This is a well-plotted, well-paced mystery with great character development and one terrific dog. It's full of twists and turns that the main character, Millie Dickens, handles with intelligence, intuition, grit, and resolve. That doesn't mean Millie is perfect—she's got big problems like the rest of us. But she's a strong female protagonist and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Six months after the unexpected death of her husband, Carmel-by-the-Sea’s deputy chief of police, Millie Dickens is still trying to come to terms with her loss.After learning that her husband was falsely identified as the chief investigating officer for a botched police investigation into a double murder that took place the year before, she sets aside her grief to revisit the investigation on behalf of the victims’ son.While pursuing her quest, Millie begins to suspect that her husband’s death was no accident. She discovers he had been working undercover to expose a tangled web of corruption, drug-smuggling, and human trafficking…
This book is based on the real-life diaries of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer in very early America. Throughout US history, her diaries have been used as brilliant primary source material for any number of cultural inquiries.
This particular novel of historical fiction tells the story of Martha's involvement in examining a body that's been entombed in the ice of the Kennebec River. Her determination of the cause of death is undermined by a relatively new doctor in the community and Martha is forced to defend herself and her findings as tensions mount against her.
It does not help that the man in the ice is rumored to be a rapist. And it just so happens that Martha documented the rape victim's account of the attack in her diary.
You'll have to read the book to learn what happens…I highly recommend it!
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.
"Fans of Outlander’s Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon’s Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive."—The Washington Post
"Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine." —People Magazine
The book starts with the discovery of an abandoned baby on the steps of a church on a frigid winter's night. The priest who finds the baby is a newcomer to town and quickly finds herself embroiled in the quest to find the baby's mother and father.
The characters in this novel are exceptionally well-developed. Not only do the main characters feel as real as though they stepped right from the pages, but the minor characters do, too.
The setting is raw and fierce—upstate New York in the wintertime. The reader can feel the wind, the snow, and the biting cold.
The plot is masterful. There are twists and turns galore, and the writer doesn't give the main characters much slack. They face constant pushback, unrelenting scrutiny, and physical danger as they try to unravel the threads of the mystery.
It's a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and newly-ordained Clare Fergusson is on thin ice as the first female priest of its small Episcopal church. The ancient regime running the parish covertly demands that she prove herself as a leader. Her blunt manner, honed by eight years as an Army chaplain, is meeting with a chilly reception from some members of her congregation. Chief of Police Russ Van Alstyne, in particular, doesn't know what to make of her. When a newborn baby is abandoned and a young mother is brutally murdered, Clare has…
September, 1821. Nine souls are trapped inside the Cape May Lighthouse as a treacherous storm ravages the New Jersey coast with punishing winds and rising waters … but the tempest escalating among those cut off from civilization may be even more lethal.
Deputy Sheriff George Moore, a newcomer to Cape May, knows nothing of the dark histories of the eight other people confined with him. When the first victim falls, everyone is left reeling. But was the death natural or was it a cold-blooded murder?
As the relentless march of death claims more victims, George must unravel the malevolent secrets swirling around him before it’s too late.
Step into the storm of the century as the ill-fated men and women in the lighthouse face the threatening sea, stifling darkness, and the sinister evil destroying them one by one.
