Yes, Clare Fergusson has come back from deployment in Iraq in
One Was a Soldier: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery (Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries). After eighteen months as a helicopter pilot, it's back to a life in Millers Kill that is familiar yet forever changed because Clare, like other returnees from combat zones, can't shake the memories, flashbacks, and nightmares. Changed because she's using uppers and downers to get on with her civilian life as an Episcopol priest. Changed because when she and police chief Russ Van Alstyne reunite, she hides her true state and pretends she is "fine."
She isn't alone, of course. Other returning military men and women have similar readjustment problems. So, the novel opens on September 5 with the first session of Sarah Dowling's licensed clinical therapy group which consists of five reticent Millers Kill vets, including Clare. To fill in the reader on what's happened to these people since they returned a few months ago, the story rewinds and that, for example, is how we see Russ welcoming Clare home on June 24. At first: "She didn't leap into his arms. they had been circumspect for so long, always standing apart, controlling their eyes and hands like nuns in a medieval abbey." That was at the armory. Somehow they (especially Clare) become much less nun-like in Russ' truck.
ONE WAS A SOLDIER concerns itself with the personal dramas of small-town American war veterans, their struggles, their despair, their anger, their fear, their secretiveness. We see what befalls Clare and the four others in Sarah's group. We watch them hurt themselves and others. We watch them lie. We watch them act like hormone-crazed teenagers. We also watch them band together as brothers and sisters in arms when one of them dies under suspicious circumstances.
Unlike other novels in the Clare/Russ series, this one, perhaps mindful of the greater and real Sturm und Drang in Iraq (and Afghanistan) doesn't coalesce into a Wagnerian climax of overriding violence. Oh, it certainly has its moments of sorrow and irrevocable acts, and an international, complex criminal case slowly comes to light. But at its core, the changed lives of the returned vets make this book.
Sometimes I think that this wonderful series could have done more with the relationship trajectory of Russ and Clare. More than once previous volumes have ended at points that could have spelled the end for them. Yet, the next novel generally would not explore that created rift as deeply as it might have. I think this is true of ONE WAS A SOLDIER. Although it makes sense that after eighteen months, they would be happy to see one another, I was a little surprised by the relative ease with which they handled the next "big" question. Don't get me wrong; it's rather comforting that these two can be such different people and yet not totally spazz when they confront obstacles in their way. Still, sometimes I feel as though the author has intentionally avoided letting them grapple as they might have with such things as guilt over Linda (the late Mrs. Van Alstyne).
Speaking of Linda, she and many other characters who graced previous books in this series, are either mentioned or, when possible, make cameo appearances in ONE WAS A SOLDIER. This is a nice unifying touch and very much appreciated.
Louise Penny, author of her own series, the most recent one being the outstanding
Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Chief Inspector Gamache Novels), is quoted by Spencer-Fleming's publishers on the cover of ONE WAS A SOLDIER: "An absolute tour de force! The best yet in a brilliant series. I loved it!" I don't know whether I'd go quite as far -- I'm not sure this is the best...but it is a formidable, engrossing entry in this great series. It explores an important current topic (how our returning troops do or don't cope) and it once again allows Clare/Russ fans to enjoy more precious scenes between them (though, I think I could have done without that teenage moment in the truck!).
Now the burning question is: how Russ and Clare will deal with the little, personal bombshell that concluded ONE WAS A SOLDIER. In order that we may find out, may the talented Julia Spencer-Fleming be blessed with further intricate and compelling stories to tell in Millers Kill.
