Judith‘s review of I Shall Not Want (Clare Fergusson and Russ van Alstyne Mystery) by Julia Spencer-Fleming

In Julia Spencer-Fleming’s most suspenseful and passionate novel yet, town cop Russ Van Alstyne and Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson are separated by guilt and grief over Russ’s wife’s death. While these emotions keep them from being together, intense desire for each other continues to grow.

When a Latino man is murdered, Clare is drawn into Russ’s investigation through her good works with the migrant community. The discovery of two more bodies ignites fears that a serial killer is loose. Throughout the escalating tensions, Russ and Clare’s emotions toward each other is mixed. But bodies in love know only one direction and they find themselves locked in each other’s arms, even as they try to keep apart.


This is my first exposure to this series but I was hooked very early on this book. In fact, I have already gone back and looked at the first five novels just because they are all great mystery stories with the growing love attraction going on from book to book. Certainly in this novel the attraction between Russ and Clare has reached a fever pitch.

But there are other things going on, stuff that can warp a relationship and ultimately kill the most intense attraction. Certainly, Clare is dealing with inner stuff that is crippling in and of itself. As a religious professional I know the doubt and that sense of maybe not really having what it takes to care for such a diverse group of people. She certainly has been through the wringer with some of her parishioners and there was still the spectre of community gossip in the death of Russ’s wife. What kind of future what there for them? And most devastating of all, how could she ever measure up to a dead wife? The temptation for constant comparison can be deadly if allowed to persist. There is also the issue that Clare is just not a kind of “mind your own business” kind of pastor. Her heart is with the disenfranchised, with the homeless and hopeless, and the migrant community certainly is needy in so many ways. Her work with a Catholic sister takes her right into the middle of the murder investigation–something Russ isn’t very happy about. His dead wife never “in the way” of the progress of an investigation.

So we have the course of true love not running smooth at all, and a murder investigation that just keeps getting messier and messier. Were these three Latino deaths related? What about the shooting and subsequent auto accident that injured the Catholic sister and caused the migrant workers she was transporting to run for the woods? Were Russ’s sister and brother-in-law involved in hiring undocumented laborers? The book is divided by the seasons of the Church year–Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc. That is the calendar that controls Clare’s life, even though she may live in the illusion that the Roman calendar is in charge. It is also a reminder to the readers that there are other issues for Clare: how does she fit in her history in the military with her ministry? How can she continue to feel as she does for Russ knowing that there are so many issues that separate them?

This is a complicated story that keeps on fascinating, keeps on challenging the reader, keeps on twisting and turning so that just when it seems the mystery has been solved, another something happens and the supposed solution doesn’t fit at all. For those of us who love mysteries as well as romances, this novel is the best of both worlds. I have been noticing that fans of this series are almost fanatic in their appreciation for these books. Having read my first Van Alstyne/Fergusson mystery romance, I now understand that kind of loyalty. The characters in this story are all unique and each contributes to the story, some more than others, but their own personality and presence expands the dimension of the tale. There are some side relationships that add to the reader’s interest. I am going to also be following the Flynn/Knox pairing–a deputy head over heals over the newest police officer, and she doesn’t want a relationship–no way, not even! So much going on, so much to keep the reader’s interest, so much to try and figure out.

This is really a fantastic read and one that I will be re-reading without doubt.

I give the novel a 5 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Minotaur Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Judith‘s review of One Was A Soldier (A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery) by Julia Spencer-Fleming

The tension has been building . . . the pieces are all in place . . . and all good things come to those who wait.  Julia Spencer-Fleming’s award-winning series has followed the flawed and complex characters Russ Van Alstyne and Reverend Clare Fergusson as they have weathered the storm to be together . . . but, now in One Was A Soldier their love is put to the test as they face their most personal case yet.


Haunted by her time in Iraq, Clare struggles to adjust to a civilian life.  But after a suspicious tragedy involving a young Army specialist is ruled a suicide, she takes off on a dangerous mission to uncover the truth behind the young soldier’s death.


This is the 7th in this series of mystery/romances and picks up the saga of this little town in upstate New York and its residents.  Chief among those citizens in Russ and Clare, two people from very different walks of life, who share a history in the military, who are separated in age by more than a decade, and who have finally acknowledged their growing love for one another.  But that love had to be put on hold during the 18 months Clare spent in Iraq, not as a chaplain but as a helicopter pilot, taking her into the bowels of the conflict, and forever changing her understanding of life and the future.  Now she is home and a participant in a veteran’s support/therapy group, all of whom are residents of Millers Kill, NY, and all of whom are recent returnees from the Middle East.

Julia Spencer-Fleming has dared to build a story of murder, betrayal, greed, and pain around the experiences and the post-tour-of-duty anxieties, phobias, angers, upsets of a group of veterans.  One of the group is found dead floating in a swimming pool, and Clare, for one, does not accept that it is a suicide.  After all, that person was openly sharing feelings and issues, appeared interested in the future, and gave no signs of that kind of underlying pathology.  Her insistence that the death was foul play begins to erode her relationship with Russ, and even though he understands her loyalty to her veteran/comrades, he again struggles with the fact that she is right smack dab in the middle of another of his investigations.  That this death and its circumstance never is what it initially appears to be, that the causes are so far removed from what was originally thought, that the investigations ultimately takes Russ and Clare to unexpected sources for truth and almost totally compromises their relationship . . . this is the gist of this novel and proof positive that it is a beautifully constructed and well-written novel.  It is an interest grabber from page one, and if the reader is already into the series, will continue to develop the characters and their stories, forming a fascinating context for Russ and Clare.

Add to all this the very hidden shame of Clare’s growing addiction to prescription drugs–the anesthesia with which she attempts to battle her post-military service pain, the increasing use of alcohol, and her deep integrity and honesty that makes her aware that she is going to have to “come clean” with Russ before this is all over.  It is the fear of what the fall-out of confession may be.  After waiting so long to come to a good place in their relationship, will this addiction and alcohol dependence jeopardize her position as rector of St. Albans and will it be the last straw that will end her relationship with Russ?

This is a novel that lets the reader honestly encounter the angers, the nightmares, the sense of uselessness, the hurt and frustration of people who now have to put aside their war experiences, deal with wounds and long-term effects, and try to once again fit in with a civilian way of life.  There is no hiding here.  And in addition, the author has used quotes from the various services in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer at the beginning of each chapter.  It is the stuff of Clare’s life;  it is the foundation of her personal faith and her call to serve.  How can she rationalize it all, how can she make sense of her life?  I think readers will be pulled out of a personal comfort zone and made to face the after-effects on the warriors we send to fight our battles.  Only seems fair that we face the damage that war does to their lives.

This is a truly fantastic read!!  Readers will surely love the citizens of this town, embrace the hurts and wounds of the veterans, bravely cheer Russ and Clare on as they work to preserve their relationship, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.  It is a novel that will be on my favorites/re-read list, because there is just so much here a reader cannot get it all the first time.  Lastly is it incredibly timely and one that should not only be entertaining but very instructive.

I give it a rating of 5 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Minotaur Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.