We read this, the first in Spencer-Fleming's Rev. Clare Fergusson series, for our Windsor Locks Library mystery book club, the Christie Capers. I absolutely loved it!
Clare is an Episcopal priest and ex-army helicopter pilot who drives a snazzy MG and doesn't own a decent pair of winter boots. She is also the first female priest ever to serve in the small upstate New York town of Miller's Kill (If you live in New York or New England you know that "kill" in the town's name has nothing to do with the mystery at hand). Soon after the newly ordained Clare arrives in town, she finds a baby on the doorstep of St. Alban's Church along with a note instructing that the child be given to a childless couple in town. When a young mother is found brutally murdered soon afterwards, Clare is torn between her pastoral duties and her desire to bring a killer to justice. Complicating things is her tendency act on her instincts and growing friendship with and attraction to married Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne, who suspects that the murdered girl and the baby are connected .
In the Bleak Midwinter is a delight from start to finish. Spencer-Fleming has created a near-perfect combination of mystery, action, local color, and developing relationships. Clare's profession is blended beautifully and believably into the plot. Will I be reading any more in this series? Watch for reviews soon! In the meantime, pick up this book and give this series a try. You might be a little disoriented by the dated technology in the story since it was written in 2002, but it won't really matter to your enjoyment. What a difference a cell phone makes in a mystery, though!
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