First published 1996
Hannah Trevor defies the conventions that bind other women in Rufford, Maine. As the town's midwife, she knows the intimate struggles of neighbors still healing from the Revolutionary War. When brutal winter arrives, it brings horror with it. A young wife and mother lies raped and murdered in her own home. Before dying, the victim wrote a letter naming her three attackers. One of the accused men is Daniel Josselyn, a wealthy war veteran who fathered Hannah's illegitimate daughter. Hannah joins her friend Will Quaid, the local constable, to investigate the crime. She must navigate between her personal history with Daniel and her commitment to justice for the murdered woman. The case forces Hannah to confront the violence that lurks beneath her small town's surface, testing both her courage and her bonds with those she loves.
Genres: romance, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Maine, Rufford
Period: Revolutionary War
307 pages · Hardcover · Avon Books
Content warnings: rape, violence