I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Aug. 5th, 2008 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksIt's a day late for SBD but here it is anyway.
I Shall Not Want
© 2008 Julia Spencer-Fleming
Book #6 of the Fergusson/Van Alstyne Mystery series
Many thanks to Keishon for her contest. Without it, I would still be waiting for a library copy to become available.
Take the cover copy with a grain of salt. Clare isn't all that involved in the migrant community as the book begins, although that changes as the book progresses. And she isn't sucked into the investigation as much as she inserts herself. In fact, if she weren't so likeable, I'd call her an interferring busybody. (Personal aside: is the willingness to insert herself in stuff that isn't necessarily her business just a personal trait, needed for a mystery series to work? or is that something that is endemic to clergy IRL?)
Where the series left off: I can't really explain fully without giving spoilers for Book #5 (All Mortal Flesh). Suffice it to say that the relationship between Clare and Russ had reached a crossroads, and the decision about how to move forward (in terms of Russ’s marriage and its potential survival) was taken from them. There is some very significant carryover from the closing of AMF in I Shall Not Want.
What’s going on here: The mystery in ISNW is centered around a hot button topic – immigration – and coupled with criminal activity and gang problems that a rural community near a metropolis invariably experiences.
Narrative style: There’s a bit of timeline hopping within the book, which is not new for Spencer-Fleming. Clare and Russ provide the primary POVs, but there are a few other POVs included.
What did I like: As I’ve mentioned before, what I appreciate most about this series is that the author manages to create mystery and tension within the context of everyday life. The mystery in this case was a bit different from earlier books in the series, in that the entire conflict, while related to a community issue generally (immigration, economy, drug use) were centered around people who were not an active part of the community. Even the migrant workers who were arguably part of the community were catalysts only. The Big Bad had only small appearances on stage, so to speak, until the big confrontation at the end of the book.
Other stuff: The Clare/Russ personal relationship...eh. Maybe I read the series in too short a timespan. Yes, they are finally together, yay. But I just didn’t care that much. I think part of the problem may have been that (unlike the previous book) I saw the end coming miles away.
And TBH, I had a bit of a problem with how immigration was handled within the plot; I didn’t find the illegal employers to be particularly sympathetic, and I believe I was supposed to because of the way Spencer-Fleming set up their situation: otherwise law-abiding people knowingly blew off the law. At the same time, I have to admit that the situation illustrated the tension between economics, the law, and federal vs. state law enforcement.
I Shall Not Want
© 2008 Julia Spencer-Fleming
Book #6 of the Fergusson/Van Alstyne Mystery series
Many thanks to Keishon for her contest. Without it, I would still be waiting for a library copy to become available.
Russ Van Alstyne was standing beside his big red pickup in the parking lot.
Staring at her.
She swallowed. Hugged her paper sack closer to her chest. Her first thought was, Was he always that tall? Her second thought was, He’s lost weight. ...
“What are you doing at a liquor store?” she asked.
“What are you doing in uniform?” he said simultaneously.
They both paused. His dismay – at getting caught? – was plain on his face. “Are you drinking again?” she said. ...
“I am not drinking again. I’m here to get Napoli’s latest bad-check report. Now, would you mind telling me what the hell you’re doing in BDU’s…Where’s you chaplain’s cross?”
“I’m not in the chaplaincy. I’m in the 142nd Aviation Battalion Combat Support.”
People die. Marriages fail. In the small Adirondack town of Millers Kill, New York, however, life doesn’t stop for heartbreak. A brand-new officer in the police department, a breaking-and-entering, and trouble within his own family keep Police Chief Russ Van Alystyne busy enough to ignore the pain of losing his wife – and the woman he loves.
At St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, the Reverend Clare Fergusson is trying to keep her vestry, her bishop, and her National Guard superiors happy – all the while denying her own wounded soul.
When a Mexican farmhand stumbles over a Latino man killed with a single shot to the back of his head, Clare is sucked into the investigation through her involvement in the migrant community. The discovery of two more bodies executed in the same way ignite fears that a serial killer is loose in the close-knit community. While the sorrowful spring turns into a scorching summer, Russ is plagued by media hysteria, conflict within his department, and a series of baffling assaults.
As the violence strikes closer and closer to home, an untried officer is tested, a wary migrant worker is tempted, and two would-be lovers who thought they had lost everything must find a way to trust each other again – before it becomes forever, fatally, too late.
Take the cover copy with a grain of salt. Clare isn't all that involved in the migrant community as the book begins, although that changes as the book progresses. And she isn't sucked into the investigation as much as she inserts herself. In fact, if she weren't so likeable, I'd call her an interferring busybody. (Personal aside: is the willingness to insert herself in stuff that isn't necessarily her business just a personal trait, needed for a mystery series to work? or is that something that is endemic to clergy IRL?)
Where the series left off: I can't really explain fully without giving spoilers for Book #5 (All Mortal Flesh). Suffice it to say that the relationship between Clare and Russ had reached a crossroads, and the decision about how to move forward (in terms of Russ’s marriage and its potential survival) was taken from them. There is some very significant carryover from the closing of AMF in I Shall Not Want.
What’s going on here: The mystery in ISNW is centered around a hot button topic – immigration – and coupled with criminal activity and gang problems that a rural community near a metropolis invariably experiences.
Narrative style: There’s a bit of timeline hopping within the book, which is not new for Spencer-Fleming. Clare and Russ provide the primary POVs, but there are a few other POVs included.
What did I like: As I’ve mentioned before, what I appreciate most about this series is that the author manages to create mystery and tension within the context of everyday life. The mystery in this case was a bit different from earlier books in the series, in that the entire conflict, while related to a community issue generally (immigration, economy, drug use) were centered around people who were not an active part of the community. Even the migrant workers who were arguably part of the community were catalysts only. The Big Bad had only small appearances on stage, so to speak, until the big confrontation at the end of the book.
Other stuff: The Clare/Russ personal relationship...eh. Maybe I read the series in too short a timespan. Yes, they are finally together, yay. But I just didn’t care that much. I think part of the problem may have been that (unlike the previous book) I saw the end coming miles away.
And TBH, I had a bit of a problem with how immigration was handled within the plot; I didn’t find the illegal employers to be particularly sympathetic, and I believe I was supposed to because of the way Spencer-Fleming set up their situation: otherwise law-abiding people knowingly blew off the law. At the same time, I have to admit that the situation illustrated the tension between economics, the law, and federal vs. state law enforcement.
I Shall Not Want
Date: 2008-08-08 02:24 pm (UTC)Keishon
Re: I Shall Not Want
Date: 2008-08-09 03:22 pm (UTC)Re: I Shall Not Want
Date: 2008-08-10 04:32 am (UTC)Keishon