town.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

Praise for Escape Clause

“You can't make this stuff up, but, thankfully, Sandford can. Imaginative, funny, and thoroughly engaging.”—Booklist (starred review)

“An outstanding novel.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Perfect entertainment for readers whose hearts skip a beat when they worry that the hero won't be in time.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The funny, smart, and always entertaining Virgil Flower is back....Some writers get better with age while others get worse. Sandford is like fine wine. The more he ages, the better he is. Escape Clause proves it.”—The Huffington Post

“One of the keys to John Sandford's success as an author is his ability to take us inside the twisted psyches of his villains.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

From the Publisher

07/31/2017
Sandford’s fine 10th Virgil Flowers novel takes the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent back to the little Mississippi River town of Trippton, the setting for 2014’s Deadline. A fisherman has discovered the ice-covered body of banker Gina Hemmings in the river near the outflow from the Trippton sewage plant. Meanwhile, the governor asks Virgil to locate Jesse McGovern, who supposedly has been manufacturing obscene Barbie Dolls—“Barbie Os”—in Trippton, though no one in the town has heard of her. Identifying the killer (who is known to the reader) in the Hemming case isn’t any easier for Virgil than tracking down Jesse and stopping the production and sale of Barbie Os. Along the way to the satisfying ending, Virgil displays the rough humor and rough justice that make him such an appealing character. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

05/15/2017
Having investigated the murderous school board of Trippton, MN, Virgil Flowers isn't happy to be called back when a woman is found there encased in ice. Her death seems to be connected to the midwinter reunion of the high school class of 20 years past, whose members obviously take old grudges to the extreme. Tenth in the No. 1 New York Times best-selling Virgil Flowers series.

Library Journal

Virgil Flowers goes to wintry Trippton, Minnesota, to investigate the death of the town’s bank president, whose body was found in the icy river. Narrator Eric Conger reprises his portrayal of Flowers, who is somehow simultaneously irascible and mellow as he puzzles through the list of possible murderers. Conger’s masculine voice is a satisfying choice for Flowers, especially the detective’s dry humor surrounding the subplot of a secret ring with plans to manufacture X-rated Barbie dolls. Flowers is annoyed with the California lawyer brought in by Mattel, Inc., and her lack of appreciation for the state he reveres. Snappy conversations keep the story hopping, and Sandford’s style of tagging the dialogue is key in helping listeners keep the characters straight. Conger delivers a straight, enjoyable narration. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2018 - AudioFile

2017-08-08
Virgil Flowers, of Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, works an altogether unremarkable murder and a surprisingly inventive case on the side.The night before Gina Hemming is fished from a frozen river, someone bashes her in the head with a champagne bottle shortly after a meeting of the committee to organize her 25th high school reunion. Since Gina holds the power of the purse over virtually everyone in Trippton—she inherited the town's bank on her father's death—and the bruises on her body suggest habitual S&M play, there are lots of suspects, from Lucy and Elroy Cheever, whose business loan application she was about to deny, to heavy-equipment operator Corbel Cain, her sometime lover, to Fred Fitzgerald, who recently purchased a whip from Bernie's Books, Candles 'n More. But none of them murdered Gina; the opening chapter shows lovelorn exterminator David Birkmann, who's been carrying a torch for her since their school days, killing her when she indicates in the most direct way possible that she doesn't return his interest. The investigation is every bit as routine as it sounds, and it's nice for Virgil that Sandford has thrown in an unrelated complication: the arrival of LA gumshoe Margaret Griffin, who's gotten the Minnesota governor's support in serving a federal cease and desist order against Virgil's classmate Jesse McGovern, who's been doing a brisk mail-order business hawking her X-rated creations, Barbie O and Boner Ken. On second thought—since the Barbie knockoffs get Virgil beaten up by four oversized females and his truck burned to the ground—it may be less nice for Virgil than for his fan base. As so often in Sandford's small-town adventures (Escape Clause, 2016, etc.), the greatest pleasures here are incidental: clipped conversations, quietly loopy humor, locals mouthing off to and about each other. Pull up a seat, make yourself comfortable, and enjoy.

Kirkus Reviews