In his first book in a new mystery series, Rev. Bohm has created a likable character, Pastor Lou, and a town full of eccentrics and church ladies that would people almost any house of worship. The first line of Testing the Spirits sets the tone for the antics that follow: "Maybe I shouldn't have worn my clergy collar." This is our first glimpse of Pastor Lou as he extends the hand of Christian fellowship to Larch, the proprietress of the Tree of Life, a New Age shop that just opened down the hill from the church. Soon Pastor Lou finds himself up to his elbows in controversy with an Ouija board experiment in a youth group meeting, a morning barroom encounter, and a congregational move to have him removed.

Plus, Pastor Lou and the local police chief investigate mysterious graffiti at the church and the Tree of Life and find drugs in the woods near the church. Through it all, Pastor Lou shows good humor and true understanding of what loving his neighbors means. For instance, when he gets his youth group to clean off not only the graffiti at the church but at the New Age shop, he enlists the help of the local Baptist church as well.

I really liked Pastor Lou. He had me laughing and nodding my head because I've heard much of the same dialogue from local church members here in North Dakota as in Bohm's Pennsylvania. Yet it was his acceptance of diversity and new ideas that really won my heart. How many pastors do you know who would extend a community welcome to a New Age shop owner?

Move over Garrison Geillor, R. K. Bohm has created a wonderful rural community full of Lutherans that will win your heart and tickle your funny bone. Rev. Bohm's next book is a locked room mystery. I just can't wait.