Bloody Genius by John Sandford

At the local state university, two feuding departments have faced off on the battleground of science and medicine. Each carries their views to extremes that may seem absurd, but highly educated people of sound mind and good intentions can reasonably disagree, right?

Then a renowned and confrontational scholar winds up dead, and Virgil Flowers is brought in to investigate . . . and as he probes the recent ideological unrest, he soon comes to realize he's dealing with people who, on this one particular issue, are functionally crazy. Among this group of wildly impassioned, diametrically opposed zealots lurks a killer, and it will be up to Virgil to sort the murderer from the mere maniacs.

Usual good time from reliable Mr Sandford. Always entertaining, breezy and fun.

I am a loyal Sandford reader. I have been there since the beginning of the Davenport novels many moons ago. The Flowers books started as a nice distraction but now are, to me, more enjoyable than the Davenport books, while I feel like the author is playing out the string.

I will admit a bias to the Flowers book as I am a lifelong Minnesota resident, and I usually know the locations that Flowers visits. This book was a particular hoot, as I am also a U of M graduate and was familiar with the sites where most of the action takes place. This book also contained a pretty good mystery - it wasn't totally clear who the murderer was until about three quarters through the book. I also learned about Faraday pouches to the point where I got one.

There books aren't War and Peace, but they are above average crime thrillers written by a really good writer who seems interested writing about the Flowers character and his world. The stories vary in quality - usually from okay to really good - but they are always a good escapist read. If you are a Sandford/Flowers fan, enjoy this book, because it's above average. If you are new to this series, it may be prudent to head back to the beginning, because a lot of the characters will come and go without background (because the writer assumes you know who they are).