ROUGH COUNTRY

Virgil Flowers might seem too laid-back and good-looking to be a cop, but he has an uncanny knack for applying his languid masculine charms to suspects who harbor secrets. When Flowers's Northern Minnesota fishing trip is interrupted by a murder at a nearby lodge, he quickly discovers intriguing and unsettling details. Eric Conger infuses Flowers with a well-balanced combination of charm and bluster as he unravels the connection between the mostly lesbian clientele at the rustic lodge and an all-female country band from the local watering hole. Conger adds depth to some of the women in the story, including an attractive local resident who might have more association with the murder than Flowers would like to find. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2010]