Welcome to Litsy!

Great first book in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series. Fergusson is the priest of St. Alban's in an upstate New York town. Van Alstyne is the police chief. They team up to solve the mystery surrounding a newborn boy left at the church. Murder soon follows. As does a blossoming illicit romance between Fergusson and Van Alstyne (he's married).

I'll read more in this series.

@Andrew65 @TheSpineView #FabulousFebruary #SeriesLove2023

I couldn‘t remember how this got on my TBR. Then I found it an interesting enough mystery if dated in its topics. But i really liked the main characters and the dynamics of their priest/cop/army history friendship. It dragged in a few places. I finished with a push to get ready for some library holds coming in. But then i couldn‘t help myself when I finished and downloaded the second in the series to have more Claire & Russ. A so-so i can‘t stop

This is one of my favorite #carols that I don‘t hear very often.

The book was one of our choice for December, but I think some of the other members were put off by the prospect of romance mentioned in the blurb. (It‘s okay, though, because we‘re reading A Fatal Grace instead.)

#divinedecember

#inthebleakmidwinter #decembersong @Eggs

1. I want to read the tagged book someday, but my mystery book club only wants to read cozies in December. Not that there‘s anything wrong with that!

2. I have no idea! Maybe some ear buds?

#two4tuesday
#inthebleakmidwinter
#decembersong
#seewhatididthere

Day 1 - #InTheBleakMidwinter #DecemberSong
#InTheBleakMidwinter #JuliaSpencerFleming

This is book 1 of one of my favorite series, The Rev. Clare Furgusson & Russ Van Alstyne series.

I thought I‘d like this because it shares a lot of the elements of the Ruth Galloway series, but I just kept thinking why is this woman being so stupid? The MC drives an unsuitable car, never had appropriate winter clothing in a town where it snows nonstop, and she persists in telling people things she shouldn‘t and chasing after suspects on her own. This took me out of the mystery, which I guessed the solution to well before it ended.

• ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Summer Reading Guide

A newly ordained Episcopal priest and a seasoned Chief of Police find themselves working together to investigate an abandoned infant and a couple of related murders in their small rural community. Set in upstate New York in the middle of a brutal December winter, the crimes are as chilling as the atmospheric conditions.

#Top20Series #20Series20Days #Day3

This is the first of the Clare Fergusson series, and the only one for which I have a physical book; the rest are on my Kindle. This is the closest I‘ve come to binge-reading a series. The developing relationship between Clare, an Episcopal priest, and Russ, the sheriff, is as interesting as the mysteries they solve.

Day 30 - #WintryCover #AuldLangReads #IcePrincess
#WinterGarden #BreakingSilence #InTheBleakMidwinter

Some of my favorite Wintry Reads!

This is a moody and mysterious #holidaysong that I like, and also I‘d like to read the book someday. Perhaps I‘ll suggest it for book club next year. #hollyjollyreading

#Movember

(Day 3 - #RescueMe)

*Clare Fergusson finds herself in hot water very often in this series, but thankfully Sheriff Russ Van Alstyne is there to get her out of these scrapes. He is forever rescuing her from some of her ill-thought-out activities. (I had this all ready to go yesterday—got sidetracked—but since it was finished I decided to post it anyway, even though it‘s a day late...sorry!) ♥️

This is a series that I binge read, and I don‘t normally do that. I won the first book in a giveaway from another author, and I quickly bought the rest at retail, which should tell you how much I liked it 😂This is the first book, and it showed up today on Bookbub. I‘m also excited because, after five years of waiting, a new book in the series is coming out next year.

If you haven‘t read Julia Spencer Fleming‘s Clare Ferguson series, you need to. I‘ve been waiting for her 9th book since 2014. Her husband passed away and she was in the middle of writing Hid From Our Eyes and now it is at the publisher for editing and will be out early 2020.

#juliaspencerfleming #inthebleakmidwinter

This just looks and sounds so good!

1. Spent my first 25 years in Rhode Island and the past almost 17 in Denver, Colorado.

2. Alexander C Eberhart, he writes amazing queer YA

3. I have two bookcases full of unread print books, never mind my digital collections. So like my yarn stash, my tbr is SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.

