Judge Thee Not

Rose Carroll's marriage plans are moving at a glacial pace, but the midwife has several patients that can take her mind off her upcoming (she hopes) marriage. In Judge Thee Not by Edith Maxwell, among Rose's patients is the very young second wife of the local banker Irvin Barclay. (Judge Thee Not will be released by Beyond the Page Publishing on September 10.)

The trouble begins with one of Rose's close friends. This friends leads an unconventional lifestyle and there are some in the community who speak boldly about her in negative terms. Bertie Winslow, the postmistress, cohabitates with another woman and tongues are wagging, especially from the mean-spirited and very judgmental Mrs. Mayme Settle. With no room to judge others, rumor has it her son impregnated the gardener's daughter and abandoned her, She died in childbirth, but her child survived, and then there's her own unmarried daughter, who lives across the state far away from home  Mrs. Settle is especially rude to Jeanette Papka, who although blind, speaks several languages and works as a translater in the courts.

Despite having misgivings, Rose agrees to join the evening Ladies Circle being held at Mrs. Settle's home. The Circle was supposed to be knitting blankets for the Alms Farm, but when Rose arrives no one is knitting and everyone is enjoying tea and nibbling dainty sweets. There she watches Mrs. Settle humiliate her husband over a minor interruption in front of everyone.

The next day Mrs Settle is find dead in her bed under suspicious circumstances. While Rose's friend Detective Donovan is called in investigate, Mr. Barclay conveniently places Bertie near the home of Mrs. Settle the night she died.

Rose knows Bertie didn't kill Mrs. Settle and she hopes she can help Detective Donovan prove she didn't. There are plenty of other suspects, but Rose has too many pregnant women to deal with to do much investigating.

Another terrific Quaker Midwife Mystery. I am so happy Beyond the Page Publishing picked up this series and plans to continue it.

Charity's Burden

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Frightening parallels to today's fight for women's reproductive rights. Quaker midwife Rose Carroll tries to help women plan their children and space them out a little. In Charity's Burden by Edith Maxwell one of Charity's clients is in distress in what seems like an early miscarriage. Rose rushes to Charity Skells side but soon realizes she is in serious condition. (Charity's Burden will be release on April 8 by Midnight Ink and is available for pre-order.)

When the autopsy reveals Charity died from a perforated uterus that could have been as a result of a botched mechanical abortion or intentional murder, Rose is determined to discover the truth.

There are plenty of suspects including Charity's husband Ransom who has been known to keep company with a woman at his job. There are also two practitioners of herbal remedies for women who have less than stellar backgrounds. And one of Charity's cousins seems to be up to no good.

On the home front Rose's fiance David cannot seem to convince his mother to give her blessing for

their marriage. This has taken a toll on Rose, especially now as her young niece Faith is about to marry Zeb. She is thrilled for her niece, but quietly saddened because of her situation. That doesn't stop Rose from continuing her investigation.

When on a dark night, her carriage is forced off the road and she has to tramp back home in the dark, Rose begins to wonder whether she is on the right track in her investigation. Along with police detective Kevin Donovan, they try to unravel Charity's mysterious death.

Rose and the real women who performed midwife duties during this era were heroic women in a difficult time. Unfortunately the burden of birth control fell on women who were ill-equipped to deal with it. Another stellar book from Edith Maxwell.

Turning the Tide

It's 1880 and there is an election for President, but half the population cannot vote. This exciting historical mystery is superbly written and offers insights into a woman's life in the late 1800s. In Turning the Tide by Edith Maxwell Quaker midwife Rose Carroll is at her first meeting of the Amesbury Woman Suffrage Association.

To her surprise Elizabeth Cady Stanton is in attendance and the women are inspired to demonstrate on Election Day. The next morning on her way home from a delivery, Rose spots the body of the previous evening's keynote speaker Rowena Felch under a lilac bush. From the disarray in the dining room, it appears Mrs. Felch interrupted a robbery.

But the more she digs into it, the more Rose realizes it was murder. Rowena was a prominent attorney, one of the few women in Amesbury, and she wanted to continue her career. Her controlling husband wants her to stay at home and have children. Rowena had planned to leave him. A co-worker believes Rowena was promoted over him even though he was not competent.

Rose has some issues of her own. Her Quaker Meeting Group has decided if she marries someone from outside the faith, she will be
"read out of Meeting" meaning she will not be able to attend. Rose loves Dr. David Dodge who happens to worship in a Unitarian Church and she loves the fellowship of the Quaker meetings, but this makes her unsettled about her decision.

As she gets closer to finding the truth about Rowena's murder, her life is threatened and her livelihood is in jeopardy. She must continue to serve as a midwife and maybe place herself in difficult situations. Her dedication to delivering babies overrides her fear for her safety.

Looking forward to the next book in this series.

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Organic Gardening Can be Murder

Cam Flaherty has enough to worry about with the lack of rain on her farm, but the arrival of her wandering parents complicates her life immensely. In Mulch Ado About Murder by Edith Maxwell, Cam has decided to start some of her basil and lettuce seedlings at the hydroponic greenhouse called Seacoast Fresh.

When she arrives at the greenhouse she encounters protestors, among their numbers are her mother and some of Cam's own volunteers. Purists like the group believe organic foods should be grown in soil, not in solution.

When she enters the greenhouse, she finds it strangely empty with only the sounds of the whirring ventilation fans. As she wanders around looking for Nicole, she finds her unfortunately sprawled jackknifed over the vat with her head in the slurry.

To complicate matters it appears Cam's mother had been in the

greenhouse earlier in the morning and that she knew Nicole in the distant past. What is there connection? Cam is horrified to think that her mother might be involved in the murder. When her mother refuses to explain how  she knows Nicole, Cam is more worried that ever.

When Nicole's ex-husband or soon-to-be-ex husband Rudin Kingsbury shows up claiming he did not want a divorce from her, Cam worries more about her mother. It appears the suspect list is narrowing. With the help of her father, Cam tracks down the murderer.

I always enjoy Edith Maxwell's books and I liked this one, but I felt there were some unresolved issues at the end of the book. For more books by Edith Maxwell, click here. For one of my reviews on another Edith Maxwell book, click here.

Local Food Mysteries

The second book in the Local Foods Mystery series by Edith Maxwell features rookie farmer Cameron Flaherty mixed up in more than harvesting vegetables for locavores. Her Westbury, Massachusetts farm is hosting a Farm-to-Table dinner and all seems to be going smoothly until entrepreneur Irene Burr argues with everyone in sight.

She wants to purchase the Old Town Meeting Hall and turn it into a textile museum, but has met resistance from many of the old time residents. When she winds up dead on a neighboring farm, Cam turns amateur detective again. Naturally there are plenty of suspects - Irene's stepson Bobby Burr, mechanic Simone Koyama, custodian Wes Ames and farmer Howard Fisher.

Cam encounters other problems - a jealous boyfriend chef Jake

Ericsson and newfound attention from state police officer Pete Pappas. Trying to manage her crops and investigate the murder draws Cam further into the mystery. When she finds a threatening note then manages to lose it before she can show it to Pappas, she turns her focus back to her farm and the food shares she has to harvest for her cooperative.

One thing I have learned from this series is farming is not for the fainthearted or the lazy. Cam is up early harvesting, gathering, planting new seeds, composting and much more, as well as investigating. Considering she has only been a farmer for a year when she was a software engineer prior to the switch, she is holding her own. To me that was very left brain changing to right brain. I'm rooting for Cam to keep her locavores happy and get her organic farm certification. Wish I were nearby for the dozen fresh eggs!

The first book in the series is A Tine to Live, A Tine to Die.