REVIEW: All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming

All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-​Fleming is the fifth entry in the Rev. Clare Fer­gus­son / Russ Van Alstyne mys­tery series. It’s a strong entry in a series that has been con­sis­tently entertaining.

Here is the synopsis:

Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne’s first encounter with Clare Fer­gus­son was in the hos­pi­tal emer­gency room on a freez­ing Decem­ber night. A new­born infant had been aban­doned on the town’s Epis­co­pal church steps. If Russ had known that the church had a new priest, he cer­tainly would never have guessed that it would be a woman. Not a woman like Clare. That night in the hos­pi­tal was the begin­ning of an attrac­tion so fierce, so for­bid­den, that the only thing that could keep them safe from com­pro­mis­ing their every belief was distance — -but in a small town like Millers Kill, dis­tance is hard to find.

Russ Van Alstyne fig­ures his wife kick­ing him out of their house is nobody’s busi­ness but his own. Until a neigh­bor pays a friendly visit to Linda Van Alstyne ­and finds the woman’s body, grue­somely butchered, on the kitchen floor. To the state police, it’s an open-and-shut case of a dis­af­fected hus­band, silenc­ing first his wife, then the murder inves­ti­ga­tion he con­trols. To the towns­peo­ple, it’s proof that the whis­pered gossip about the police chief and the priest was true. To the powers-that-be in the church hier­ar­chy, it’s a chance to con­trol their way­ward cleric once and for all.

You can say that the author’s handle on a par­tic­u­lar plot twist in the series can be viewed as clever or manip­u­la­tive. Take your pick. I found it clever and sur­pris­ing. “All Mortal Flesh” is a solidly writ­ten mys­tery with plenty of twists and turns. I was enter­tained, period.

I read this  book in two days and want the next book in the series right now.  Why do I love this series, you ask? The author has an excel­lent ear for dia­logue and she has a pretty good grasp of her char­ac­ters and small town life. There’s a spot of humor in places. I espe­cially enjoy the church pol­i­tics and the people of Millers Kill, New York. After all of that, there is the subtle yet for­bid­den romance between the priest and the married cop.

A lot takes place in this entry. Clare who is a ex-​helicopter pilot turned Epis­co­pal priest has fallen into dis­fa­vor with her church superiors. They’ve decided to send her a new deacon, Eliz­a­beth De Groot, to work with her. Clare sus­pects her to be a spy but takes her under her wing. Mean­while, Russ inves­ti­gates a murder that turns out to be a con­flict of interest.  

Gossip has spread around Millers Kill, New York, about Russ and Clare’s “improper rela­tion­ship”. Some people sus­pect that they’re lovers. This makes things dif­fi­cult for Russ who is trying to save his mar­riage. Meanwhile, Clare decides to move on with her life. How­ever, the plot goes on to twist and turn, thrust­ing the two together,  that eventually leads to a couple of sur­prises and leaves  the readers with a cliffhanger of sorts.

I was enter­tained from the first page to the last; I couldn’t put it down. This author has been con­sis­tently enter­tain­ing and I love her authorial voice; plus it doesn’t hurt to have  a good ear for dia­logue. This book also has great atmos­phere along with an inter­est­ing con­flict. I love this series. You all should give it a try. My grade, A.

Tagged as: Cozy Mystery, New York, Police Procedural, Rev. Clare Fergusson series