Win a copy of Julia Spencer Fleming's One Was a Soldier

Back in the day my publisher asked me if I would blurb a book called In the Bleak Midwinterby Julia Spencer-Fleming. I thought it was fantastic - and I obviously wan't the only one.  It went on to gather starred reviews and awards.

One character had lost a sibling to colon cancer at 25.  Reading that gave me pause.  So many of us write from life - and I knew that colon cancer that young probably had a genetic link. I got Julia's email address and sent her a note saying if that was based on herself, she should probably be screened.

It turned out to be wholly fictional - the suggestion of a nurse she knew - but Julia and I stayed in touch and hung out at Left Coast Crime and then Malice Domestic, two big fan conventions.  She was a ton of fun - what redhead isn't?

Since then she has steadily built a following with:  A Fountain Filled With Blood, Out of the Deep I Cry, To Darkness and to Death, All Mortal Flesh and I Shall Not Want.  All feature the Rev. Clare Fergusson who has a tumultuous relationship with Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne.



Now comes One Was a Soldier

What it's about
On a warm September evening in the Millers Kill community center, five veterans sit down in rickety chairs to try to make sense of their experiences in Iraq. What they will find is murder, conspiracy, and the unbreakable ties that bind them to one other and their small Adirondack town.

The Rev. Clare Fergusson wants to forget the things she saw as a combat helicopter pilot and concentrate on her relationship with Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne. MP Eric McCrea needs to control the explosive anger threatening his job as a police officer. Will Ellis, high school track star, faces the reality of life as a double amputee. Orthopedist Trip Stillman is denying the extent of his traumatic brain injury. And bookkeeper Tally McNabb wrestles with guilt over the in-country affair that may derail her marriage.

But coming home is harder than it looks. One vet will struggle with drugs and alcohol. One will lose his family and friends. One will die.

Since their first meeting, Russ and Clare's bond has been tried, torn, and forged by adversity. But when he rules the veteran's death a suicide, she violently rejects his verdict, drawing the surviving vets into an unorthodox investigation that threatens jobs, relationships, and her own future with Russ. As the days cool and the nights grow longer, they will uncover a trail of deceit that runs from their tiny town to the upper ranks of the U.S. Army, and from the waters of the Millers Kill to the unforgiving streets of Baghdad.

Praise
“Spencer-Fleming's most ambitious book yet - think The Best Years of Our Lives with corpses....fans will continue to be impressed by her resourceful determination never to tell the same story twice.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Spencer-Fleming explores a serious societal issue - the reentry problems of soldiers home from combat... while concocting an an absolutely irresistible combination of crime fiction and romance...this is a surefire winner. This series, as intelligent as it is enthralling, just keeps getting better.”
—Booklist

You can win one of three ARCs!
Just leave a comment below as well as a way to get hold of you if you win.