Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Jul 30, 2008

Red rated it:

I really like these books. They have a nice strong female character. It's interesting and novel that Clare is an Episcopalian priest, who used to be an Army helicopter pilot. I like the setting, a small town in upstate New York. Her best friend and forbidden romantic interest, is the already married police chief. This presents a quandary for me, because even though you'd like characters to get together, I'm not the least bit keen about the breaking up of his marriage. I assume that somewhere fur More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

LJ rated it:

Two gay men are brutally attacked in Spencer-Fleming's second Reverend Clare Fergusson mystery. Clare, a former army helicopter pilot, now a priest at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in the small Adirondack town of Millers Kill, New York, feels the attacks are related, and the police should notify the community so people can protect themselves. Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne disagrees, wanting to avoid copycat crimes, and his refusal to act creates tension between the two, further complicated by the More...

13 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2010

Joyce rated it:

2nd in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series.[return][return]A well-respected medical examiner, who is gay, is beaten to within an inch of his life. Shocked by the appearance of such a hate crime, Clare urges Rush to warn other gays in Miller s Kill about the incident. Russ refuses, afraid that that will merely incite copycat crimes. Within a short time, yet another gay man is severely beaten in his video rental store, ratcheting the tension between Clare and Russ higher.[retu More...

0 comments like

Nov 15, 2011

Kris rated it:

The second in the Clare/Russ mystery series that is almost as amazing as the first (hard to beat the winner of six first-time novelist awards, which was unprecedented.) The story of Clare and Russ, their hands-off love affair continues and I was once again smitten with their desire for each other, which is subtly drawn by the author - they long for each others presence, insight, and understanding as much as for the physical. Very satisfying and keeps the reader guessing. Will they or won't they? More...

0 comments like

Nov 14, 2011

Jane rated it:

I love this series and accidentally re-read this title, having confused it with the only one not read yet. So it was a second read for this time, but still enjoyable. Cheryl and Terese commented earlier this year that Linda was not much fleshed out, and I both agree with them and don't remember that the author remedied the situation very effectively in subsequent titles. This is perplexing because she's so strong at characterization.

A note to Terese: yes, it IS possible to sew More...

0 comments like

Aug 10, 2011

Lightreads rated it:

Hey, I liked this one too!

And the thing I liked, most particularly (still not the mystery) is how this relationship is between two really different people. The most obvious way is in their politics – she’s a bleeding heart liberal, he’s a head-in-the-sand social conservative in the way some people are by virtue of pretending that a lot of problems aren’t problems. And they argue about this stuff! Like grownups! In ways that make neither of them look stupid in the long term! That is s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 05, 2011

Bridget rated it:

When I saw in the plot summary that this story took place around the Fourth of July, I decided the weekend of the Fourth would be the perfect time to read it. I had enjoyed the previous book by Julia
Spencer-Fleming,and was interested in reading more about Reverend Clare Fergusson and the goings-on in her congregation and in her town of Millers Kill, New York.

The book begins with the brutal attack on a gay man, the town's medical examiner, on his way home from a dinner party w More...

0 comments like

Jul 19, 2011

Christine rated it:

Another mystery I liked better than I thought I would. The crime solver in this series is a former Army pilot, turned Episcopal priest in upstate New York. Obviously the way she gets involved in solving the crime is a bit contrived, but otherwise the genre just doesn't work! I am enjoying the building tension between her and the police chief, although I struggle with whether he is a schlumpy, small town cop with a unsympathetic wife, 16 years her senior, or if he's a almost fit, handsome, for More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 18, 2009

Ann rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2009

Abby rated it:

I stayed up waaaaay too late reading this one, even though I pretty much had the mystery all figured out. What kept me up so late at night was the continuing dynamic between Reverend Clare Fergusson and the married Chief of Police, Russ Van Alstyne. After spending the remaining winter and spring studiously avoiding each other, they are together again, determined to keep attraction at bay, and figure out who's behind a series of vicious hate crimes in small town Miller's Kill, NY.

