Dru’s Short Musing:
Clare and Russ get tangled up with militias and white supremacy in this grippingly riveting drama that I could not put down until all was said and done.

This well-written and fast paced book is intense, suspenseful, powerful and intriguing and you don’t want to let your guard down while reading it. There was so much going on between the multi-plot storyline that kept me immersed in all aspects as I watched the tale unfold chapter by chapter. There were moments of trepidation as the characters faced uncertainty challenges that also gave me pause as I didn’t know what to expect as I continued reading. Told with great panache, this story will keep you embroiled from the first page to its formidable conclusion.

Series Name: A “Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne” Mystery, Book 10
Genre: Police Procedural, Traditional Mystery
Release: November 18, 2025
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Book Synopsis:
New York Times bestseller Julia Spencer-Fleming returns to her beloved Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series

It’s Christmas time in Millers Kill, and Reverend Clare Fergusson and her husband Russ van Alstyne – newly resigned from his position as chief of police – plan to enjoy it with their baby boy. On their list: visiting Santa, decorating the tree, and attending the church Christmas pageant. But when a beloved holiday parade is crashed by white supremacists, Clare and Russ find themselves sucked into a parallel world of militias, machinations and murder.

Meanwhile, single mom and officer Hadley Knox has her hands full juggling her kids and her police work. She doesn’t want to worry about her former partner – and sometimes lover – Kevin Flynn, but when he takes leave from the Syracuse PD and disappears, she can’t help her growing panic that something has gone very wrong.

Novice lawyer Joy Zhào is keeping secrets from her superiors at the state Attorney General’s Office. She knows they wouldn’t condone her off-the-books investigation, but she’s convinced a threatening alt-right conspiracy is brewing – and catching the perpetrators could jump start her career.

NYS Forest Ranger Paul Terrance is looking for his uncle, a veteran of the park service gone inexplicably missing. He doesn’t think much of an ex-cop and out-of-town officer showing up in his patch of the woods, but he’s heard the disturbing rumors of dangerous men in the mountains.

In New York Times Julia Spencer-Fleming’s latest novel, as Christmas approaches, these five people will discover their suspicions hang on a single twisting thread, leading to the forbidding High Peaks of the Adirondacks. As the December days shorten and the nights grow long, a disparate group of would-be heroes need to unwind a murderous plot before time runs out.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.