4.5 stars
I should have known better, but I had forgotten the addictive quality of this series. I started it in the morning, when it was a lovely day outside and I should have been catching up on tasks that are easier when there's no snow. At the very least, it would have been sensible to start freshening up the guestroom for my Christmas visitor. I did none of that. From the very first chapter, Spencer-Fleming grabbed me with suspense and I could not set the book down until I had finished.
The mystery component of the books in this series are quite acceptable, but it is the relationship between Russ and Clare that keeps me coming back for more. Both are feeling unhappy and guilty after the death of Russ's wife, Linda. Clare's other admirer, Hugh, is trying to take advantage of their estrangement, but he obviously has no clue how tightly bound together the police chief and the reverend are. However, Clare does wish at a certain point that she was a lesbian and could just leave men out of her life.
So, although that's the drama that glued me to the page, Spencer-Fleming doesn't just leave it at that. Added, and also interesting, is the interaction between the new female police officer, Hadley, and a young officer we already know, Kevin Flynn. I can see where this story line will become more important in future books. Confined to this novel is a romance between a brutalized sister of some of the local thuggish brothers and a Mexican migrant worker. One very intense scene has Isobel and and Amado hiding in the woods as a brother calls for her. Amado thinks that the brother sounds like a farmer calling chickens with an axe in his hand. A shiver went down my spine as I realized I knew exactly what he meant.
This is another draw of the series, the social issues that drive the mystery plot. In this one, it's both the situation of migrant workers and the awful familiarity of domestic violence. We get to see our societal prejudices from a new angle and see what we think of them.
The book ends with personal upheaval in Clare's life, because an author can't let their characters breathe to easily or the suspense is shot. Russ is a widower, but he still needs to mourn Linda and tend to his family relationships. Clare must survive her time away and come back to Miller's Kill. I can hardly wait to pick up the story again with the next book.
I should have known better, but I had forgotten the addictive quality of this series. I started it in the morning, when it was a lovely day outside and I should have been catching up on tasks that are easier when there's no snow. At the very least, it would have been sensible to start freshening up the guestroom for my Christmas visitor. I did none of that. From the very first chapter, Spencer-Fleming grabbed me with suspense and I could not set the book down until I had finished.
The mystery component of the books in this series are quite acceptable, but it is the relationship between Russ and Clare that keeps me coming back for more. Both are feeling unhappy and guilty after the death of Russ's wife, Linda. Clare's other admirer, Hugh, is trying to take advantage of their estrangement, but he obviously has no clue how tightly bound together the police chief and the reverend are. However, Clare does wish at a certain point that she was a lesbian and could just leave men out of her life.
So, although that's the drama that glued me to the page, Spencer-Fleming doesn't just leave it at that. Added, and also interesting, is the interaction between the new female police officer, Hadley, and a young officer we already know, Kevin Flynn. I can see where this story line will become more important in future books. Confined to this novel is a romance between a brutalized sister of some of the local thuggish brothers and a Mexican migrant worker. One very intense scene has Isobel and and Amado hiding in the woods as a brother calls for her. Amado thinks that the brother sounds like a farmer calling chickens with an axe in his hand. A shiver went down my spine as I realized I knew exactly what he meant.
This is another draw of the series, the social issues that drive the mystery plot. In this one, it's both the situation of migrant workers and the awful familiarity of domestic violence. We get to see our societal prejudices from a new angle and see what we think of them.
The book ends with personal upheaval in Clare's life, because an author can't let their characters breathe to easily or the suspense is shot. Russ is a widower, but he still needs to mourn Linda and tend to his family relationships. Clare must survive her time away and come back to Miller's Kill. I can hardly wait to pick up the story again with the next book.
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