Rating: 
Summary: This would rate a 10 if the scale allowed
Review: I love this series. The characters are so real. The mystery keeps you guessing, but even if there wasn't a mystery I would read it just to be able to spend some time with Claire and Russ. I can't wait for the next book to see how the author is going to handle the relationship between the two. With Julia Spencer-Fleming's series, you get mystery, the experience of a small town life, religion, laughter, suspense and the tension of a forbidden relationship that keeps getting stronger. I would definitely, most highly recommend this series.
Rating: 
Summary: This Mystery Series is Rapidly Rising!
Review: I'm not overly fond of mysteries with religious themes, but I like this series more and more. It's probably because Clare Fergusson is believable. While she's an Episcopal priest, she doesn't come to her vocation straight out of seminary, but with nine years as a Navy pilot behind her. This is different, and it gives her a certain toughness and an ability to navigate in the real world, which sometimes comes in handy. While her preference is for the role her vocation has given her, her knowledge of search and rescue, survival skills, flying and physical tasks are useful in her life.And another thing I like from this worldly priest: Clare flirts. She knows there are boundaries about behaving appropriately but she's not uptight, nor is she without life experience. This might not be a big deal to some folks, but it makes her more accessible to me, someone who I might be able to talk with as opposed to someone who all too often (at least I imagine) is above all that worldly stuff. Even when the story focuses on the debates of repairing a leaking church roof instead of funding a clinic, things don't bog down and the story feels based in reality. I like this in my mystery fiction. Now to the story, which is pretty interesting. A doctor, responsible for a low-income clinic in Millers Kill, has disappeared. He has been involved in some controversy and the church may be peripherally involved because of funding issues that affect the future of both the clinic and the church. And in the way of many tight-knit communities, issues of the past surface as well. Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne, who grew up in the town, knows more than he realizes about the history of the Ketchem family, including Jonathan, who disappeared one day in 1930 never to be seen again, a history that includes a financial trust left behind and family tragedies. Julia Spencer-Fleming writes with seeming ease; the dialogue always rings true in her books (a major plus for this reader). People sound real, natural and different from one another. The setting comes across well and the stories work. I did have a problem though with a "danger and rescue" situation late in the book; I thought the author let it go on way too long and was bored by it, which was supposed to be very tense. But then again, I don't like car chases in movies either. The switching between past and present worked smoothly for the most part. On occasion, I had a little trouble recalling who was who, but it's likely that that is the fault of this reader, not the writer, as Spencer-Fleming creates strong individual voices. This series, only in its third book, is rapidly rising in my estimation. The setting, people and stories are refreshing (a little too refreshing at times, brrr, northern New York!) and Spencer-Fleming invests her characters with personalities, flaws and realism. (Minor quibble time --- the Miranda decision had nothing to do with laws regarding search and seizure. Okay, I'm fine now.) The complications that we saw coming show up here in the relationship between Clare and Russ, and it's clear that there is no easy answer or resolution for these two people, who care about each other but are all too aware of obligations and the growing attraction between them. Good stuff. --- Reviewed by Andi Shechter
Rating:
Summary: Another OUTSTANDING series
Review: I've enjoyed all of the previous Rev. Clare Fergusson novels and this one was no different. Ms. Spencer-Fleming gets better and better with each book in this series. I enjoy this author and her series for several reasons which include great characterization, great church politics, towns people who populate her world and the ever-growing relationship between Clare and the police chief, Russ Van Alstyne. If you haven't started this series yet - your in for a treat. Start by reading the first book, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Series
Review: In her third book Spencer-Fleming develops characters you really know and care about. The tension between the priest and policeman is defined and the reader can feel their personal tension. Secondary characters are also expanded meaningfully. There is more than one plot taking place in different time periods, but all is masterfully woven together. A very unique and interesting page turner.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing look at duplicity and obsessed retribution
Review: In Millers Kill, New York, Reverend Clare Fergusson does not have enough money to cover everything so the St. Alban's Episcopal Church roof takes precedence. However, that means somewhere else there is less cash to use and that is in the Jonathon Ketchem Free Clinic though much of that is funded by a family trust. Clinic head Dr. Allan Rouse is upset with the shortfall, but the pressure on him by Deborah Clow to make him stop using vaccines preserved with a dangerous drug seems to have sent him over the top. Rouse vanishes. Though married and not one to cheat, Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne, accompanied by his alleged lover Clare, investigates the disappearance of the doctor though he expects to find nothing criminal. They shockingly learn that Rouse's disappearance mirrors what happened seven decades ago to Jonathon Ketchem, whose widow funded the clinic in his name. Could foul play have occurred then and now? Though the who-done-it lacks much suspense even when the culprit locks the dynamic duo in a frozen compartment, fans of the series will appreciate this intriguing look at duplicity and obsessed retribution. The story line cleverly uses flashbacks to provide the audience with key moments involving the Ketchem family and the clinic over the past seventy years. Clare and Russ are an interesting pairing as both have desires for the other but keep them in check because he is married though no one believes they control their deepest urges. The pairing makes the tale as they have in the previous two works (see A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD) they display honor and ethics. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: The Latest Installment of a Great Series
Review: In this, the third book of the Clare Fergusson / Russ Van Alstyne mystery series, Clare and Russ are treading the fine line of friendship and sexual attraction when they become involved in two missing persons cases, spaced over 70 years apart. Skillfully written and action-packed, the story is ultimately about the price of self-delusion in the face of temptation. The kind of self-delusion that can make a person believe that they can commit a crime without hurting anyone. The kind of self-delusion that takes no prisoners. The kind of self-delusion, whose latest victims are Clare and Russ themselves. The end will break your heart three times over. I just love this series. If you're new to the series, you'll want to read the first two installments so that you can follow the evolution of Clare and Russ' relationship. The titles are taken from religious hymns: IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER and A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful series featuring a compelling female protagonist
Review: Julia Spencer-Fleming's Out of the Deep I Cry is the third book featuring the Rev. Clare Fergusson, an Episcopal priest, and her good friend, Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne.
