“And thanks to thee, Rose,” Frederick said in a quiet voice. “Dorothy told me of both thy bravery and thy commitment to thy laboring client, criminal though she was. Harriet would have been proud.”
What a welcome change in his demeanor. I prayed it would last and also that we wouldn’t ever smell alcohol on his breath again. Perhaps starting a Find Frederick a Wife project would be a good effort to begin, too.
“Indeed she would have,” Mother added with a soft smile.
“I was only doing my job,” I protested. David squeezed my hand and I remembered what I wanted to tell him. “David, I don’t know if thee heard Hilarius Bauer is innocent of all charges. He said Oscar did hire him to kill Rowena. When he saw her, he realized he couldn’t do the deed, and then saw Elbridge murder her right before his eyes.”
“I’m not surprised to hear that Bauer had too big a heart to be a murderer. I’ll speak to Father. Perhaps he can find more permanent employment for the man.”
“I do hope so,” I said. “His mother is quite ill, and he needs the income. Zula Goodwin is innocent, too.” I addressed Bertie and Mother.
“Good,” Mother said. “The movement didn’t need a stain on one of its active members.” She dug into her pocket, drawing out a folded letter. “I almost forgot, Allan wrote to thee, Rose. And he added a note to me about Elbridge Osgood.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And?”
“Delilah had told us her distant cousin had once been expelled from the cricket league for whacking a fellow player with the bat. He apparently had no control at all over his temper.”
“The authorities will be controlling the temper now, and we’ll all be safer for it, by gum,” Bertie said.
“A truer statement I have never heard,” I said. I opened the note from my father, which simply wished me a happy birthday and expressed his love for me. I folded it with eyes once again full, gazing around the table at my family, my beau, my best friend, my apprentice. How fortunate I was, and how lucky, truly.
“I have good news, too,” Faith said. “My article on the Amesbury suffragists’ demonstration will be published in the Boston Evening Transcript.”
“Faith, that’s wonderful!” Annie clapped her hands.
“Yes, the reporter we met thought my piece was well done and convinced his editor to include it. They’re going to pay me for it, too.”
I smiled at Faith’s glowing face. “I’m delighted for thee, sweet Faith.”
“And there’s more. The Amesbury and Salisbury Villager wants to hire me. As a reporter! Just as thee used to be, Father.”
I’d forgotten Frederick had worked as a reporter in his younger days before he became a teacher.
A beaming Frederick slung his arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Thee is a chip off the old block, as they say.”
David stood. “I’d like to propose a toast. Well, a tea toast.” He raised his teacup. “To justice, to love, and to prosperity among us, whatever form it might take.”
“And peace among us, too,” Bertie added.
Everyone sipped their agreement. I’d be happy to drink tea in support of justice, love, and prosperity for the rest of my life. And above all to peace.
Acknowledgments
Thanks once again to editors Amy Glaser and Nicole Nugent and the entire Midnight Ink crew for publishing this series. I’m so pleased to have Greg Newbold creating the art for the gorgeous covers.
I’m grateful to author Tiger Wiseman for again opening her Vermont home for a writer’s retreat in the summer of 2016. I also wrote furiously for a weekend at the Wicked Cozy Authors annual retreat. These awesome authors—Jessie Crockett/Jessica Estevao, Julie Hennrikus/Julianne Holmes, Sherry Harris, Liz Mugavero/Cate Conte, and Barbara Ross—are the best support group ever.
Rose’s mother, Dorothy Henderson Carroll, is named for my paternal grandmother, Dorothy Henderson Maxwell, who was born only a few years after this book takes place. Midwife and mystery fan extraordinaire Risa Rispoli again vetted the birthing details in the book.
Independent editor Ramona DeFelice Long once again gave the book a close edit, and it’s a much better book for her insightful comments and questions. She reminded me, after I sent her a manuscript with only one midwifery-related scene, that part of the allure of this series is Rose being a midwife, not just an amateur sleuth. Oops. I fixed that right away. Ramona also hosts a virtual writing champions group every day at seven a.m. on Facebook. That hour of uninterrupted writing every morning, with a dozen other writers scattered all over the country doing the same, is one of my most productive creative times. Thanks, O Champion of the Writing Champions! In addition, I hied off with Ramona, KB Inglee, and author Kimberly Gray to a convent retreat house for some intensive writing, where I polished this book and started another.
The character Frannie Eisenman is a real person in the current era. She won the right to name a character at the Super Sawyer Fund auction, an auction to raise money for a little boy undergoing leukemia treatments. Hope you like your 1888 self, Fran! Ruby Bracken was also a real person, the mother of Moishe Ragieme, who was the high bidder on my naming rights item in the 2015 Rags to Runway auction, which benefits a school in Guatemala. Jasmine is named for the granddaughter of yet another generous charity bidder, Jane
Harris-Fale for Opportunity Works. And the name Emily Hersey was a Rubbish to Runway auction winner, won in 2016 by Lisa Losh. The real Emily, Lisa’s grandmother, was a long-time Amesbury resident living on Market Street who played piano and raised six children.
Thanks again to Allan Hutchison-Maxwell for reading the manuscript and offering his valuable editorial comments, and to his wonderful fiancée, Alison Russell—historians both—for doing the same.
My Amesbury Quaker family, my Sisters in Crime family, my good friends, my family by blood, my partner Hugh—I love you all and thank you, always, for your support.
I appreciate readers and librarians more than I can express. If you like my stories (please also check out my mysteries written as Maddie Day), a brief review on Amazon or Goodreads really helps an author—as does telling your friends.
About the Author
Edith Maxwell (Amesbury, MA) is the president of Sisters in Crime New England, a member of Mystery Writers of America, and a longtime member of the Society of Friends. She is also the author of the Local Foods Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries, and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries (the last two written as Maddie Day). You can find her at edithmaxwell.com and blogging at wickedcozy authors.com, killercharacters.com, and midnightwritersblogspot.com.
Delivering the Truth
(Book 1 in the Quaker Midwife Mystery series)
Edith Maxwell
For Quaker midwife Rose Carroll, life in Amesbury, Massachusetts, provides equal measures of joy and tribulation. She delights in attending to the needs of mothers and newborns even as she mourns the recent death of her sister. Likewise, Rose enjoys the giddy feelings that come from being courted by a handsome doctor, but a suspicious fire and two murders leave her fearing for the well-being of her loved ones.
Driven by her desire for safety and justice, Rose Carroll begins asking questions related to the crimes. Consulting with her friends and neighbors—including the famous Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier—Rose draws on her strengths as a counselor and problem solver in trying to bring the perpetrators to light.
978-0-7387-4752-1, 312 pp., 5¼ x 8
Called to Justice
(Book 2 in the Quaker Midwife Mystery series)
Edith Maxwell
When Hannah Breed confides to midwife Rose Carroll that she’s pregnant out of wedlock, Rose promises to help her through the pregnancy and figure out a way to break the news to her family. But that night, amid the noise and revelry of the Independence Day fireworks, Hannah is found shot dead.
After a former slave and fe
llow Quaker is accused of the murder, Rose delves into the crime, convinced of the man’s innocence. An ill-mannered mill manager, an Irish immigrant, and the victim’s young boyfriend come under suspicion even as Rose’s future with her handsome doctor suitor becomes unsure. Rose continues to deliver babies and listen to secrets, finally focusing in on the culprit only to be threatened herself.
978-0-7387-5032-3, 312 pp., 5¼ x 8
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