4. Bed, with a dog.

5. The tagged book; the entire series is wonderful. She writes character driven mysteries, and they‘re SO good.

❄️ In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer Fleming
❄️ Frozen. I can‘t help it, I‘ve watched it too many times with our grandson 😄
❄️ Cold As Ice by Foreigner
#ManicMonday

Began this book because I wanted something appropriately winter-like. I got that, and so much more! The winter atmosphere really adds to this mystery, social commentary, and building relationship of the main characters. I found this book mostly realistic, while occasionally requiring you to suspend belief for the sake of the story. Overall, a captivating mystery series. Looking forward to the future books!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Day 23 - adventrecommends

This is the first book in another favorite series.

Heavy Snow...Icy Desires...Cold-Blooded Murder
Clare Fergusson, St. Alban's new priest, fits like a square peg in the conservative Episcopal parish at Miller's Kill, New York. She is not just a "lady," she's a tough ex Army chopper pilot, and nobody's fool. Then a newborn infant left at the church door brings her together with the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne.

From the sublime to the ridiculous:
Silent Night
Breath of Heaven
In the Bleak Midwinter
Christmas Waltz
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

I also love all those moody songs in minor keys like Coventry Carol and I Wonder as I Wander.

#SundayFunday

I love this series about Clare Fergusson, St. Alban‘s new priest for a Episcopal parish at Miller‘s Kill New York. She‘s an ex-Army chopper pilot and nobody‘s fool. She works with the town‘s police chief in search for an abandoned baby‘s mother. Excellent series not to be missed!
#readingwomenmonth

#2018BookBinge #day3 #Wintry This novel by Julia Spencer-Fleming is the first in the Clare Ferguson/Russ Van Alstyne series.Set in the Adirondack mountains during a bad winter,a baby is left at Clare‘s door,the new priest in St Albans.Joining the search for the parents is Russ, the chief of police in the town. With vivid descriptions of the snow, ice & freezing blizzards of the area, it‘s a very wintry read. Especially in audiobook form, like mine

My favorite thing about winter is curling up by the tree to read. 😍

Enjoyed this start of a small town mystery series with the crime-solving duo of a female Episcopal priest and a police chief. I heard about it as a read-alike to Louise Penny, and I'm curious to see if it continues with some of the secondary characters as well, like Penny. #audiobook

#MarchIntoReading #day22 #AwesomeAudiobooks I've been an Audible member for years now,ever since I bought my first iPod.I have a library of over 300 audiobooks & I still fall asleep every night listening to one. These are nine of my current favourites.Cocaine Blues is so Aussie,The Exorcist is even scarier than the movie,As You Wish & The Stupidest Angel are giggle worthy,Not My Fathers Son & Columbine are heartbreaking,they're all fabulous!

#Marchintoreading Since I used Silent Spring for a prompt last week, I'll go with this for #aseasoninthetitle.

The list of things I could blame on Litsy is long, but two of my recent acquisitions from the library were Litsy recs....Lincoln in the Bardo ( @Liberty and everyone else) and In the Bleak Midwinter ( @bookishkris ). I'm enjoying both of them! I also blame Litsy for introducing me to my incredible #litsygoespostalOG family (notice our awesome bookmark made by @MeganAnn ) ❤❤ #marchintoreading #blameitonlitsy

Interesting relationships but there are plot holes that cause some issues. I struggle with the trope of spunky impulsive woman. Also, she's served in the army and can't light a fire in a fireplace despite having survival training? It's the little things that bug me. I'm giving the second in the series a chance - need a new audiobook series for my commute. Well read audiobook and well written for the genre despite the issues.

⭐⭐⭐

The first book in one of my favorite series, this will put a chill on even the warmest Florida day. When I think #chillyreads, this is at the top of my list. I just wish the author would write more in this series. #photoadaynov16

It was a slow start for me, and by the end I wanted to know ..... though the bumbling of the main character did annoy at times I ended up fully vested in reverend Clare and chief Russ.

The first of a great series, Spencer-Fleming books are hard for me to put down.

This was recommended to me by @bookishkris to whom I am most grateful. A smart cast of characters, keen social observations and a lot of sexual/romantic tension. I didn't like the way it was read on audible; I'll definitely read the rest in the series but I'd rather "hear" the voices in my own way.

Fantastic opener to a great series. More than a mystery, this is a character driven book that uses a sense of place as its own character. If you fall in love with this (and everyone I've given it to has), there are seven more in the series to read.