Hid from Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming

[lightreads]

Hid from Our Eyes

3/5. Continuation of this small town episcopal reverend/police chief mysteries. Yowza, that's a publishing gap. In between books in this series, I went through fertility treatment, pregnancy, and birthed two babies . . . five years apart. That said, it's a credit to this series that it all came back to me quickly – how these books hit that perfect spot of complexity and realness between cozy and gritty crime. How richly populated this world is. How much kindness is shown to everyone even as they sometimes do things that make you clutch your face and quietly say "oh, honey, no."

As a mystery this isn't particularly compelling – the whole thing unfolded entirely before me, to every last detail, several chapters before it was supposed to. But as a story of legacies, and of new parents (she pumps at a party turned crime scene! Glorious! Except, you know, horrible) and as a new visit with these people, it's great.

Don't appreciate the cliffhanger, though, given her recent track record.

As a side note, there was a special irony in reading this book, which has a subplot about how hard it is to parent an infant while working and without consistent childcare considering, well. Considering. A bit on the nose, thanks.

Comments

[weevil]

I agree that it's a long interval, but I believe that the author was nursing her dying husband for several of those years, and then grieving. Just a heads-up! I tend to avoid learning about authors' personal lives myself where possible.

I liked your description of the cozy/gritty interface.

[readerjane]

Yes, the cliffhanger. I wish I knew whether the fact that this book did come out means that whatever Spencer-Fleming was going through is now manageable, and she'll be able to continue writing, or not.

I like the way these stories humanize failings.