All Mortal Flesh: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery - Julia Spencer-fleming

After his wife kicks him out, Miller's Kill Police Chief Russ Van Alstyne figures it's nobody's business--until a neighbor finds the butchered corpse of Mrs. Van Alstyne. To many, the murder is proof that the rumors about Russ and Episcopal priest Claire Fergusson are true. But nothing is as it seems. Martin's Press. One horrible murder. Two people destined for love or tragedy. Emotions explode in Millers Kill, where nothing is as it seems . . . and betrayal twists old friendships and evil waits inside quaint farmhouses. Russ Van Alstyne figures his wife kicking him out of their house is nobody's business but his own. Until a neighbor pays a friendly visit to Linda Van Alstyne and finds the woman's body, gruesomely butchered, on the kitchen floor. To the state police, it's an open-and-shut case of a disaffected husband silencing his wife and putting a stop to the murder investigation he controls. To the townspeople, it's proof that the whispered gossip about the police chief and the priest was true. To the powers-that-be in the church hierarchy, it's a chance to control their wayward cleric once and for all. Russ and Clare must struggle against the reach of the law, the authority of the church, and their own guilty hearts.