Virgil Flowers Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Virgil Flowers Books
| Dark of the Moon | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Heat Lightning | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Rough Country | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Bad Blood | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Shock Wave | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Mad River | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Storm Front | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Deadline | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Escape Clause | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Deep Freeze | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Holy Ghost | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Bloody Genius | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Ocean Prey | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Righteous Prey | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Judgment Prey | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Virgil Flowers Biography:
Virgil Flowers is a book series written by John Sanford, a novelist famous for his expertise in crime stories. He has written 7 books in the series so far; Dark of the Moon, Heat Lightning, Rough Country, Bad Blood, Shock Wave, Mad River, and Storm Front. The series started back in 2007 and finished off in 2013. The story features a man named Virgil Flowers, who is a three-time divorced man in his late thirties. After being in the army and the military police, Lucas Davenport (a character in the Prey series) brings him to the BCA (the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension). The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is located in Bluestem, a small town where everybody knows your business. It seems Virgil Flowers has been through more than anyone else, but he’s in for a ride with the events that occur at Bluestem.
Virgil Flowers:
So, what makes Virgil Flowers different from other crime-book detectives? Besides being tall and handsome, Flowers finds himself having to make some tough decisions in this novel. He is a ladies’ man at his best, but he takes his job about as seriously as you will ever see. He does tend to jump into bed with women rather quickly, but that can probably e attributed to his dashingly good and rugged looks. The amazing thing about these books is that Lucas Davenport is now Flowers’ boss. Lucas Davenport was the main character in all of the Prey series, which consists of 23 books so far. These books are extremely popular and Sanford has no plans of quitting writing them any time soon. So dating to the first book, what led Flowers to come to Bluestem, a small town barely on the map? It actually dates to three weeks before he made his move- the two gruesome murders of a doctor and his wife for discovered in the town, even though there hadn’t been a murder in the town in years. Flowers decides the odds are too coincidental.
Dark of the Moon:
The Dark of the Moon is the first book in the 7-part Virgil Flowers series. This is the start of it all; where Virgil Flowers moves to a small town and joins the BCA under Lucas Davenport’s supervision. His old pal Jim Stryker is ultimately the person who convinces Flowers to make the move, however, because he needs his help and expertise. The book starts off with a house exploding into flames, which is owned by a despised man named Bill Judd. Suspicion is immediately aroused when Flowers discovers that many people (including certain women’s husbands) have a deep hatred for Judd. Judd of course does not escape the fire and dies. Flowers now has three murders to solve; the doctor husband and wife from three weeks ago and the latest one of the supposed most hated man in the town.
To solve these crimes, Flowers becomes detective partners with Jim Stryker. He starts dating Stryker’s sister Joan, and while he considers them both friends, he can’t help wondering if they had something to do with the crimes. Pretty soon he finds himself wondering if everyone he knows is a suspect.
Heat Lightning:
This is the second book in Sanford’s 7-part series. It starts off with Flowers and his second ex-wife. He is enjoying a good time with her when he suddenly gets a call from Lucas Davenport, his boss from the BCA. And the news is pretty grim. A body has been found near a veteran’s memorial in the next town over, with two shots to the head and a lemon in his mouth. Even grimmer is that a body was found just like this last week. Flowers has no choice but to accept a part in solving this gruesome case. These two bodies end up starting a confusing trail to the war in Vietnam back in the 70s. He soon discovers there is a ridiculous conspiracy surrounding the American CIA and the Vietnamese government. Make sure you stick around for the ending- it’ll knock you off your feet.
Rough Country:
In this third book of the series, Flowers finds that he has to put his love life on hold, because the current case he’s working on seems to be taking over. This case starts off with a woman being shot while kayaking at an outdoor women’s spa. What’s worse is that the spa is supposed to be a place for the women to relax. As Flowers begins investigating, he discovers this case is a lot more complicated than he originally thought. Everybody at the resort seems to be connected in some way. This means everybody is considered a suspect until he can rule some people out. Flowers is especially surprised when he discovers the murder of this woman is NOT the first one that occurred at this “relaxing” spa. There was also one a year prior, which he is completely convinced is connected to the current murder.
Bad Blood:
The plot of this book is just as unique as the rest. We start off with the murder of soybean farmer. However before the farmer can make any progress at the local grain elevator, a young man kills him with blunt force to the head. He then shoves the man into the grain bin to make it appear like an accident. For unknown reasons, the young man calls the police department and reports the scene, making sure to tell them that it was an accident and he played no part in it. The police don’t buy his story and put him in prison. Before he can get further interrogated, the many is found hanging in his jail cell. The sheriff is now pointing fingers at her own men on the force, until Flowers can figure out what really happened.
Shock Wave:
If you enjoyed the last book, don’t get too comfortable. The 6th book in this thrilling series revolves around a series of bombings that occur at PyeMart, a superstore chain. This chain was supposed to be a new and beneficial addition to a small Minnesota town, but many environmentalists and small business owners feel otherwise. Flowers has to figure out who was actually behind the bombings, as many people seemed to have a good reason for not wanting PyeMart around.
Mad River:
Mad River is the 7th and last book in the Virgil Flowers series. Three teenagers are on a killing spree, starting with a highway patrolman. Killing random people through rural Minnesota, Flowers must find a way to put the end to the hell they are creating before it escalates. And if he thought things were bad now, they’re about to get worse.
Book Series In Order » Characters »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
I have read all of the Virgil Flowers novels and absolutely love them. I am hoping that Dave Sanderson writes some more. I will buy all he cranks out.
Audible has 2 entries for the “Bad Bood” book.
Bad Blood – Released 9-21-2010 – Length 9hrs 24Min
Bad Blood – Released 11-9–2017 – Length 5hrs 27min
I have listened to the 2010 book and now wondering why there is a shorter version of the same book? The synopsis for the books are the same.
The 5 hour one is an abridged version meaning there are large portions of the book cut out. Abridged means they basically cut everything out except the main storyline.
I just love Virgil. If sandford wrote 100 Virgil books it would not be enough.
In which book does Virgil and Frankie have the twins? Please continue to print in larger print it’s the ones I can read thank you.
I believe that was Bloody Genius
I just finished Bloody Genius, and Frankie is still pregnant; unless I missed something. So, do we learn anything in Ocean Prey about Virgil and Frankie? I just started Ocean Prey and I am going to be extremely disappointed if we don’t find out about the twins! (I can’t believe I’m so obsessed about a darn imaginary character….)
Try reading on Kindle. You can make the prints large as needed.
I am a huge fan of Virgil thanks to John Sandford and keep looking/hoping for another. Especially when recorded and voiced by Eric Conger.
I absolutely love the character Virgil Flowers. Wish
Mr. Sanford would write more books in the Virgil series. His part in Ocean Prey was just not enough.
Lucas Davenport is a great character and very exciting, but Virgil is all that and more. Hope to see
more in the Virgil series really soon.
I agree that Mr. Sanford should write more in the Virgil Flowers series. What about the twins?