Deep Freeze by John Sandford

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.

A good ol' comfortable Flowers story.

Unfortunately not as engaging as some other entries in the series, though fortunately not as dark in tone as some either. There's a point at which I get unsure whether my natural impatience is overtaking objectivity, but this did feel like the pace dragged in places that were supposed to be generating suspense. Glad for the return of certain characters.

I appreciate what Sandford tried to do with the theme on economic downturn in rural areas /desperate people without a job market vs big corporate greed, but it feels like an add-on to the sideshow of the salacious product being discussed. Maybe he's got another book in him that could treat that theme in more detail/give it a more serious spotlight.

While I hesitate to characterize the views portrayed on gender expression/possible trans identify as condemnatory, I will say they bordered on unenlightened/ignorant, and the characterization of BDSM did indeed smack of small town moral prudery (which fits for at least some of the characters involved). When you pair that with the fact that both elements seemed to have been added to the narrative just for spice, the inclusion feels unsavory.

I keep hoping that as the entries get closer to present day they'll get a little better on multiple fronts, but this is the 2017 entry, and the last published was in 2019. I like Virgil as a character enough to finish out the series.
Maybe it will surprise me! 🤷🏼‍♂️

⚠️ misogyny