All Mortal Flesh is the fifth novel in Julia Spencer-Fleming’s mystery series featuring Clare Fergusson, an Episcopalian priest and former Army helicopter pilot in the Adirondack town of Miller’s Kill, New York. This is the best of the series so far, as Fergusson and her love interest – the married Chief of Police, Russ van Alstyne — find themselves solving a murder mystery one step ahead of those who think they are the most likely suspects. Both the mystery and the personal side of the story are spritely and satisfying, right up to the exciting finale.

Spencer-Fleming is doing a terrific job with this series. So far, she has come up with plausible enough circumstances in each book to get Fergusson involved in solving the mystery – a difficult task with any “amateur sleuth,” but particularly tricky when the sleuth is a priest. Also, she is building up a solid cast of supporting characters that bring depth to the series. Finally, she is remarkably adept at stretching out the relationship between Fergusson and van Alstyne, maintaining the sexual crackle between them, always moving the relationship forward, but never – so far – bringing them together.

There are two more books in the series. Hopefully Spencer-Fleming has more in the works.

Also posted on Rose City Reader. ( )

I don't often read mysteries and I usually don't start in the middle of a series but this worked out well. Our librarian chose this for our meeting and for some reason it grabbed me and sucked me in immediately. After our discussion, we were invited to read the following book but it wasn't giving me the same "thrill" as All Mortal Flesh did. Will I read the new book coming out in the fall????? Hmm......maybe ( )

This was one of the better mysteries I read in a long time. It was my first from this author, and I wasn’t disappointed. There was a twist at the end that left me in tears. I hated the ending at first, but when I had time to think of it, I loved it! First, it surprised me, which rarely happens any more, and second, it drew emotion, different from the rest of the book, and unexpected. And isn’t that what a GOOD book is supposed to do? I had equal like and dislike for the main characters throughout (I really wasn’t sure WHO I was cheering for at the end), and that made them somewhat real. Even the reverend wasn’t perfect, and I found the character very interesting with a mix of ex-military helicopter pilot and minister. And I like that I wasn’t 2 cute 20 something’s running around with no true motivation solving a mystery. There were real motives behind their action, well thought out adult decisions, and you could follow along without doubt. Read this one! I’m giving it to everyone for Christmas… ( )

5th in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.

In a way, Spencer-Fleming’s series is much more like an ongoing, high-class soap opera than a mystery genre series, since in the latest books, the plots depend heavily on what has happened previously. Russ has told his wife that he is in love with Clare; it’s been an emotionally tough few months for both Russ and Clare, particularly as Clare has made the decision not to see Russ again voluntarily. Miller’s Kill being the small town that it is, there are plenty of people who are willing to believe that “something” is going on between the priest and the police chief, but both choose to ignore gossip and get on with their lives as best as they can. Clare’s bishop, in the grand tradition of clerical hierarchy everywhere, has decided that Clare needs a “helping hand” (read spy) and she is suddenly presented with a full-time, prepaid deacon, courtesy of the diocese--a very attractive older woman who is clearly there to give the bishop a first-hand account of Clare’s actions.

Naturally, events do not allow this state of affairs to exist unchanged. The defining event occurs within a few pages.

The 4th book, Out of the Deep I Cry, was so spectacular that I wondered if Spencer-Fleming would be able to maintain such excellence over the series. With this latest, I thought perhaps not; until about half-way through, the story was very good but not gripping. It wasn’t a total let-down; I reflected that the only author I knew who not only was able to keep to a high standard of tension but actually improved over the series was Magdalen Nabb; her last book was her best, astonishingly good. So, it wasn’t a surprise or a particular worry that All Mortal Flesh didn’t seem to be as exciting.

Until it was. It takes about 2/3 of the book, but the plot twists and the book becomes a page-turner. The denouement is extremely well done, one you feel was inevitable after it occurs.

Spencer-Fleming continues to handle her characters very well, especially the awkward situation between Clare and Russ. The supporting cast—the members of the Miller’s Kill Police Department—are all very well done, supplying what humor there is in this book. The congregation and vestry of St. Albans continues to play a role, beefing up the plot and the setting. The situation between Clare and her unsolicited deacon reminded me of the Hunthausen/Murphy situation decades ago in the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Seattle where Ray Hunthausen’s social activism, like Clare’s, got him a Vatican watchdog in the form of Murphy, who eventually took over the archdiocese. I’m sure that such interventions happen far, far more frequently and less publicly than the Seattle one, probably more like the situation described in this book. Makes for an interesting subplot. Winter weather adds its drama as well.

Spencer-Fleming’s prose style continues to be more than adequate to the plot, far better than many best-selling authors in the genre. It seems to suit extremely well the Upper New York state setting. There’s much less of the wry, self-deprecating humor that characterized the earlier books, which is too bad, but the plot in reality doesn’t allow it. She remains true to her characters and the way she is developing their lives within the series.

Though somewhat slow to get started, despite the immediate occurrence of the central event, the book hold the reader’s interest well enough to get to where it’s impossible to put it down, and it does get there. An excellent addition to the series—highly recommended. ( )

All Mortal Flesh is one of those keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat reads that will make you want to shut the door and lock you life out while you read it. Each one of the books in this series manages to be different from the others and yet carry on the underlying storyline of Russ and Clare's tortured, guilt-ridden love for each other. I was very impressed by the craft with which Spencer-Fleming wrote book #3, Out of the Deep I Cry, but it did not grip me and keep me like All Mortal Flesh did.

The book begins with Russ in mourning - he's grieving his relationship with Clare. At the end of To Darkness and To Death , Russ decides to come clean to his wife Linda about his feelings for Clare and hope for the best. When this book opens, it's clear the best has not occurred. Linda has not taken it all in stride, Clare has tried, for both their sakes and the sake of her flock, to sever their friendship, and Russ is now living at his mom's house while Linda and he try to work something out. It's messy and depressing, but not as messy and depressing as it's going to get for Russ. Because while he is bunking at Mom's, Linda's body is found, brutally murdered and defaced. And it doesn't take long for everyone in the Sheriff's department to realize who would benefit the most from Linda's death - her estranged husband, Russ and his other love, Clare.

The story takes place over a very brief period of time, a few days, but within those few days, most of what Russ thinks he knows about his life, his wife, his staff, and his friends will come into question. No one in the sheriff's department really thinks Russ killed his wife, but the evidence points his way, and it's clear that if Russ leads the investigation, any action will begin to be seen as attempts to cover up what really happened. Unfortunately for Russ everyone around his has his own primary concern and many of those concerns do not dovetail with what would be best for the sheriff personally. Before long Russ is going down in a sea of small town and police politics, and, Clare is the only person he trusts to help clear him.

Clare, though, is hurting too and enmeshed in her own ecclesiastical politics. Her relationship with Russ has caused concern to her religious superiors and now she has a deacon to babysit her and make sure she stays out of trouble. (As if one deacon could ever be enough to keep Clare from jumping into peril with both feet to help Russ.)

The above description gives All Mortal Flesh the short shrift, I'm afraid, and I can't say much more without going into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that each time the reader makes an assumption about what is going on, Spencer-Fleming cleverly reveals a different truth. Characters we have seen in previous books get more fleshed out here. We see them pursuing their own agendas and reacting differently to Linda's death and Russ's trouble. The political maneuvering of the various police officers is particularly interesting as they jockey for power and position. And the book ends with an additional twist that will impact future books in this series in yet unpredictable ways.

The rest of the review is here:

http://grerp.blog-city.com/all_mortal... ( )