Buried Prey

Starred review from March 28, 2011
Sandford's outstanding 21st novel to feature Lucas Davenport of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (after Storm Prey) offers fans the chance to compare the young with the mature protagonist. In 1985, Davenport, then an eager patrol cop, made his bones as a homicide detective in an ugly kidnapping murder case. The present-day discovery of the mummified bodies of two girls wrapped in plastic, sisters Nancy and Mary Jones, leads Davenport to realize that he "messed up": the wrong man was credited with the crime and the real killer never caught. Cracking this very cold case becomes intensely personal for Davenport, who uses his own resources, including manipulating the media and pushing Marcy Sherrill, head of Minneapolis Homicide, to use all of her resources as well. A fusion of old-fashioned doggedness and modern technology pressures the killer into deadly action. Expert plotting and a riveting finish make this one of Sandford's best. Author tour.

April 15, 2011

A macabre discovery at a demolition site sends Lucas Davenport back to 1985, and his very first homicide.

There's no proof at the time that the Jones girls are dead, only a plea from George and Gloria Jones to find them after they went missing, along with a raft of evidence that all points in one direction. When the need to follow every lead drags Lucas Davenport, the beat cop who first caught the call, into a very temporary assignment as a plainclothes homicide detective, he immediately shows the sleuthing instincts that will make him a star (Storm Prey, 2010, etc.). For his trouble, he's shunted off the case onto the infinitely more routine murder of gangbanger Billy Smith. Along the way, he manages to solve the fatal stabbing of Ronald Rice more or less on the fly. Meanwhile, a series of anonymous tips and circumstantial clues convince Lt. Quentin Daniel, who's running the Jones case, that his killer is schizophrenic panhandler Terry Scrape. When a manhunt leaves Scrape dead, Daniel closes the case over Lucas's protests. It's not until 25 years later, when a construction crew finds the two girls' bodies, that Lucas has a chance to reopen it. Much of his two investigations, past and present, amount to a slog, a procedural daisy chain of information that leads to more information, much of it unreliable. But when the killer commits a particularly brazen and atrocious crime in the present day, the pace picks up as Lucas vows to execute his quarry personally.

Most interesting for its long look at the young Lucas, who's considerably more humorous, profane and loosely wrapped than the peerless agent of Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension he becomes.

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December 1, 2010

Back in 1985, two girls disappeared, and fledgling cop Lucas Davenport couldn't get over it, even when his boss declared the case closed. Now a house has been torn down, the bodies of two girls wrapped in plastic have been found, and Davenport is back on the case. Best seller Sandford is relentless.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
When he was a young patrolman, Lucas Davenport insinuated himself into the case of two missing girls. He worked hard, and the result was the death of a troubled street person, which provided the cases official closure, despite the girls bodies never being found. Davenports contributions accelerated his career, but he was never quite satisfied that the street person was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the bodies are discovered, and Davenport, now heading Minnesotas Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, gets a second chance. He reviews the original case, reinterviews some original witnesses, and confirms his nagging suspicion that the real killer was never caught. The first half of the story is a prequel of sorts, providing readers a glimpse of the cocky young cop who would become the cocky veteran investigator. The contemporary case takes a dark turn when a key secondary character is killed, putting Davenport on the edge of vigilantism. The twenty-third Prey novel is one of the series stronger recent entries, featuring the signature gallows humor, strong primary characters, and as always, an unforgettable villain. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Sandfords Prey series has had a devoted following for years and shows no signs of losing its momentum. The publicity campaign wont hurt, but Lucas Davenport fans need little prodding.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)