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20th out of 60 books
—
7 voters
To Darkness and to Death (Rev. Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries #4)
by
Julia Spencer-Fleming (Goodreads Author)
Millicent van der Hoeven has decided to sell her family's Adirondack estate to a nature conservancy. But on the day of the land transfer, her brother frantically calls the police. Millie has disappeared in the cold November forest…
Reverend Clare Fergusson gets an early morning phone call to join the Millers Kill search and rescue operation. As a former Army helicopter pilo...more
Reverend Clare Fergusson gets an early morning phone call to join the Millers Kill search and rescue operation. As a former Army helicopter pilo...more
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
May 30th 2006
by St. Martin's Paperbacks
(first published 2005)
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Jun 10, 2011
willaful
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
only diehard fans
Reading this book felt I was slapped in the face -- and unlike feeling like I was punched in the stomach, that is not a good thing.
Despite having many fine elements -- I still love Russ and Clare, and the exquisite misery of their situation, loved Hugh and all his jokes, and admired one very strong and resourceful woman character -- the miasma of evil that pervaded it became increasingly repellent to me. (view spoiler)...more
Despite having many fine elements -- I still love Russ and Clare, and the exquisite misery of their situation, loved Hugh and all his jokes, and admired one very strong and resourceful woman character -- the miasma of evil that pervaded it became increasingly repellent to me. (view spoiler)...more
Russ: I love you, but we can't do anything about it. I'm married, and you're a priest.
Clare: I know. All we can do is make eyes at each other when we think nobody is looking. It's exciting and frustrating at the same time. But wait! Here we are alone in my living room! Maybe . . . .
Russ: Maybe . . . but no! I can't!
Clare: Whoops! Sorry!
Russ: I still love you, Clare.
Clare: I love you, too.
Russ: OK then. Let's enjoy the limited contact we have while we have it.
Clare: [This relationship is doomed.:...more
Clare: I know. All we can do is make eyes at each other when we think nobody is looking. It's exciting and frustrating at the same time. But wait! Here we are alone in my living room! Maybe . . . .
Russ: Maybe . . . but no! I can't!
Clare: Whoops! Sorry!
Russ: I still love you, Clare.
Clare: I love you, too.
Russ: OK then. Let's enjoy the limited contact we have while we have it.
Clare: [This relationship is doomed.:...more
5 likes · like · see review
this was the weakest of the clare fergusson/russ van alstyne series to date, with an overwrought plot, credulity-straining coincidences, and characters who made bafflingly horrible decisions more because it seemed to serve the plot than to make any actual sense.
even so, the rich partnership between clare and russ deepens beautifully and delicately. clare's iconoclasm chafing against the rigid expectations of the episcopal priesthood is an especially rewarding subplot. and just as spencer-fleming...more
even so, the rich partnership between clare and russ deepens beautifully and delicately. clare's iconoclasm chafing against the rigid expectations of the episcopal priesthood is an especially rewarding subplot. and just as spencer-fleming...more
I have enjoyed all of the books in this series, so far, but I found this one to be the most gripping. The overall tone of the book feels a little darker in some ways, and yet some of the plot twists seemed almost farcical. the love affair between Rev. Claire and Russ is becoming more open, too, with a startling declaration at the end of the book. . . .
Much better on this one - started off with a kidnapping and once the engine of the train wrecked, all the cars just piled up behind it. Horrible to say, but that was much more fun than the last.
Train wreck 2.0 is the Clare/Russ dynamic. Good lord.
Train wreck 2.0 is the Clare/Russ dynamic. Good lord.
This one was really tight and fast paced. Took place in 24 hours and it helped that I read it in about the same amount of time. Might be the best of the series so far.
2 likes · like · see review
The fourth book in the Clare Fergusson Russ Van Alstyne series describes a very eventful day in the Adirondack Mountain town of Millers Kill, New York. That may be a gross understatement. As one character states: “A murder, a missing person, and an assault case all in one day? It’s like one of those signs of the Apocalpyse.”
As the book, and the day, begins, the only event of major import is that it is Police Chief Van Alstyne’s 50th birthday. He is doing some serious soul-searching, as he and R...more
4th in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.[return][return]An heiress who has decided to sell her large estate to a conservancy group suddenly goes missing on the morning of the finalization of the sale. Clare, as someone who has signed up with a search-and rescue team, is called early in the morning to assist in the search. Not a good time, since this is the day of the bishop� s annual visit, and Clare is in more than enough trouble because of some of her past actions. Also, inevitably,...more
Feb 18, 2013
Suspense Magazine
added it
To Darkness and To Death
By Julia Spencer-Fleming
The small town of Miller’s Kill in the Adirondacks is the site for the latest mystery by Spencer-Fleming. One of the reasons I enjoy some mysteries is they have a soap opera feel to them. A cast of characters interacting, scheming, planning...and killing. This is what I found in “To Darkness And To Death.” This one has a little bit of romance, passion, corruption, kidnapping, and murder.
