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In the Bleak Midwinter

In the Bleak Midwinter

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Good First Effort
Review: In her acknowledgements, Julia Spencer-Fleming thanks a number of people who vetted her manuscript. I find it hard to believe that not one of them said, "Julia Dear, I don't think a cop would tell a witness inside information about a case, and then lamely tell that witness to please not repeat what he told her." Not only does the Chief of Police in this otherwise interesting first mystery blab his head off inappropriately, he tells people stuff he doesn't even know for sure is true. For instance, he tells everyone he talks to that the dead woman is the mother of the foundling when the DNA tests haven't come back yet.
He's also always going off and interviewing people without a second cop in attendance. Probably not standard procedure. And what's with the reliance of phones to contact people he simply must talk to? It never seems to occur to him to tell one of his underlings to get out of the station and track people down in person.

This is one of those books that starts off well, with an interesting premise, and then goes south into the land of improbability. What I don't understand is the plethora of awards, the lavish praise, for what is a good job for a first effort, but that isn't in the same league as Grafton, Rankin, or James. I think those authors actually spend time talking to cops. Ms. Spencer-Fleming might consider that before she starts her next book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Definitely a page-turner
Review: Although this was a book I didn't want to put down and I like the independent portrayal of the female priest....I take exception to some of the things she did.

As an Episcopalian I don't know of any priest in their right mind who would go to dinner at the house of a person of the opposite sex when their spouse is out of town. Or, for that matter, after only 4 or 5 weeks on the job, accuse two of their parishioners of murder. Or, as a person with survival training going off half-cocked & ill-equipped in the middle of a blizzard to an unknown mountain top without letting anyone know where she was going.

I'm anxious to read more about Clare Fergusson to see if she wises up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A truly remarkable multi-award winning debut
Review: As a reviewer of first novels, it is hoped that at least once or twice a year we are sent a book that appears to have it all- great characters, compelling plot and a superb rendition of the locale. I am pleased to report all that and more is contained in this truly remarkable debut of the 2001 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Award Winner, Julia Spenser-Fleming.

The place is Millers Kill in upstate New York during the bleak midwinter as the title proclaims. A newborn baby is left on the steps of the local church with a note claiming the child should be given to a local couple, The Burns, who desperately want to adopt a child. Claire Fergusson, a newly ordained Episcopal priest found the child and wants to discover who the mother is. Local police chief, Russ Van Alystyne also wants to get to the bottom of the case especially when people start turning up dead. Claire and Russ make an unlikely team as they attempt to find the answers and to stop the killing as suspects abound in this small town community.

Malice Domestic tends to conjure up images of cats and eccentric little old ladies in funny hats sitting around solving bloodless crimes. That is just not true. Malice Domestic refers to the traditional mystery. In this case this traditional mystery has a definite hardboiled edge. It is quite universal in its appeal. Characters are beautifully rendered and are wholly sympathetic to the reader. The relationship between the married Police Chief and the local priest is one that is quite dynamic and their mutual attraction will always be a source of conflict. The crimes are a true puzzlement and their solution quite clever. Clues come to us throughout the book and it is this that keep the pages flying. As readers of my reviews are aware, I have a problem with long expositions with the cliché of the villain telling all before a catastrophic event. This is used here. It works but I still don't like it. The book is also a bit lengthy. However, these are minor complaints when one considers how truly excellent the work is as a whole. This is definitely an early favorite for the best of the year lists.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well written except for the research...
Review: As an Episcopal priest myself, I felt like taking notes on all the technical mistakes she made -- including a) (as one reviewer points out) imagining that a priest in his or her right mind would go to the house of a parishioner of the opposite sex and have dinner when the spouse was out of town -- talk about boundary issues! -- or b) not knowing that the lay leader of an Episcopal parish is called the Senior Warden -- or c) apparently believing (falsely) that newly-called Episcopal priests announce to congregations (or their vestries) what ministry the priest has selected for that congregation to do -- it just doesn't work that way -- etc. etc. etc. If you're going to write a mystery where the detective is a firefighter, you need to spend time in a firehouse and really get to know the place well -- likewise, if your detective is an Episcopal priest, you need to know a fair amount about the Episcopal church. Any priest who showed so little discretion in a relationship with a parishioner would get called into the bishop's office for a little chat and find him or herself with a lot of explaining to do.

