And just as with old friends, we have the tendency to overlook
the flaws in Davenport's personality.
In Sandford's latest, "Phantom Prey," we are once again lured
in by Davenport's quick wit and friendly banter. We love Sandford's
breezy style and gift for character descriptions. We are impressed
by the endless supply of smart - but not smarter than Davenport -
criminals with no conscience.
After a while, though, we tire of our friend's ability to make
everything look so easy. Then there's Sandford's habit of showing
us his hole card a little too early in the hand. And we roll our
eyes and wonder: Would Davenport really talk designer socks with
the governor?
In "Phantom Prey," Davenport wades into the Twin Cities' Goth
scene to find the killer of Frances Austin, the daughter of a
well-connected businesswoman who begs Davenport to help unravel the
mystery of her disappearance and likely death (there's blood on the
walls, after all).
Davenport, as we've come to expect, reluctantly lets himself get
dragged into the investigation and, as we've come to expect, his
insights, effort, assumptions, occasionally uneducated guesses and
twists of dumb luck blaze a trail that a cadre of investigators
failed to find.
Midway through the novel, Davenport is investigating four
connected murders, the disappearance of $50,000 and his own
shooting, all the while spending significant time on an unrelated
surveillance operation.
At the heart of Davenport's investigation is a diminutive Goth
chick who's been eviscerating people who might have been involved
with Frances' disappearance.
By the time it's over, Davenport smooth-talks confessions from
everyone involved and solves a half-dozen crimes.
Predictable? Sure. But we can forgive Davenport for telling us
the same story over and over. That's what friends are for.
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