On the first morning of hunting season, a woman is reported mi...more
By Julia Spencer-Fleming
The small town of Miller’s Kill in the Adirondacks is the site for the latest mystery by Spencer-Fleming. One of the reasons I enjoy some mysteries is they have a soap opera feel to them. A cast of characters interacting, scheming, planning...and killing. This is what I found in “To Darkness And To Death.” This one has a little bit of romance, passion, corruption, kidnapping, and murder.
On the first morning of hunting season, a woman is reported mi...more
Russ and Clare are always a good read. Here, add to the mix the local forests and the various claims and attempts on them, including loggers, paper mill, new resort, landowners, mulit-national corporations and ecological groups wanting them, and maybe even eco-terrorists. A mystery that is set in only one day, an otherwise auspicious one for police chief Russ Van Alstyne, proves to be a daunting day, with two women disappearing and emotional and sometimes devious responses to the losses of busin...more
Interesting plot. Amazing the things that go on in a small community..... Russ and Clare's relationship continues to grow; can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
Millicent van der Hoeven has decided to sell her family's Adirondack estate to a nature conservancy. But on the day of the land transfer, her brother frantically calls the police. Millie has disappeared in the cold November forest…
Reverend Clare Fergusson gets an early morning phone call to join the Millers Kill search and resc...more
Millicent van der Hoeven has decided to sell her family's Adirondack estate to a nature conservancy. But on the day of the land transfer, her brother frantically calls the police. Millie has disappeared in the cold November forest…
Reverend Clare Fergusson gets an early morning phone call to join the Millers Kill search and resc...more
On the back jacket cover of To Darkness and to Death a reviewer states that Spencer-Fleming writes with grace and clarity about the environmentalist's idea of returning developed land back to nature, but she "shows even more sensitivity in depicting the human cost." Both statements are true. Spencer-Fleming is an excellent writer. It thrills me to read her books, to be in each phrase turned so well, illustrating her thoughtful insight into human nature. I find myself going back and reading passa...more
This was a quick read...in part because the various relationship complexities that make up Clare's life are less in evidence in this novel. I love how Clare gets involved in her community, and how that involvement gets her into trouble...but there was something about this book that just felt less involved than the others. I'm hoping the depth of relationship that characterized the first few books will continue through the series.
The plot, and its twists and turns, are as page-turning as ever, an...more
The plot, and its twists and turns, are as page-turning as ever, an...more
This one was very different than the usual mystery. It takes place in the town of Miller's Kill, NY in the Adirondack mountain area. The largest landowner family, 3 siblings, are selling their land to a global company. Much of the land will be dedicated to preservation by a local conservancy corporation, but it means the long-established family run logging business will have to close, and the long-established family run pulp and paper mill will go have to sell out. Lots of people out of work whi...more
This third installment takes place in one extremely chaotic day. And while I understand that a priest might find herself juggling a variety of events and upsets in one day (especially Clare!), I also found myself wondering why in the world she would volunteer for a search and rescue team. It seems to me her world is already busy enough without adding yet another high stress job to her list of responsibilities.
In my opinion there are too many characters with too much going on in a very short peri...more
In my opinion there are too many characters with too much going on in a very short peri...more
With the impending visit of the Bishop and the preparations involved, Clare gets an early morning call to join search for a missing woman. She is the sister of the reclusive owner of a large forest holding which is scheduled to be sold to a multinational forest products company and then transferred to the local conservation group for preservation. These transactions are having an affect on locals, from the loggers to the paper mill effectively driving them out of business. Tempers a running high...more
Getting the 24 television show treatment, the entire book takes place in one day. While some of the plot twists are stretching things a bit far, and there are way too many characters to keep track of, Spencer-Fleming kept me on the edge of my chair with the continuing dance of Russ and Clare. I've got a very very bad feeling about their relationship -- something's going to give and give big. I've been immersed in her books for a few weeks now, devouring each one faster than the previous and I ca...more
This installment was . . . ambitious. The book unfolds over the course of one crazy day in Millers Kill. A pending sale of 250,000 acres of land effects a lot of lives and has pushed some citizens of the small town over the edge.
Have you ever wanted to read a cross between the show 24 and a daytime soap opera? Me neither. There were a lot of characters to contend with. I counted at least 22 and we jumped to damn near all of them. The book popped around to different POVs very quickly, I really d...more
Have you ever wanted to read a cross between the show 24 and a daytime soap opera? Me neither. There were a lot of characters to contend with. I counted at least 22 and we jumped to damn near all of them. The book popped around to different POVs very quickly, I really d...more
Finally, a book I really enjoyed! This book kept me going so much that I didn't want to put it down. The mystery was very clever, and parts of the story were even funny! And I cared about the characters. So much so that I felt sad when two of the characters died at the end of the book. Everything about this story just fit together.