Th More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2009

MB rated it:

From one temperature extreme to the other! Wow, this book was good and kept up the same high standard for the sophomore book in the series. What I especially enjoy about Julia Spencer-Fleming is her characterization. Clare and Russ (and all the other bit part players) are 3-dimensional and real. I like and respect them, I care when they are in danger, I worry about their choices...I'm invested!

As a constant reader always searching for new books, what really 'draws me in' is chara More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2011

Sammy rated it:

At the start, this unfolded with much of the same promise as the novel in the series. It opens up a few months later, with the relationship between Clare and the Police Chief unsettled. The town of Mills Kills is unsettled as well; with a new resort being built on the outskirts of town corresponding with a rise in PCB levels in the water supplies.

And then there is a beating of the towns' medical examiner. And quickly after that, another. It appears that there is someone who is a More...

0 comments like

May 08, 2011

Barbara rated it:

I just finished reading the second in this series of mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming and WOW, another book that one can't put down. The title of the book sounds creepy until you read the preface where Fleming includes words of an old hymn, "There is a fountain filled with blood, ff". She begins each book with a hymn. Clare, an Episcopal Priest in a small town gets very involved with a murder while carrying on her duties as the cleric. The way the writer tells the story is remark More...

0 comments like

Apr 30, 2010

Jocelyn rated it:

What middle-aged woman wouldn't like a book about an Episcopal priest -- a former army helicopter pilot who drives a sports car -- who is in love with the (married) police chief in her small town? Me, apparently. Clare is just too PC to be real. The author has to bend over backwards to put her on the scene of stuff she has to witness so that the author can write those scenes from Clare's point of view. Much of the dialogue doesn't sound very natural to me. In this context, the flirtation scenes More...

1 comment like

Jan 20, 2012

Cathy rated it:

First Line: The yahoos came by just after the dinner party broke up.

Small towns have a reputation for being quiet and safe that's not always deserved. The same holds true for Millers Kill, New York. The Fourth of July weekend brings a spate of vicious attacks that have Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne reeling-- not only because of the brutality but because the victims seem to have been chosen because they're gay.

When the third attack on an out-of-tow More...

0 comments like

May 15, 2010

Kit rated it:

It's weird to read this awesome series out of order, but this book only recently became available in a Kindle edition. The second episode in Russ and Claire's relationship finds them both trying to fight their attraction. I particularly like the way Russ and Claire take turns being the one with the knowledge and power in a particular situation. They have different skills and are both really good at what they do, so it's believable that one would know what's going on while the other is out of his More...

0 comments like

May 09, 2011

Sadie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2012

Phillip rated it:

Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne have spent six months avoiding each other since the their initial adventure in criminal investigation engendered romantic sparks that shouldn't be happening between a married man and a celibate priest. Now, a string of prejudicial beatings bring them together and at odds over the how to best respond to these incidents.

Julia Spencer-Fleming is able to maintain an engaging chemistry between her characters, as they butt heads, p More...

0 comments like

Mar 20, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

I am really enjoying this series. The one annoyance is that the chief of police's wife exists only as a plot device. The reader never meets her, never gets inside her head, never hears her utter a single line of dialogue. She apparently only exists off the page as a pretext for keeping our heroes separated romantically. I am curious how far into the series the author went before a) we meet her, b) the marriage falls apart, and c) Clare and Russ get together. However, I love Clare as an Episcopal More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 16, 2011

Sue rated it:

While I still see these as something akin to episodic television, there's nothing wrong with a formula that works. The mystery is solid, and the clues are offered satisfyingly along with enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

Wondering/worrying about Russ and Claire. . . they finally acknowledge to themselves at least that there's potential trouble in their lives, but they are being adult and decent and trying to stay away from one another. I just don't want them to do somethin More...

0 comments like

Jun 03, 2010

Bob rated it:

This was the second in the series and the Rev. Clare Fergusson has again gotten herself mixed up in a series of seeming hate crimes as Chief Rus Van Alstyne works to bring the perpetrators to justice. The town is also at odds with the development of a Spa Resort which seems to have caused the release of PCBs into the town water supply and the Rev. is at odds again with the church board over her support of the victims of the beatings and one murder. Everything intertwines as the relationship be More...

