Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Out of the Deep I Cry Julia Spencer-Fleming  Mystery    2004 Rating: A-

Out of the Deep I Cry begins with Clare and Russ having made a tentative peace about their unusual gossip-provoking friendship. Both of them agree that not seeing each other is perhaps dangerous, but ultimately too difficult.  A third mystery - one with an embedded unsolved case from the long ago 1930's - brings them together, but as usual working things from different angles.  

This novel, apropos of its name, is filled with grief.  Spencer-Fleming sets it during Lent, and the cycle of sin, repentence, atonement, and forgiveness mirrors what is happening within her plot.  Clare's troubles begin when, due to some unaddressed structural problems, her church develops a water problem around a fairly new stained glass window.  It becomes quickly apparent that this will be very expensive to fix which leaves her with rather an ethical conundrum.  Should she ask the parishioners to donate money, or accept the offer of one of her church vestry to use money from her trust fund to pay for it?  It's ethically muddy because interest from that trust fund supports the Millers Kill free clinic, and it cannot both accrue and be used.  Fortunately for the church, the vestry votes to use it, and Clare attempts to assuage her conscience by going with Mrs. Marshall, the trust fund owner, to tell the clinic administrator, Dr. Rouse, that his funds are going to be cut. 

But Dr. Rouse has other problems in the form of a one-woman protest against his vaccination methods.  This woman, Debba Clow, has a young autistic son and is convinced that Dr. Rouse's cheap, older vaccination drugs are the cause.  The problems between them escalate to assault and vandalism, and Dr. Rouse takes his revenge by meddling in Debba's divorce until her custody of her children is at risk.  When Dr. Rouse suddenly goes missing one wintry eve and Debba is the last person to have seen him, things look bleak for her.  Clare, in her usual defender-of-the-helpless mode, isn't convinced Debba is guilty, though, and goes out to the scene to look things over.  What she finds there sheds no light on Dr. Rouse's fate, but embroils her in another missing persons case, this one sixty years old.  

The above is a bit of a longer summary than I usually write for a mystery, but there is a lot going on here, quite a bit more than meets the eye.  Spencer-Fleming deftly weaves together past and present, crime and punishment, guilt and redemption.  The older mystery is the most interesting thing here, but it is revealed in bits and pieces with the key players - Jonathan and Jane Ketchem - appearing in short, sharply drawn vignettes set in critical times during their lives.  These flashbacks are not chronological, but backward chronological, so the reader watches Spencer-Fleming peel back the layers life and grief laid on these seemingly unsympathetic people and begins to slowly sympathise with their predicaments.  Other characters from the more modern goings on make past appearances as well; it is interesting to see the confident, laconic sheriff in his younger looser, less secure incarnations; it certainly sheds light on his character.  The author does an amazing job with time and place.  The thirties feel more hardscrabble and wearying than the fifties  or the seventies, but at the same time brighter and more hopeful - because of what the characters are personally experiencing. 

This novel is more character- and less suspense-driven than the previous two books in the series. Clare is her usual nosy self, but this is less dangerous to her and hers because the larger violence occurred so far in the past.  There are some key moments of suspense, though, as the modern mystery approaches its denouement.  They serve primarily to force Clare and Russ to confront what is really going on between them and acknowledge to each other their feelings.  Which sets up further complications for later books.

Personally I find books with historical, unsolved mysteries, family secrets, and diary entries to be like peanut M & M's - almost impossible to resist and even more impossible to stop consuming once begun.  Add in the disease/epidemic angle Spencer-Fleming includes - another weakness of mine - and you've got a recipe practically guaranteed to please me.  But regardless of my own preferences, this is a solidly written, solidly plotted book full of twists and turns, excellent character development, and thwarted romantic feelings.  It is my favorite of the series so far, and I highly recommend it to you, Dear Reader.  

tags: books  mysteries  julia spencer fleming