In this suspenseful mystery by Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, a startling murder exposes dark dealings in a quiet New England town . . .When a talented student asks her to endorse his controversial thesis on race and language, linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau cautiously agrees to take up the cause—so long as no one at their small New England college finds out about the romantic bonds they’ve formed. But just days later she discovers the student’s b...

For Quaker midwife Rose Carroll, life in 1888 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 ask...

The winter of 1889 is harsh in Amesbury, Massachusetts, but it doesn't stop Quaker midwife Rose Carroll from making the rounds to her pregnant and postpartum mothers. When Charity Skells dies from an apparent early miscarriage, Rose wonders about the symptoms that don't match the stated cause of death. She learns that Charity's husband may be up to no good with a young woman whose mother appears to offer prohibited medical procedures. A disgraced physician in town does the same, while Char...

"The Stonecutter," a short story of middle-aged love gone terribly wrong, depicts librarian Eleanor and Portuguese stonecutter Fernando Andrade in an increasingly dark New England fall.

Excitement runs high during presidential election week in 1888. The Woman Suffrage Association plans a demonstration and movement leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton comes to town to rally the troops, one of whom is Quaker midwife Rose Carroll. But the next morning, Rose finds the dead body of the group's local organizer.Rose can't help wanting to know who committed the murder, and she quickly discovers several people who have motives. The victim had planned to leave her controlling husb...

Nominated for the 2017 Anthony Award for Best Anthology/CollectionBestselling novelists David Morrell, Alison Gaylin and Elaine Viets headline a new anthology of 22 tales exploring the unique aura of mystery of New Orleans and the surrounding bayou country.BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is published in conjunction with Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, which is being held in New Orleans in 2016. As with the convention itself, the anthology spreads a broad canop...

No story, no paycheck. In this short story, crime fiction writer Dorothy finally hits on an idea for murder for her next story, which turns out to be fatal in real life, too.The story originally appeared under the pen name Tace Baker in Burning Bridges: A Renegade Fiction Anthology.

In this short story, Yvonne Maupin is delighted when she meets a publisher interested in her literary novel, Souls by the Bay. When the deal goes sour, and she learns Johnny Sorbetto is a literary thief, she plots and carries out a satisfying revenge.Editor and author Chris Roerden said the story, "is a perfect short story, from the significant opening line to the end. Love it!"The story was originally published in Kings River Life Magazine.

Jody and Katie. Identical twins but so different. They share the same blood, the same DNA, but not the same fingerprints, ambition, or attachment to family. Which turns out to be lethal in the end. In this short story, Katie's devotion to family along with her addiction issues prove to be an even worse problem for her sister.

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 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...

In this short story, software engineer Jackie Rousseau loses her job to outsourcing, as do several others in her group. Their manager doesn't seem to care. Jackie manages to stay afloat financially but she sees the damage the reduction in force wreaks on her friends' lives. Art needs to support a family and an ill wife. Raymond seems to be coping and then goes off the deep end. Jackie, a gardener when she's not writing code, decides to deliver a dose of revenge.This story was first...

In the second Lauren Rousseau Mystery by Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, a grisly murder stirs up long-buried secrets surrounding the disappearance and death of Lauren’s father . . .As a bitter controversy rages over a secretive local land trust in her small New England town, linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau is not wholly surprised when she stumbles upon the dead body of one of the trust’s key members, his throat neatly slit from ear to ear. The onl...