Several other men are killed in the same fashion and left at other veterans' monuments around the state. The body is then left in front of a veterans' memorial in Stillwater, Minnesota, with a lemon stuck in the victim's mouth. This case begins when a man walking his dog is killed by a sniper who is assisted by a spotter. His principal method of investigating crimes involves walking around and talking to lots of people, and out of these conversations a solution usually occurs, often with deadly consequences.

He also loves women and is attracted to lots of them, many of whom return his interest.

Virgil loves to fish, writes articles for outdoor magazines, and often tows his boat behind his pickup as he roams about the rural Minnesota countryside, chasing killers. He wears his blond hair down to his shoulders, dresses in tee shirts bearing the names of often-obscure rock bands, and rarely carries a gun. Virgil is an unconventional detective, who looks more like a surfer than a gifted investigator. This is the second entry in John Sandford's series featuring Virgil Flowers, an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. His wife, Susan, died of metastasized breast cancer in May, 2007, and is greatly missed. He has two children, Roswell and Emily, and one grandson, Benjamin. He is the principal financial backer of a major archeological project in the Jordan Valley of Israel, with a website at In addition to archaeology, he is deeply interested in art (painting) and photography. He's also the author of two non-fiction books, one on plastic surgery and one on art. From 1990 to the present he has written thriller novels. Paul Pioneer-Press from 1978-1990 in 1980, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and he won the Pulitzer in 1986 for a series of stories about a midwestern farm crisis. He was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1971-78, and then a reporter for the St. Army from 1966-68, worked as a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian from 1968-1970, and went back to the University of Iowa from 1970-1971, where he received a master's degree in journalism. In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in American Studies in 1966. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. John Sandford was born John Roswell Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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