BY DALE MCGARRIGLE

OF THE NEWS STAFF

I SHALL NOT WANT, by Julia Spencer-Fleming, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 2008, hardcover, 322 pages, $24.95.

The Buxton author returns with the sixth book in her Clare Fergusson-Russ Van Alstyne mystery series.

While Julia Spencer-Fleming first and foremost spins a knotty mystery, she also has created an intriguing soap opera in the small upstate New York town of Millers Kill.

For the first five books in this series, Episcopal priest Clare, who’s married to God, and Millers Kill Police Chief Russ, who’s just plain married, have fought their obvious attraction to each other.

Russ’ wife, Linda, was killed in the last novel, “All Mortal Flesh,” which should have cleared the way for the star-crossed lovers. Instead, Russ, feeling grief and guilt over Linda’s death, has pulled away from Clare. So Clare throws herself into her parish and National Guard work to help her forget.

Much of “I Shall Not Want” is told from the viewpoint of Hadley Knox, who brings her two kids from California and moves in with her grandfather to start a new life. With “prison guard” on her resume, Hadley soon joins the Millers Kill police force, just in time to help solve a series of baffling murders (see, it’s a mystery).

Also in the mix are a group of illegal immigrant farm workers, Latino drug runners and a local family of sheep farmers-ne’er-do-wells. Who did it? Well, they’re all pretty good suspects.

In the end, Clare and Russ end up closer, although fate throws a monkey wrench into their affairs again. “I Shall Not Want” is another winner from Julia Spencer-Fleming.

BY DALE MCGARRIGLE

OF THE NEWS STAFF

HUNTING THE KING, by Peter Clenott, 2008, Kunati, Largo, Fla., hardcover, 375 pages, $24.95.

The latest fiction by Portland native Peter Clenott, a veteran novelist and screenwriter, is built on sacred ground.

At its heart, “Hunting the King” is about several groups’ efforts to find the burial site of Jesus, all for different reasons.

The true believer in all this is Dr. Molly O’Dwyer. A faithful Catholic and internationally known archaeologist, Molly still feels an unexplainable connection to Hannaniah, thought by some (including Molly) to be the daughter of Jesus.

Psychologically scarred by her mother’s death in a fire while Molly was still a young girl, she focuses on her career, with an obsession to find the truth of Hannaniah’s story.

With other experts interested in Hannaniah turning up dead, Molly soon is recruited by a joint Polish-Vatican expedition to find the burial sites of Hannaniah and others in her immediate family, perhaps including Jesus.

A trail that began in Egypt and led to Afghanistan now brings Molly to war-torn Iraq, as she and her fellow seekers attempt to find Hannaniah’s final resting place before other interested parties, including Americans, radical Muslims and Israelis. Before the novel concludes, her group ends up in contact, and conflict, with all of the others.

Clenott, a Bowdoin College graduate now living in Massachusetts, has woven an exciting international tapestry, full of history and politics. “Hunting the King” is a crowning achievement for the novelist.

BY JACK WILDE

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

GIVE A GOAT by Jan West Schrock; Tilbury House Publishers, Gardiner, Maine, 2008; large format hardcover, $16.95.

“Give a Goat,” by Jan West Schrock and illustrated by Aileen Darragh is a short picture book about a fifth-grade class that is cooped up inside its school during a rainstorm. As the children grow restless, the teacher, Mrs. Rowell, decides to read them a book about a girl who sends a goat to Africa to help a poor family eat, make money and receive an education.

After the children hear this story, they are inspired to send a goat of their own to Africa to help a needy family. They decide to start selling snacks to teachers and holding bake sales. They eventually raise more than they bargained for.

When they’re done collecting money, they have enough to pay for a goat, some chickens and some ducks. The children are proud of their accomplishment and can’t wait to hear their next story.

I thought this book was good for ages 6 or 7, but for a more experienced reader, it would be pretty dull. The wording is simple, and the pictures make it easy to understand, although some of them were a little misleading.

Jan West Schrock of Westbrook has been a schoolteacher, a special-needs teacher, and an administrator and has lived overseas. She is a senior adviser to Heifer International, a charitable organization.

Jack Wilde is a senior at Mount View High School in Thorndike. He may be reached on AOL Instant Messenger at PntBallAddict09.