Sunday, September 15, 2013

Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Reverend Clare Fergusson, pregnant and newly married, is taking an overdue honeymoon with her husband (Miller's Kill police chief Russ Van Alstyne) at a cabin on Lake Iverary. Despite getting away, they are caught up in the investigation into the arson deaths of a couple who were fostering a young girl named Mikayla Johnson. Mikayla is missing and recently had a liver transplant. The authorities are in a race against time to find Mikayla, who will die if she isn't taking her medication. Clare and Russ are also weathering problems in their personal and professional lives--Russ isn't sure about becoming a father while Clare wants to keep the baby. Clare has to decide whether to resign her position with the church because she became pregnant while not yet married--or possibly be let go and not be able to get another position. Russ faces the dissolution of the Miller's Kill police department and a takeover by the state police. When a terrible winter storm hits the area, Clare and Russ are stranded at the cabin while Russ's officers, Hadley Knox and Kevin Flynn (who have a complicated personal relationship of their own) take charge of investigating Mikayla's disappearance themselves. While I enjoyed catching up with the personal lives of the characters and Spencer-Fleming has a real knack for the dialogue of their interpersonal relationships, the mystery aspect of the book was too leisurely-paced for me.  It will be published in November.

No comments: