Spencer-Fleming's second cozy-cum-thriller to feature the Reverend Clare Fergusson, an ex-army helicopter pilot turned Anglican priest, is every bit as riveting as her first, In the Bleak Midwinter (2002). A series of gay bashings, the discovery of PCBs in a local elementary school playground and a brutal murder has Millers Kill, N.Y. in a turmoil that ends in murder. Clare, rector of St. Alban's Episcopal Church, and the married police Chief Russ Van Alstyne, have spent the last six months avoiding each other in hopes of dispelling their mutual attraction. Now they find themselves working together on a murder investigation. The reflections of Clare and Russ as they examine their own hearts and struggle with their feelings never detract from the crime solving. We see Clare as a unique person, whether daring to drive a sports car instead of a safer four-wheel-drive vehicle or calming herself by donning her vestments to perform an unscheduled evening service of Compline in an empty church lit with candles.

I enjoyed this second novel in the series featuring Reverend Clare Fergusson, an ex-army helicopter pilot turned Anglican priest and Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne, but this one left me with mixed feelings—not surprisingly the reviews I read on Amazon.com were mixed, also. Claire pulls a very reckless and dangerous stunt when she gets intoxicated at a party—which made me question how mature she is supposed to be. I did enjoy the action of the helicopter episode (which some of the reviewers didn’t like, but I thought fit her character well)—but I had already guessed that it would happen. In this instance I was surprised that neither Russ nor Claire was suspicious enough of the circumstances to investigate to be sure that nothing was amiss. I thought the Gay issue was handled well. Although S-F and I are at opposite ends of the political spectrum I liked the low keyed way she developed her theme of tolerance and made her characters three-dimensional, not stereo-types. The tension between Claire and Russ is increasing and in this book we meet Russ’s mother. She is delightful. I’m looking forward to reading the next book to see how the soap opera unfolds. Luckily I got a late start on this series so I won’t have to wait long to continue it. ( )

Not only is this a good mystery dealing with today’s topics of gay-bashing and pollution, but the romantic tension between the two protagonists enhances its readability. There is a good balance between the main focus of the book and its subplots, which add to the buildup of the exciting conclusion. Although you can pretty much guess who the culprits are about half-way through the story, there are interesting twists and turns that at times make you doubt your first suspicions. The job-related duties that each of the main characters has to deal with provide some comic relief. The author is a Maine-based attorney, who formerly worked for a well-known personal injury law firm. This is an author who does her homework to ensure that her presentations are accurate, even if sometimes a bit contrived. ( )

2nd in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.

A well-respected medical examiner, who is gay, is beaten to within an inch of his life. Shocked by the appearance of such a hate crime, Clare urges Rush to warn other gays in Miller’s Kill about the incident. Russ refuses, afraid that that will merely incite copycat crimes. Within a short time, yet another gay man is severely beaten in his video rental store, ratcheting the tension between Clare and Russ higher.

Meanwhile, Russ’s feisty 69 year old mother is leading a protest against a resort development just outside of Miller’s Kill that may be releasing PCBs from an old storage site into the waters and ground of the town. As it happens, one of the partners in the development company is a gay man. During a 4th of July fireworks celebration, Clare stumbles across his body in a park.

Environmental issues and hate crimes are twin matrices in Spencer-Fleming’s second novel in this excellent series. When done well, themes such as these can add a great deal to the interest of a plot. While both are necessary for the plot, Spencer-Fleming does not handle these themes that well, especially the environmental one. It feels forced; her description of the major demonstration is even faintly ridiculous. The hate crime theme is more neutral but other than to serve as a mask in the plot, does not do much for the story.

Spencer-Fleming’s writing is not that outstanding, but served her well in her first novel. In this the second, it is distinctly more mediocre. The verb ‘to snort” is overused, not to say abused; you really can’t use it twice in the same paragraph and hope to get a good effect.

The climax of the book includes a helicopter crash which should be gripping but falls short because I, for one, don’t know the terminology of helicopter anatomy well enough to be able to follow what happens after the crash. I had to take it on faith that it was a tense time where the situation could have deteriorated badly. It was really too bad.

The plot is good but not anything out of the ordinary. It serves.

But, Spencer-Fleming’s strengths are present as well. Her sense of humor, on display through her characters’ reactions to situations, especially that of Clare, is wry and at times wonderfully self-deprecating as well. Russ and Clare are strong characters with distinct and believable personalities. The setting, in northeast New York State, is well done; clearly Spencer-Fleming knows her small towns and the geography of the area.

I found the book a letdown after the excellent debut novel, In The Bleak Midwinter. Still, though something of a disappointment, Spencer-Fleming endowed her characters and situation well enough to keep interest in the series going.

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The developing relationship between Reverend Claire Fergusson and Sherrif Russ Van Alystyne is much more interesting than the murders. Circumstances revolving around land development bring the two together in solving the murders of the environmentalist and developer. Claire flies a helicopter rescue and Russ' mother becomes a friend. ( )