Russ van Alstyne, the recently retired police chief of Millers Kill, and his wife, Clare Fergusson, an Episcopal priest, are spending their first Christmas with their baby son Ethan. A retired police chief and a minister. That sounds like a peaceful, law abiding couple, doesn’t it? Wrong. Russ misses his police work and Clare is involved in every situation where she believes help is needed. So when white supremacists toss inflammatory pamphlets from a float in the local Christmas parade, a fight breaks out and, of course, Russ is in the middle of the struggle while Clare befriends Meghan, the wife of one of the attackers.

Hoping to change her mind, Clare develops a relationship with Meghan and is drawn into the world of the white supremacists who have formed a militia in the nearby Adirondack Park. Officer Hadley Knox, who still sees Russ as the chief, asks him to help locate Kevin Flynn. He, her former partner and lover, went undercover in a supremacist encampment in the forest and is now missing.. Aided by a Native American forest ranger and a lawyer, Clare, Russ and Hadley find themselves in the middle of a dangerous terrorist conspiracy.

The plot of At Midnight Comes the Cry is ripped from today’s headlines, terrifying and all too real. Julia Spencer-Fleming has delivered a chilling look at the differences that break us apart while Clare and Russ show us how to work together. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Julia Spencer-Fleming for this ARC.