Called to Justice - A Guest Post, Review, & Giveaway

My Favorite Research Books 

By Edith Maxwell

Writing any mystery demands a portion of research, but authoring a book set in the past requires lots more. I have to know how people dressed, right down to their underwear. How they spoke, traveled, and ate. What police procedures were, and which investigative techniques weren’t yet developed. All about midwifery, childbirth, and medicine. And because some of my main characters are Quakers, more details about that faith and how they lived and worshipped, including the real John Greenleaf Whittier, a supporting personality in the series.

So here are some of my favorite historical reference books, the ones I keep close at hand to check as I'm writing.

How to Be a Victorian: a Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victoran Life from Ruth Goodman, 2013.

Everyday Life in the 1800s by Marc McCutcheon, 1993.

The Massachusetts Police Officer: a Manual for Sheriffs, Constables, Police, and Other Civil Officers, 1891.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. Consumer's Guide for 1894.

Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalogue and Buyers' Guide, 1895.

Miss Parloa's New Cook Book and Marketing Guide, 1880.

A System of Midwifery, Including the Diseases of Pregnancy and the Puerperal State, by William Leishman, 1879.

John Greenleaf Whittier Biography, by Roland H. Woodwell, 1985.

 

That's it for now. Readers: do you have any fabulous late Victorian research sources? Please share!


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Book blurb:

Quaker midwife Rose Carroll is enjoying the 1888 Independence Day evening fireworks with her beau when a teenaged Quaker mill girl is found shot dead. After a former slave and fellow 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 figuring out one criminal―only to be threatened by the murderer, with three lives at stake. Can she rescue herself, a baby, and her elderly midwifery teacher in time?

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Bio:

National best-selling author Edith Maxwell is a 2017 double Agatha Award nominee for her historical mystery Delivering the Truth and her short story, “The Mayor and the Midwife.” She writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and the Local Foods Mysteries; as Maddie Day she writes the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. Her award-winning short crime fiction has appeared in many juried anthologies, and she is honored to served as President of Sisters in Crime New England.

A fourth-generation Californian and former tech writer, farmer, and doula, Maxwell now writes, cooks, gardens, and wastes time as a Facebook addict north of Boston with her beau and three cats. She blogs at WickedCozyAuthors.com, Killer Characters, and with the Midnight Ink authors. Find her at www.edithmaxwell.com and elsewhere.


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Review

CALLED TO JUSTICE by Edith Maxwell

The Second Quaker Midwife Mystery

Rose Carroll is pleased to celebrate the one hundred-and-twelfth birthday of the United States of America, especially as she will be enjoying the town festivities with her beau, Doctor David Dodge.

During the fireworks Rose and David hear someone shouting for a doctor and rush to find a young woman has been shot. Was it an accident, a reckless shooting in celebration of the nation's birthday, or did someone murder the girl? Performing her duties as a midwife and continuing her romance with the good doctor, Rose also seeks justice both for the pregnant girl who was killed and for her fellow Quaker and former slave who is accused of the crime.

It's always a pleasure to travel back in time with Edith Maxwell. Her authenticity and attention to detail make reading her Quaker Midwife Mystery series as good as having a time machine. Although CALLED TO JUSTICE is a historical mystery, it tackles issues we continue to face today such as racism, sexual assault, and our basic insecurities when it comes to love. While progress has been made to some degree, the struggle is much the same today as it was for Rose and her companions.

CALLED TO JUSTICE is an intricate, heartfelt mystery. The author guides us down multiple avenues, developing characters and motives, in order to work out the truth and find justice. By doing so Maxwell enhances the setting, detailing life as it was and making it more real. Edith Maxwell brings the late 1800s to life with wonderful characters, a finely wrought mystery, and a modern sensibility.

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