Another great complex mystery in one of my favorite series. ( )

Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne 8

I've been reading my way through this series for two and a half years now. I knew, as soon as I started 'In The Bleak Midwinter' that I'd found a series I could lose myself in. I've just finished the eighth book, 'Through The Evil Days' and I've never been disappointed. These books are more than a comfort read, each of them has given me something to think about while still spinning a tense narrative and getting me hopelessly entangled in the lives and hopes of the main characters. My only regret is that there seems to be only one book left in the series, 'Hid From Our Eyes' which was published in 2020. Personally, I'll continue to read these books as long as Julia Spencer-Fleming continues to write them.

I don't know how Julia Spencer-Fleming does it but I stepped back into this series six months after I read the last book, 'One Was A Soldier' and I was immediately re-invested in the lives of Clair and Russ. And what complicated lives they are. It's December and Russ and Clare are due for a week's honeymoon in a remote cabin on a lake in the mountains. All would be well if it wasn't for the fact that the future of Russ' police department is being assessed and Clare is visibly pregnant, which is an unhappy surprise for Russ, who thinks he's too old to become a father, and a problem for Clare's Church as the pregnancy is a public declaration that Clare and Russ had sex before they were married. As they are about to leave for the mountains, where they will be out of contact with everyone, they are called to the scene of a fatal fire that may be arson and discover that a little girl is missing.

Of course, while thrashing out their futures and the feelings about parenthood, Clare and Russ find themselves at the centre of a violent conflict where they put their lives at risk to try and save the missing girl. There's also a well-told and emotionally charged sub-plot about the relationship between Hadley and Kevin and Hadley's ex-husband.

The storytelling is vivid without being lurid and it remains very people-focused. This is a tense thriller with a lot of action and a couple of surprises that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. It also captures the feeling of being caught in an ice storm in the mountains very well.

And, of course, there's the humour, which keeps the whole thing human and makes the people easier to believe in and care about. For example, when the fire chief, on seeing the Reverend Claire heavily pregnant, turns to Russ and ask 'Can Protestant Ministers do that?', Russ replies, 'If they're women they can.'

So, I'm going to read the ninth book next month and hope that a tenth is published later this year.
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Chief of Police, Russ Van Alstyne, and Episcopal priest, Clare Fergusson, are getting ready to leave for their belated honeymoon at a remote ice fishing cabin. Before they leave they are both called out to the scene of a raging fire; Russ because he's police chief and Clare to counsel the firefighters who have witnessed the horrible deaths of two people. As soon as they arrive the medical examiner informs them the two burn victims were shot in the head before being burned. They were also foster parents to a young girl recovering from a liver transplant and she's not among the dead. If she's still alive she desperately needs the medicine that keeps her from rejecting her new liver.

Russ and Clare are both faced with possibly losing their jobs when they return, but they are keeping that from each other for now. The town aldermen, concerned about their budget, want to get rid of the police department and have the sheriff patrol the area instead. Clare has been asked to quietly resign form her church role or face a disciplinary hearing.

Once they get to the cabin, a huge blizzard changes their circumstances and they find themselves combating more than just the weather elements.

Steady action, complex mystery, and great secondary character storylines, especially one involving Hadley Knox, make this a must-read for any fan of the series. The author is not afraid to show us all the flaws in her characters, never more so than this eighth book of the mystery series. I highly recommend this series be read in order for maximum enjoyment and character development.
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No. 8 in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Chief Russ Van Alstyne series. Spencer Fleming hasn't lost it yet. This one got an early grip on me and didn't let go. I didn't want to put it down, hurried to get back to it, and didn't really want it to end. For a bit near the end, I thought she was going to tie everything up, and leave everybody happy, and maybe there wouldn't be any more adventures in Millers Kill. But NO.... And I'm glad of that. I'm also glad (hard as it is to wait) that she takes her sweet time bringing out each new installment. I think she's still really invested in her characters, not getting burned out, and it shows. In this one, a sick child's life is at stake when she is kidnapped; Russ and Clare and the whole MKPD throw themselves heartily into the hunt in the midst of a record-breaking ice storm that makes any kind of traveling treacherous to impossible. Meanwhile both Clare and Russ find their jobs in jeopardy and hesitate to share that information with each other. The pacing is mighty fine, the tension builds just enough with each set of characters, and in context every development seems perfectly plausible. I'll avoid mentioning other plot elements that may not be known to readers who haven't made it this far into the series yet, or *gasp* haven't made its acquaintance at all yet. The finest kind of escapist reading.
Review written January 2014 ( )