One Was a Soldier, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Minotaur, $24.99
Early on in this book, there's a scene where Clare Fergusson returns to her church after being away in Iraq. She's greeted with a joyful clamor - much like Julia Spencer-Fleming herself should be; her books have been very much missed. It's been a few years since the last book, I Shall Not Want, so I don't think it's giving anything away when I say that book dealt with the aftermath of police chief Russ Van Alstyne's wife's death. While it freed the long pining Clare and Russ to finally be together, they were both dealing with guilt, and in Russ' case, grief. As the book ends, Clare has left to fly helicopters in Iraq, leaving Russ at home. As this novel opens, she's returned from war, along with several other citizens of Miller's Kill, New York.
Homecoming for these veterans is both bittersweet and complicated, and Spencer-Fleming weaves the early meetings of their veteran's support group into her narrative. It couldn't, of course, be a more timely topic. Like another writer I like very much, Laura Lippman, Spencer-Fleming is truly gifted at providing a 360 degree view of a character's life. You come to know everything about them, from their own point of view, and from the point of view of others. It's a very rich and saturated way to tell a story and sometimes you're so caught up with what the characters are saying and feeling that being jerked back to the story is something of a jolt.
Make no mistake, however, this writer is aces when it comes to narrative, and this novel is no different from any of her others. The complicated topic she's chosen as her front burner theme - PTSD - ties into the complicated plot that eventually reaches tentacles both into the army and into one of the largest employers in Miller's Kill. With a story teller like this, it's unwise to take even any small detail for granted, so when there's a car accident or a scholarship awarded, pay attention. There's lots of heartbreaking material in this book, and I read much of it on and off in tears, kleenex in hand. While there's joy here, there's also doubt and fear. What makes it so much like actual life is that all the elements are blended together, just as life itself gives you heartbreaking moments followed by joyful ones.
Most moving to me was Clare's own struggle with addiction - she's trying to keep things under control as she plans her (I'm not giving it away, he has the ring in his pocket in the first chapter) wedding to Russ. While it's certainly past time for this development, Spencer-Fleming hasn't made it easy for her characters. Clare's struggle to hide her addiction and then to reluctantly try and deal with it is extremely believable. While these novels have always been slotted into the "cozy" or "traditional" category, really they are neither. The issues are pretty dark, not too cozy; what's traditional is the mystery structure. Spencer-Fleming has managed to brilliantly combine her amateur sleuth (Clare) with a real professional (Russ) in an entirely believable way. Russ is often fed up with her interference and frequently warns her off, upping the believability quotient, in my opinion.
This is a wonderful return for this series. It has all the elements readers have come to love from this author - nice prose, great story, and most of all wonderful characters - and it deepens and shades them further. The little revelation in the last sentence of the book should change things up next time around; but it's a greedy and ungrateful reader who looks forward to the next book moments after finishing the last one. Nevertheless, Clare and Russ can't return too soon for me.
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