[Quaker Midwife Mystery 01] • Delivering the Truth

Quaker midwife Rose Carroll hears secrets and keeps confidences as she attends births of the rich and poor alike in an 1888 Massachusetts mill town. When the town's world-famed carriage industry is threatened by the work of an arsonist, and a carriage factory owner's adult son is stabbed to death with Rose's own knitting needle, she is drawn into solving the mystery. Things get dicey after the same owner's mistress is also murdered, leaving her one-week-old baby without a mother. The Quaker poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier helps Rose by lending words of advice and support. While struggling with being less than the perfect Friend, Rose draws on her strengths as a counselor and problem solver to bring two murderers to justice before they destroy the town's carriage industry and the people who run it.

Praise:

"A highly competent mystery."-Kirkus Reviews

"Edith Maxwell makes 1880s New England come alive through her own familiarity with the Quaker life and her home town. Rose Carroll is a richly crafted and appealing sleuth. A terrific historical read."-Rhys Bowen, New York Timesbestselling author of Molly Murphy and Royal Spyness historical mystery series

"Maxwell introduces a fascinating new heroine with her Quaker midwife Rose Carroll."-VICTORIA THOMPSON, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MURDER ON ST. NICHOLAS AVE

"The historical setting is redolent and delicious, the townspeople engaging, and the plot a proper puzzle, but it's Rose Carroll - midwife, Quaker, sleuth - who captivates in this irresistible series debut."-Catriona McPherson, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity winning author of the Dandy Gilver series

"[Rose's] strong personality combined with the author's distinctive voice and vivid writing style transported me instantly to another time and place."-KATHY LYNN EMERSON, MALICE DOMESTIC 2014 GUEST OF HONOR AND AUTHOR OF HOW TO WRITE KILLER HISTORICAL MYSTERIES, MURDER IN THE QUEEN'S WARDROBE, AND THE DIANA SPAULDING 1888 MYSTERIES"