John Sandford is best known for his Lucas Davenport (Prey) series, a remarkably consistent series that has had one book released every year since its debut in 1989. Over the last four years, however, the Virgil Flowers series (also becoming an annual event) has impressed me more.

Virgil Flowers is more laid back that Lucas Davenport, a cool compared to the sizzle. While recent Davenport books (the lone exception being the most recent and excellent "Buried Prey") has suffered from a lack of charisma and declining quality of villains, the Virgil Flowers series avoids that problem because of a different formula.

Books like this one are throwback mysteries. They rival the best of Agatha Christie. Instead of a locked room, you have a bomb planted with tight security. There's a victim (or targeted victim) where nearly everyone has a motive. Virgil Flowers isn't exactly Hercules Poirot, but he has his ways and gets there in the end. Oh yeah, Sandford is a wee bit more hard boiled than the Dame. Nevertheless, this is a true whodunit, with plenty of misdirection and a genuinely good twist.