That having been said, this mystery was well-written sylistically and the plotting was pretty good. It passed the "keep wanting to get back to this book" test very well, and the author created a sense of place very well. I look forward to reading other books by this author. For a first mystery, there was a lot of talent evident in this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fast-paced Debut Novel
Review: Hard to believe that this action-packed adventure is a first. The narrative is character rich and well plotted. Clare Fergusson is the best of womanhood - nurturing, intuitive, willing to get involved and capable of protecting herself. "In The Bleak Midwinter," was a definate armchair adventure. Spencer-Fleming's talent as a writer will have you wanting more. The author has presented us with a character - Clare Fergusson - to equal (OR BEST) the series quality of Sue Grafton or Janet Evanovich. I look forward eagerly to reading more from Spencer-Fleming, more narratives penned around Mz. Fergusson - A priest with pizzazz. Congratulations Julia Spencer-Fleming on your debut novel, it is destined to become a classic.
Beverly J Scott author of RIGHTEOUS REVENGE

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A keeper
Review: I am giving this five stars because I think it is well-crafted and more satisfying than most. The author does some things very well--such as, being able to describe her characters in little gestures and believable dialog so that we know what they looked like without being told. We know their attitudes, values, demons, likes and dislikes, and general comportment with no editorial slanting. They are human beings with failings as well as strengths. We even know the two absent characters, the murdered girl, and the chief's wife, who never appear but pervade the story with their presence. One does not doubt the sincerity of Clare's devotion to her ministry, although the reader wonders at times why a woman with such rigorous training and discipline from her years in the armed service would be such a ninny as to rush headlong into the mountains so ill prepared (shades of the heroine entering a dark attic when a known killer is lurking in the house!). She also seems to be too eager to manage other people's lives, although a certain amount of nosiness is required of the amateur detective. The sheriff, who should have known better, seems to give out too much information to the perps he is interrogating. All the cops I have known are pretty close-mouthed. And I can't think of any good reason why Russ took her to his house for supper when they could have gone to an eatery in town. Well, of course, we had to see his house and they needed a heart-to-heart, but that is a good way for a preacher, either man or woman, to lose a job and reputation. Still, this was a good story and kept me going to the end. How refreshing to find characters who are not super human!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A keeper
Review: I am giving this five stars because I think it is well-crafted and more satisfying than most. The author does some things very well--such as, being able to describe her characters in little gestures and believable dialog so that we know what they looked like without being told. We know their attitudes, values, demons, likes and dislikes, and general comportment with no editorial slanting. They are human beings with failings as well as strengths. We even know the two absent characters, the murdered girl, and the chief's wife, who never appear but pervade the story with their presence. One does not doubt the sincerity of Clare's devotion to her ministry, although the reader wonders at times why a woman with such rigorous training and discipline from her years in the armed service would be such a ninny as to rush headlong into the mountains so ill prepared (shades of the heroine entering a dark attic when a known killer is lurking in the house!). She also seems to be too eager to manage other people's lives, although a certain amount of nosiness is required of the amateur detective. The sheriff, who should have known better, seems to give out too much information to the perps he is interrogating. All the cops I have known are pretty close-mouthed. And I can't think of any good reason why Russ took her to his house for supper when they could have gone to an eatery in town. Well, of course, we had to see his house and they needed a heart-to-heart, but that is a good way for a preacher, either man or woman, to lose a job and reputation. Still, this was a good story and kept me going to the end. How refreshing to find characters who are not super human!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Winter Less Bleak
Review: I couldn't read this book in one sitting--I do have a day job! And I didn't want to, either--because I didn't want the experience of reading it to end. "In the Bleak Midwinter" is one of the most skillfully crafted mysteries I've ever read: the plot is focused, and moves rapidly through the various personalities enmeshed in it: the priest, the police chief, the congregation, the tragic love story. It's notable, too, for the characters we DON'T meet but who hover over the action: the chief's wife and the dead young mother. And of course there's the snow, the never ending snow that keeps falling on the rural New York town, trapping the residents into small and predictable movements, underwhich lies great human passion and ambition.

The winter was a little less bleak when I reluctantly finished this extraordinary reading experience. Read it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Winter Less Bleak
Review: I couldn't read this book in one sitting--I do have a day job! And I didn't want to, either--because I didn't want the experience of reading it to end. "In the Bleak Midwinter" is one of the most skillfully crafted mysteries I've ever read: the plot is focused, and moves rapidly through the various personalities enmeshed in it: the priest, the police chief, the congregation, the tragic love story. It's notable, too, for the characters we DON'T meet but who hover over the action: the chief's wife and the dead young mother. And of course there's the snow, the never ending snow that keeps falling on the rural New York town, trapping the residents into small and predictable movements, underwhich lies great human passion and ambition.

The winter was a little less bleak when I reluctantly finished this extraordinary reading experience. Read it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not great mystery
Review: I really don't understand why this book won so many awards. The characters are unique-with a female Episcopal priest (Clare Ferguson) partnered up with the Chief of Police (Russ van Alstyne). They're both ex-army, and some of their conversations are quite appealing. The mystery revolves around an abandoned child left at the door of Clare's church. When the teenage mother turns up dead, the search for the father commences. When suspicions of incest arise, the girl's father is murdered as well. But the ending is just too incredible, with Clare diving after a baby who was thrown in the water by the murderer. Good set-up, but the ending falls through.


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