Review: One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Julia Spencer-Fleming always finds a new, clever way to pull Clare Fergusson into a murder mystery, which she must, since Episcopal priests in small Adirondacks towns don't usually come across dead bodies in the course of their day.

In One Was a Soldier, the latest in Spencer-Fleming's series featuring Fergusson and her love-interest, Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne, the mystery unfolds slowly, with the first dead body not showing up until quite late in the game. As always, Spencer-Fleming takes her time building a multi-layered story that is as much about the characters as it is the mystery they solve.

The story opens with Fergusson, a former Army helicopter pilot, returning from her tour of duty in Iraq, having signed up for the National Guard in the last book, I Shall Not Want. While she tries to hide it, Fergusson is wrestling with war demons and self-medicating.  She eventually gets involved with a veterans support group, but when one of their own ends up dead, Fergusson rallies the group to try to prove it was murder, not suicide.

This is one of the best mystery series going, with a large cast of recurring characters, intricate storylines, believable and interesting relationships, and plenty of action.

OTHER REVIEWS

If you would like your review of this book, or any other book in this series, listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

I got my copy of One Was a Soldier from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program.

Opening Sentence of the Day: The Secret of Chimneys

"Gentleman Joe!"

-- The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie.

This book starts off in Africa, when tour guide Anthony Cade gets roped into a simple courier job.  Those never end well.

I don't read a lot of Agatha Christie books -- at least, not since a jag in high school -- so I always forget how lively and clever they are. The opening scenes of this one were so witty and modern that I was surprised to learn it is one of her earlier books, published in 1925.

This counts as one of my choices for the Vintage Mystery Challenge, hosted by My Reader's Block.

Opening Sentence of the Day: On Beauty

One may as well begin with Jerome's emails to his father.

-- On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

This book won the Orange Prize in 2006 and has been waiting for me on my iPod since about then. 

I knew absolutely nothing about the book before I started it -- I hadn't read the cover or anything about it, except that it had one the prize.  Sometimes I like jumping into a book like that with absolutely no expectations.

I am halfway through the audio version and enjoying it very much. Whatever I may have guessed the book to be about, I did not expect it to be an Ivory Tower novel and family drama.  Pleasant surprise, since a novel of academia crossed with an Aga Saga is a genre made for me.

Teaser Tuesday: Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal

If it's the government's responsibility to make sure that no person can ingest a morsel of unsafe food, then only government-decreed food will be edible.  And when that happens, freedom of choice is long gone, because the credentialed food will be what the fat cats who wine and dine politicians say that it is.

-- Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin.  

 

Joel Salatin is the owner of Polyface Farms, "the farm of many faces," in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.  He was featured in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and stole the show as the big-hatted farmer in Farmageddon.

 

 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

 

Food Freedom is on Facebook and twitter. Click on the chicken for more information.

This counts as one of my books for the Foodie's Reading Challenge, hosted by Margot at Joyfully Retired.

 

Mailbox Monday & GIVEAWAY!

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia at A girl and her books (fka The Printed Page), who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring meme (details here).

Life in the Thumb is hosting in August.  Please visit Staci's fun and cheerful blog for some great reading inspiration.

I got one book last week and am hosting a giveaway for it (see details below).

LAST WEEK'S GIVEAWAY WINNER

But first, the winner of last week's giveaway of Who in This Room: The Realities of Cancer, Fish, and Demolition by Katherine Malmo is Anna at Diary of an Eccentric. Anna will get her own ARC of this new memoir and the opportunity to host a giveaway of her own for another copy. 

THIS WEEK'S BOOK & GIVEAWAY

From This Wicked Patch of Dust by Sergio Troncoso.   

THE BOOK: In the border shantytown of Ysleta, Mexican immigrants Pilar and Cuauhtémoc Martinez strive to teach their four children to forsake the drugs and gangs of their neighborhood. The family's hardscrabble origins are just the beginning of this sweeping new novel from Sergio Troncoso.

THE GIVEAWAY: Thanks go to Mary Bisbee-Beek, an incredibly diligent book publicist, for providing two ARCs for a "leap-frog" giveaway.

The leap-frog part is that I have one ARC to giveaway.  The winner will get to host another giveaway for the second ARC.

The contest is open until Sunday, August 21, 2011. To enter, do any or all of the following, but you must leave a comment for each one:

1. Leave a comment on this post. You must include a way to contact you (email or website address in your comment or available in your profile). If I can't find a way to contact you I will draw another winner. (1 entry)

2. Blog about this giveaway. (Posting the giveaway on your sidebar is also acceptable.) Leave a separate comment with a link to your post. (1 entry)

3. Subscribe to my rss feed, follow me on blogger, or subscribe via email (or tell me if you already are a subscriber or follower). Leave a separate comment for this. (1 entry)

4. Tweet this post on Twitter. Leave me a separate comment with your twitter user name. (1 entry)

5. Stumble this blog, digg it, technorati fave it, or link it on facebook. Leave a separate comment. (1 entry)

There are a lot of ways to enter (maximum of five entries), but you must LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT for each one or they will not count. I will use random.org to pick the winners from the comments.

This contest is open to entries from the U.S. and Canada only. The deadline for entry is 9:00 PM, Pacific Time, on Sunday, August 21, 2011. I will draw and post the winner's name in my Mailbox Monday post for August 22, 2011.