The Virgil Flowers series is a spin-off series of John Sanford’s Prey series that brings the agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Minneapolis to centre stage. Virgil is a supporting character in many of Lucas Davenport’s adventures and first appears in Invisible Prey (Lucas Davenport Book 17). Flowers is three times divorced and a brilliant investigator with a wicked sense of humour.

Readers love the humour in the books that blend quirky, unusual mystery stories with page-turning action and suspense. The Virgil Flowers books are much funnier than the Prey series, and Sanford says this is because he gets to show off “the full stupidity of criminals” which lets him draw the humour out.

As of 2019, there have not been any new Virgil Flowers novels. For now, the character has returned to the Prey series and has “co-starred” in Ocean Prey (Book 31), Righteous Prey (Book 32), and Judgement Prey (Book 33).

It’s not crucial for the Virgil Flowers series to be read in order, but it is recommended for a richer experience of the personal character development of the outdoorsman who loves fishing when he’s not catching bad guys.