ÀÏ»¢»úÎÈÓ®·½·¨

Miller's Kill Chief of Police, Russ Van Alstyne, wants to spend his 50th birthday out in the woods hunting with his friend. His wife, Linda, needs to have the custom draperies for the new resort ready for that night's grand opening. Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson is trying to get St. Alban's ready for an important visit from the bishop when she is called up by the Search and Rescue Squad to look for a local young woman, Millicent van der Hoeven, who is lost is in the woods. Millie's wealthy family is about to sell their home and the surrounding land to the Adirondack Conservancy Corporation, which will devastate the local lumber businesses. Is Millie really lost or has she been kidnapped? It won't take long for the reader to find out.

The fourth book in the Russ Van Alstyne/Clare Fergusson series takes place over a 24 hour period. It was probably my least favorite of the series because it concentrates more on the secondary characters and we don't see as much of Clare and Russ and their volatile relationship as we normally do. It took me a while to realize that this book is developing story plots that will be important to future books in this incredibly compelling series.

"To Darkness and To Death" gives us a much more detailed view of the whole town of Miller's Kill, the outlying areas, and of the various people who live there. A great series with detailed characters and I look forward to the next one.

I wish I thought of this series a couple days ago. I had a hard time picking my next compass book. The Adirondack’s setting might be right on my path.