0 comments like

Feb 13, 2011

Carol rated it:

The Big Bopper lyrics for Chantilly Lace keep going through my head when I think about my feelings for Fountain Filled with Blood. "You Know What I Like".

There's something comforting about reading a series and spending time with characters that you get to know and love. And love I do Episcopalian Priest Clare Ferguson, Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne and the other inhabitants of Millers Kill, a fictitious town somewhere in the Adirondacks, NY.

The mysteries More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Beth says (on her first reading of the series and my second) -- Book moved along quickly & smoothly. The characters continued to develop. Beth loved that each of the protagonists helped and "saved" the other, so that there's no helpless female character lead. Good job of building the tension in the mystery.

About the gay-themed story line: the characters were well-written, typical, true-to-life. The gay organization, the Adirondack Pride Team, was sadly accurate althou More...

0 comments like

Aug 12, 2010

Spuddie rated it:

#2 Rev. Clare Fergusson/Sheriff Russ Van Alstyne mystery set in Miller's Kill, NY. When the local medical examiner is badly beaten up, followed by savage beating to a video store owner, Clare begins to suspect the attacks as hate crimes against homosexuals and is frustrated when Russ won't alert the public to be extra wary. Russ fears the public panicking, or other hate mongers perpetrating copycat crimes.

But when a third man--a developer in the area to build a luxury spa complex-- More...

0 comments like

Aug 10, 2009

Angela rated it:

It took me a bit to get into A Fountain Filled With Blood, which is the second book in Julia Spencer-Fleming's series about a young female Episcopalian priest who becomes involved with the police chief of her small town. For one thing, I made the mistake of trying to read this book before I read Book 1. For another, several of the initial scenes involve violence against gay people in the town, and I was genuinely unsure if I could handle reading about that. Nor was I terribly happy about the rel More...

0 comments like

Jul 18, 2008

Trin rated it:

Sequel to In the Bleak Midwinter. I loved the first three-fourths of this, though I think it kind of fell apart at the end. Among the good: meeting Russ’ wonderfully eccentric mom, Clare helping Russ confront his internalized homophobia (and his willingness to do so, which shows, despite his discomfort, what a good man he is), Clare interrupting her investigations to get drunk and flirty with a cute Brit—a sequence that, since it’s her, ends with her jumping out a second story window. It’s nice More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 10, 2007

Jen rated it:

I enjoyed this book, the second in a series, much more than the first. Spencer-Fleming dispenses with all of the introductory set-up garbage that most serial detective stories feel the need to put you through - i.e., if you haven't read any previous books, let's go through the laundry list of what you need to know about the recurring characters. Instead, she relies on the reader to either pick up on context clues to get a feel for the characters or to be reading the series in order. The myste More...

0 comments like

Mar 18, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Second in the series focusing on Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson and Sheriff Russ Van Alstyne, A Fountain Filled With Blood was engrossing and entertaining enough to keep me in my car longer than necessary several times. While certainly not the most believable of plots, I found the characters engaging and the story exciting and full of suspense. Clare and Russ are both quite flawed, which is particularly interesting since they are both figures of authority. Russ is far more likable than Clar More...

0 comments like

Jan 10, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

This is a fun series. Clare is a minister and Russ is the local Sheriff. The unfortunate part is their attraction to each other since Russ is married. The mysteries are pretty good and I like reading the way Clare deals with people who are uncomfortable with her vocation. The author would do well to develop Clare more. She has an interesting background as a former military pilot as well as her sincere but casual dedication to her vocation. Russ is a pretty standard law enforcement characte More...

0 comments like

Feb 04, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

I didn't love this one. I liked parts of it. While I definitely appreciate the author's passion for preventing hate crimes, and I totally agree with her, I felt like she kind of went on and on about it and it detracted from the story. I don't like being preached at when I read. I like the author to have a point, but not beat me about the head with it. That's all. The whole relationship thing between the two main characters is still bugging me as well. Could be I'm just cranky altogether.

0 comments like

reviews