In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Clare is an ex-army woman torn between her duty as a priest and her commitment to helping Russ solve the complex cases he investigates. Russ is a no-nonsense law enforcement officer with a complicated past. They live in Millers Kill in upstate New York. This acclaimed series follows the story of an Episcopal priest named Reverend Clare Fergusson and a Police Chief named Russ Van Alstyne. The Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery Books I’ll also include a short plot summary of each so you can start your reading adventure immediately. In this post, I’ll list all the author’s books in reading and publication order. Julia Spencer-Fleming has published nine novels in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series. The Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery Books.25)įYI: This novel won the 2001 SMP/Malice Domestic Best Traditional Mystery contest. The vivid setting descriptions will bring plenty of shivers, but the real strength of this stellar first is the focus on the mystery, which will delight traditional fans. Along the way, there is an exceptionally spine-chilling confrontation. It is a cast readers will hope to meet again, while a fast-paced plot keeps the guess work going until the very end. Likewise, the other characters are equally well developed and believable, except for the young pediatrician, who speaks more like a hip teenager than a professional. Smart, courageous and tough, she is also caring, kindhearted and blessed with a refreshing personality.

With her background as an army helicopter pilot, Clare is not a typical priest. The foundling case quickly becomes an investigation into murder that will shatter the lives of members of her congregation, challenge her own feelings and faith and threaten her life. When a baby is left on the church doorstep with a note designating that he be given to two of her parishioners, Clare calls in police chief Russ Van Alstyne.

Alban's Episcopal Church in the small upstate New York town of Millers Kill, is faced with not only an early December snowstorm and the bitter cold of her first Northern winter but also a conservative vestry, who apparently expended all their daring on hiring her, a female priest. In this debut novel, a riveting page-turner from start to finish, born-and-bred Virginian Clare Ferguson, newly ordained priest of St.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming