Midwifes Tale

In the tradition of Arianna Franklin and C. J. Sansom comes Samuel Thomass remarkable debut, The Midwifes Tale

It is 1644, and Parliaments armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridgets friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.

Bridget joins forces with Martha Hawkins, a servant whos far more skilled with a knife than any respectable woman ought to be. To save Esther from the stake, they must dodge rebel artillery, confront a murderous figure from Marthas past, and capture a brutal killer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. The investigation takes Bridget and Martha from the homes of the citys most powerful families to the alleyways of its poorest neighborhoods. As they delve into the life of Esthers murdered husband, they discover that his ostentatious Puritanism hid a deeply sinister secret life, and that far too often tyranny and treason go hand in hand.

“A determined midwife must solve a murder to save a friend from a horrible end. . . . Historian Thomas fiction debut is packed with fascinating information about a midwifes skills and life during the English civil war. The ingenious, fast-paced mystery is a bonus.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Everything rings true in historian Thomass superb first mystery. . . . Authentic details of life in 17th-century York complement the whodunits intelligently concealed clues.”—Publishers Weekly