Book Review: In the Bleak Midwinter

Reviewed By: Sarah - RAM

In the Bleak Midwinter     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Julia Spencer-Fleming
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Religious Fiction   Woman Main Character
Series: Clare Ferguson # 1
...

I liked it a lot. Not the usual staple of my book diet but certainly a strong debut.

I liked Clare. She's an Episcopalian priest but also a real woman, one who's tough and has a wry sense of humor. Even if she tended to inject herself in the police investigation a little more than I'd have liked, most of the time the situation called for it as she was acting as counsel to her parishioners. I liked Russ as well, a police chief who cares about his town and is certainly a "guy" who doesn't really get the whole religion thing but is at least open-minded enough to listen and not rule anything out.

I liked the mystery too in that I genuinely didn't know who the killer was. Guessed a few times but ultimately all the guesses were wrong. And Spencer-Fleming did a nice job in illustrating a small community. It kind of reminded me of KS's Grant County, but of course without the graphic violence. But I can sense that further secrets of Millers Kill will be revealed in future books....

I suspect we'll be hearing a whole lot from Ms. Spencer-Fleming in the future.

Sarah - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Sarah - RAM