As with the first two books in the series (all three named after hymns), Out of the Deep contains an absorbing plot, with all the necessary touches of intrigue and suspense. This is the author's best story yet, a contemporary mystery with roots in the past, presented with the flair and polish of the finest artisan.
Even better than the plots, though, are the wonderful characters Spencer-Fleming creates. The relationship between her two main players, especially, is so touching and authentic that the ending is enough to make even the hardest heart melt.
Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times
Rating:
Summary: The past comes back to haunt us.
Review: Julie Spencer-Fleming's "Out of the Deep I Cry" is another one of those dark mysteries in which long buried secrets come to the surface years later with devastating results. The heroes of the novel are Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne, two people who are deeply attracted to one another in spite of the fact that Van Alstyne is married. Clare is an Episcopal priest of the Millers Kill Church in the Adirondacks and Van Alstyne is the chief of police. Clare and Russ team up to find out what happened to the local doctor, Allan Rouse, who has suddenly disappeared. Did he commit suicide or was he the victim of foul play? The doctor's disappearance comes at a time of upheaval in the community. Money that was supposed to go to Rouse's medical clinic is being rerouted to Clare's church, which is badly in need of emergency repairs. The medical clinic is a memorial to Jonathan Ketcham, a farmer who vanished in 1930 after suffering a series of terrible tragedies. Ketcham was never seen again, and his widow, Jane, set up the clinic in his memory. Spencer-Fleming uses flashbacks to shed light on the connections between the past and the present. She shifts from the 1930's to the 1950's and back to the present day to show how the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fit together. The scenes from the 1930's, in which we find out what really happened to Jonathan and Jane Ketcham, are poignant, powerful, and deeply affecting. I was less impressed by the characters and events in the present. Clare Fergusson comes off as a bit of a hypocrite. She is a priest who goes out of her way to do good works for her community, but at the same time, she becomes emotionally involved with a married man. Van Alstyne reluctantly allows Clare to stick her nose in police business, even though she has no training as a law enforcement officer. Spencer-Fleming writes credible dialogue and the mystery is well plotted, but most of the characters in the book are flawed individuals who do unethical things to get what they want. "Out of the Deep I Cry" is an engrossing mystery with a cynical point of view about the human condition.
Rating:
Summary: The past comes back to haunt us.
Review: Julie Spencer-Fleming's "Out of the Deep I Cry" is another one of those dark mysteries in which long buried secrets come to the surface years later with devastating results. The heroes of the novel are Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne, two people who are deeply attracted to one another in spite of the fact that Van Alstyne is married. Clare is an Episcopal priest of the Millers Kill Church in the Adirondacks and Van Alstyne is the chief of police. Clare and Russ team up to find out what happened to the local doctor, Allan Rouse, who has suddenly disappeared. Did he commit suicide or was he the victim of foul play? The doctor's disappearance comes at a time of upheaval in the community. Money that was supposed to go to Rouse's medical clinic is being rerouted to Clare's church, which is badly in need of emergency repairs. The medical clinic is a memorial to Jonathan Ketcham, a farmer who vanished in 1930 after suffering a series of terrible tragedies. Ketcham was never seen again, and his widow, Jane, set up the clinic in his memory. Spencer-Fleming uses flashbacks to shed light on the connections between the past and the present. She shifts from the 1930's to the 1950's and back to the present day to show how the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fit together. The scenes from the 1930's, in which we find out what really happened to Jonathan and Jane Ketcham, are poignant, powerful, and deeply affecting. I was less impressed by the characters and events in the present. Clare Fergusson comes off as a bit of a hypocrite. She is a priest who goes out of her way to do good works for her community, but at the same time, she becomes emotionally involved with a married man. Van Alstyne reluctantly allows Clare to stick her nose in police business, even though she has no training as a law enforcement officer. Spencer-Fleming writes credible dialogue and the mystery is well plotted, but most of the characters in the book are flawed individuals who do unethical things to get what they want. "Out of the Deep I Cry" is an engrossing mystery with a cynical point of view about the human condition.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books (series) I've ever read!
Review: Keep them coming Ms. Spencer-Fleming. I am hooked. I lent the first two books in the series to a friend and she read them in 4 days. I just finished Out of The Deep I Cry and already mailed it to her. I love the character Clare. Russ isn't to shabby either. The stories are well written and I am enthralled with this relationship between Clare and Russ. I also love the fact that Clare was in the military, as I was. That's where the similarity ends but her Preistly duties are fascinating to me as well.Bravo Ms. Spencer-Fleming. Can't wait for the fourt installment. Please tell me it won't be much longer.
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