Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne 2

Claire has yet to realize that neither the Army Way nor the Episcopal Priesthood Way are really suitable for supporting the Sheriff Russ requirements for evidence gathering and crime-fighting. This apparently ill-suited team continues to spark in their relationships personally and professionally. Claire does get to fly a helicopter, as least briefly, once again and Russ learns how to survive one that crashes. A good series that is developing nicely. ( )

Mysteries with a church setting and/or a clergyperson detective have always been appealing to me. I read Dorothy Sayers' Nine Tailors and Charles Merrill Smith's Rev. Randolph stories and I've been a fan ever since. Julia Spencer-Fleming may not be in the same league with Sayers and Smith but I have found her books to be quite readable. Like some other mystery authors her books should be read in order. A Fountain Filled With Blood is the second in the Rev. Clare Fergusson mysteries. The title comes from a hymn popular in some churches. Clare is an Episcopal Priest in her 30s who was an Army helicopter pilot before she went to seminary. When a series of gay bashings happens in the New York town of Millers Kill Clare and the Millers Kill Police Chief team up to find who is doing it. At the same time several people connected with an unpopular resort development project turn up dead. Are the deaths and the bashings connected. Before we find out Clare and Russ will place themselves in more than one dangerous situation. ( )

Really dumb, implausible things happen in this book when Reverend Clare impulsively tries to save the day (or someone) in this mystery. And the title is awful. Don't see what it has to do with the plot. I might try one more of hers, because I like the setting. And the characters. But I dunno. How this person can be a priest at the same time escapes me. ( )

I really loved the first one but this second one was a doubie for me. Not a fan of the mystery and I felt there was too much discussion of property disputes and development discussion that I got a little bored. The book centered on those things but I felt the author described it just a little too much.
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