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Read A Fountain Filled With Blood (2004)

A Fountain Filled With Blood (2004)

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Rating
3.97 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0312995431 (ISBN13: 9780312995430)
Language
English
Publisher
st. martin's paperbacks

A Fountain Filled With Blood (2004) - Plot & Excerpts

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.[return][return]Meanwhile, Russ s feisty 69 year old mother is leading a protest against a resort development just outside of Miller s Kill that may be releasing PCBs from an old storage site into the waters and ground of the town. As it happens, one of the partners in the development company is a gay man. During a 4th of July fireworks celebration, Clare stumbles across his body in a park. [return][return]Environmental issues and hate crimes are twin matrices in Spencer-Fleming s second novel in this excellent series. When done well, themes such as these can add a great deal to the interest of a plot. While both are necessary for the plot, Spencer-Fleming does not handle these themes that well, especially the environmental one. It feels forced; her description of the major demonstration is even faintly ridiculous. The hate crime theme is more neutral but other than to serve as a mask in the plot, does not do much for the story.[return][return]Spencer-Fleming s writing is not that outstanding, but served her well in her first novel. In this the second, it is distinctly more mediocre. The verb to snort is overused, not to say abused; you really can t use it twice in the same paragraph and hope to get a good effect.[return][return]The climax of the book includes a helicopter crash which should be gripping but falls short because I, for one, don t know the terminology of helicopter anatomy well enough to be able to follow what happens after the crash. I had to take it on faith that it was a tense time where the situation could have deteriorated badly. It was really too bad.[return][return]The plot is good but not anything out of the ordinary. It serves.[return][return]But, Spencer-Fleming s strengths are present as well. Her sense of humor, on display through her characters reactions to situations, especially that of Clare, is wry and at times wonderfully self-deprecating as well. Russ and Clare are strong characters with distinct and believable personalities. The setting, in northeast New York State, is well done; clearly Spencer-Fleming knows her small towns and the geography of the area.[return][return]I found the book a letdown after the excellent debut novel, In The Bleak Midwinter. Still, though something of a disappointment, Spencer-Fleming endowed her characters and situation well enough to keep interest in the series going.[return][return]

It's been six months since Clare Ferguson, former army helicopter pilot and current Episcopal priest, and Russ Van Alstyne, police chief of Miller's Kill worked together on their first crime. They've been studiously avoiding one another ever since in an effort to keep their mutual attraction from gaining ground. During the Fourth of July holiday, two gay men are attacked and badly beaten in a manner that appears to be a hate crime. Clare is convinced Russ should warn the gay members of the town but Russ isn't convinced it's a specific hate crime. When the third attack kills a developer involved in a high profile land development deal, Russ suspects there may be more to these attacks than anti-gay grievances. Many people in town are involved in the protests against the land development deal since contaminated PCB ponds have been found in the area. Economic supporters want the jobs and the environmentalist want to stop the development.Maybe I should be uncomfortable with the growing attraction between Russ and Clare but I'm not. Russ is happily married to a woman who we never hear from in the books and is kept “off stage” in a clever move. They both want to be friends but that is so difficult when they are such soul mates, to use a corny phrase. They use a lot of humorous dialog and their characters are so different and interesting. The character development is never done at the expense of a well plotted mystery. The small town of Miller's Kill will be familiar to any reader who ever lived in one. The author has a good eye for detail and there's a fabulously exciting, well-written helicopter scene in this story. If you are worried about reading a preachy type story rest assured these are not religiously themed mysteries. While Clare is an Episcopal priest the books don't focus on religion. The prayers and Episcopalian rituals are added for atmosphere and I find them completely unobtrusive. Great series of mysteries. I'm already on book three and have picked up the others, as well.

What do You think about A Fountain Filled With Blood (2004)?

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 are light, the killing doesn't gross me out, a good read for a winter's day. The romantic tension between Clare and married Russ, tickles me. I've read only 3 in the series, one out of order and have enjoyed them all. I like the cliff hanger approach at the end of one to entice me to read the next. There are rumors that the seventh, One was a Soldier, may be the last. I'm usually in favor of ending series before they become stale but in this case I could go a few more. When will Goodreads allow that .5 star? 3.5 stars for this one.
—Carol

As I pretty much finished this, slept, did the things I *had* to do (on a Saturday, with a bad headache and the ability to let myself off the hook for a lot of things I probably *should* have done) and launched straight into book 3, I'm both a bit fuzzy about what happened where and pretty clearly addicted to this series. But whether this is a healthy addiction that will do no harm at all, ever, to anyone, or whether it'll break my heart, ruin my family, bring shame and ... All right, enough hyperbole!The mystery in this book wasn't that strong, so all the weight fell on the characters and setting, but for the most part, the mystery is a bit frosting anyway. I continue to love Clare and Russ, and am surprised at how much I'm loving a Forbidden Love story. So not my cup of tea normally, but their mutual care and their very different and also utterly the same senses of honour just makes it perfect. What made me almost weepy in this book was what happens when Clare does something she really shouldn't, and does it on a full tank of self-righteousness, which leads her to hurt Russ after making him angry. She's very unfair and acknowledges it freely, but Russ is able to move beyond the hurt and make an admission of his own, one he knows she won't like but that he can trust her to help him with, instead of rejecting him. That ending, too - no wonder I could barely resist grabbing the next book immediately. Also: Linda's not a pet person. What more needs to be said?
—Hallie

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 characterization as strong and as vivid as in this series. I see by JS-F's Goodreads profile that she counts Lois McMaster-Bujold and Margaret Maron as favorites/influences--two of my favorite authors and both known for exceptional characterization themselves. That explains a lot as to why these are such good books, I think. I always like to see what authors count as influences and what they read themselves. Being able to recognize and be influenced by the best leads to producing more of the best, I think.Some of my best recommendations have come from seeing why my favorite authors recommend or have read themselves.
—MB (What she read)

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