Why is it that I don't appreciate books that are acclaimed, like Stieg Larsson's book? And I DO appreciate books that don't get any press at all. "To Darkness And To D...more
Why is it that I don't appreciate books that are acclaimed, like Stieg Larsson's book? And I DO appreciate books that don't get any press at all. "To Darkness And To D...more
This was a very unusual Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne book in that they really took a back seat to all the other characters. They barely appeared except fleetingly. The story was interesting but the backstory got really bogged down because there were so many characters that the reader needed to know and understand. Ultimately they all interacted in one way or another. The "bad" guys were really people trying to make a go in life or to keep their livelihoods from disappearing but by a comedy o...more
Julia Spencer-Fleming has done it again. I'm totally entralled with her main character, a female Episcopal priest, Clare Fergusson and her relationship with the Chief of Police Russ van Alstyne. To make the book more intriguing, everything takes place in one twenty-four hour period. The bishop is coming to Millers Kill for his annual visit and Clare is already in trouble with him. Then she gets the call that she is needed for a search and rescue operation. Since Reverend Clare is also a Reserve...more
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The same friend who lent me the first two Spencer Fleming mysteries brought in numbers 4 and 5. This one took some time to get into, and I don't know exactly why; possibly I am more interested in the taut relationship between our striving reverend and the police chief than I am in the intricate whodunit. Or, who done all those things. Plus my environmental roots may have made me annoyed with the depiction of the terrorist environmental group, just sayin'.
However, by the end I was losing sleep an...more
However, by the end I was losing sleep an...more
Well it's catching and is the 4th in (Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries)and I couldn't put it down.It has mystery crime and temptation :) a must read but in order !! ~~ In this book Clare is called to help in a search and rescue operation of the disappearance of Millie Van der Hoevenshe. On the day Millie was to sell her family estate, Clare can't refuse, reason 1 she likes to help solve the mysteries in Miller Kill but 2 she has this attraction for Russ that is a temptation she sho...more
This one has an extremely complex plot dealing with the closing/takeover of family paper mill and logging businesses in upstate New York as a result of conservation and globalization. It draws you right in with the scene of Millie van Hoeven's kidnaping - her resourceful bullheaded persistence is a parallel to Clare's, but actually occupies relatively little space in this book. There are several maddeningly dumb characters who create chaos but end up as secondary villains. The Russ-Clare relatio...more
Not only are Spencer-Fleming's books wonderful, intricate mysteries, she also creates deep, rich characters. The developing relationship between Clare Fergusson, the Episcopal priest, and Russ Van Alstyne, the police chief, is amazing for it emotional reality. If you read mysteries, read these books! If you love real characters, read these books. I've read the first four--In the Bleak Midwinter, In a Fountain Filled with Blood, Out of the Deep I Cry, and To Darkness and To Death. I can't wait to...more
Feb 25, 2012
Colette
added it
I want to preface this "review" with the statement that I really like this series and I will probably continue to really enjoy this series. The "Forbidden" romance between the two protagonists grabs my interest and I can't wait to see how it plays out.
With that being said. Most of the way through this book, which is told from the view of almost all the characters present, I couldn't stop thinking this character is an idiot. There's about 4 of them that I just wanted to slap upside the head while...more
With that being said. Most of the way through this book, which is told from the view of almost all the characters present, I couldn't stop thinking this character is an idiot. There's about 4 of them that I just wanted to slap upside the head while...more
The fourth book in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series is very good, just not as good as the previous three. I think the problem (for me) was the fact that so many characters were introduced early on and I was having some problems keeping everyone straight because of the links and ties between them. Besides the characters from previous books we meet a pair of sisters and their spouses, one is involved in the crimes and one is a cop, as well as their parents. Then there is a brother and h...more
This one is about the chaos desperate people can create, and how it is often connected chaos-to-chaos. It's about environment v. economy, about jobs and companies and relationships and how everything is connected, and we can't ever tell what the tipping point will be for any one person.
I liked this--and yet, it kinda depressed me. Also I didn't think there was enough of Russ and Clare, not necessarily together, but them, as people. I think I've been reading too many mysteries too close together....more
I liked this--and yet, it kinda depressed me. Also I didn't think there was enough of Russ and Clare, not necessarily together, but them, as people. I think I've been reading too many mysteries too close together....more
1 like · like · see review
I had ambivalent feelings about the previous book in this series (the first I had read) and decided to try this book to resolve those feelings. This book was much better than the previous one. It moved along more rapidly; there was a better variety of plot developments; and other than a lot happening in a very short time period (unlikely), there were no major contradictions or overly implausible actions--given the type of story it is. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.
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Wednesday, September 7
Work-In-Progress Wednesday at my Reader Space. We're up to the fifth part of the second chapter of my eighth book, which has some numerological meaning, I'm sure. http://bit.ly/p2QwJa
More about Julia Spencer-Fleming...
Work-In-Progress Wednesday at my Reader Space. We're up to the fifth part of the second chapter of my eighth book, which has some numerological meaning, I'm sure. http://bit.ly/p2QwJa
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“It never ceases to amaze me how many folks jump right over "I'll try" to "I can't.”
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Jun 10, 2011 12:06am