REVIEW: To Darkness and To Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming

To Darkness and To Death is the fourth entry in Julia Spencer-Fleming’s series featuring Rev. Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne. It’s the complexity of their relationship that drives me to read these books with anticipation and glee. I love this series and this book was a winner. There are no spoilers ahead.

Many readers are put off by Clare Fergusson being an Episcopal priest. They need not be because the author shows Clare to have a social life outside of the church that is a breath of fresh air. Just ask her fans. They love Rev. Clare Fergusson. Before she became a priest, Clare was a ex-helo pilot in the army and when she left the army she moved to Miller’s Kill, New York to be pastor of St. Albans. What I love about the series is a couple of things: the church politics, the towns-people and the fluctuating friendship between Clare and Chief of Police, Russ Van Alstyne that tentatively threatens to transform into something else. It’s that “something else” that keeps readers like me tuned in.  See, Russ is married. I can already see some frowns. This makes the complexity of their relationship captivating to me while to others their relationship seems completely inappropriate.

In The Bleak Midwinter, Clare and Russ were very good friends. When Clare came to Millers Kill, Russ reluctantly accepted her and they struck up a friendship. The first case they worked on together was dropped at Clare’s front door. Clare loves that Russ sees her as just a woman while others see only the collar at her throat.  Throughout the series they’ve been close but now that closeness has eventually evolved into something else that both are trying to avoid.

To Darkness and To Death can be read as a stand alone novel but of course it is strongly recommended that you start from the beginning if you care to catch up on the dynamic ups and downs of Clare and Russ’s relationship. In this installment, Clare is awakened in the early morning hours to volunteer for search and rescue. A young woman is missing on her family’s property. The author is never one to shy away from controversial issues and in this installment the conflict centers around environmentalists buying and restoring land that will leave many people jobless and homeless.  Most of the people involved in the sale of the property are affected emotionally as well as financially. A few respond quite drastically to the upcoming sale that make for some dire consequences later.

I love the author’s narrative style. The title of the book is aptly named. The interactions between the towns people and especially Clare and Russ’s intimate moments together are nice. Millers Kill is a small town and many of the interactions of small town life seems to be spot on. I love the church politics which is no different than your usual office politics. Often times it is heated and sometimes humorous.  At the center of it all is the relationship between Clare and Russ. I love their scenes together and in To Darkness and To Death, they weren’t together very often but the few scenes they were in together — the author made them count.

Julia Spencer-Fleming is still going strong in this series. Her conflicts are sometimes complex and controversial and plausible. Many readers will be either put off by Clare’s vocation or her attraction to a married man. All of that makes for a captivating read for me. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. To Darkness and To Death is yet another strong entry into the series. My grade, B+. If your interested in reading the first book in the series, start with In The Bleak Midwinter.

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