Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, where you can learn more about what makes them tick. Let’s see who we have today.

What is your name?
– – My name is Rose Margaret Carroll.

How old are you?
– – I was born in 1862, so I am now in my mid-twenties

What is your profession?
– – I am proud to say I am a midwife.

Do you have a significant other?
– – Yes, happily so.

What is his name?
– – David Chase Dodge, of Newburyport

What is his profession?
– – Physician. He practices out of Anna Jaques Hospital.

Any children?
– – Not yet, but we hope to start a family after we are married.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
– – Only my late sister, Harriet.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
– – A yellow kitchen cat named Christabel, who is an excellent mouser.

What town do you live in?
– – I reside in the bustling mill town of Amesbury, in the northeast corner of Massachusetts. Our town is also famed internationally for its carriage industry.

Do you rent or own?
– – I am fortunate to have the use of the parlor as a bedroom/office in my brother-in-law’s home, where his five children also live

What is your favorite spot in your house?
– – My room at the front of the house. It receives copious sunshine in the morning hours. But I also enjoy time in the kitchen, cooking with my older niece, Faith, and eating with the family.

Who is your best friend?
– – That would be the delightfully eccentric Bertie Winslow, postmistress of our fair town.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
– – I have discovered something of a talent for sorting out the complex strands of several murders over the past year.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
– – Detective Kevin Donovan has come to appreciate my talents and we often talk through a case.

Favorite meal?
– – I am partial to a nice roast lamb with new potatoes and freshly shelled peas with butter. Of course, at this time of year in New England we are eating the end of the stored potatoes and the only greens available are the wild ramps.

Favorite dessert?
– – Blueberry grunt when the berries are in season, particularly with fresh cream.

Favorite hobby?
– – I have heard this word used of late. I, of course, am skilled at knitting and needlework, as is anyone of the female persuasion, but they aren’t particularly enjoyable pastimes for me. I suppose I like reading novels the best for relaxation and as a way to explore the human condition.

Favorite vacation spot?
– – I am rarely free from obligations, but I do enjoy vacating to the shores of Lake Gardner here in Amesbury or to Salisbury Beach on the Atlantic, only ten miles from here.

Favorite color?
– – As a member of the Society of Friends, we do not indulge in brightly colored clothing. I confess to being partial to a rich deep rose color, as befits someone with my name!

Favorite author?
– – Louisa Alcott, may her released soul rest in peace, has such an entertaining way with words. My middle name is after Margaret Fuller, who was a courageous journalist and an advocate for women’s rights, so I am partial to her scribing, as well.

Favorite sports team?
– – Does thee mean for athletic events? I follow the games of the Boston Red Stockings in the newspapers, but I have never seen them play.

Movies or Broadway?
– – I do not know this word “movie.” I have heard reference to the New York theater district as “Broadway.” I have not had occasion to visit that busy far away city.

Are you a morning or a night person?
– – As a midwife I have to be some of both. When I am called to a birth, it might be at three o’clock in the morning or ten o’clock at night. I suppose by nature I prefer to awaken early and get a start on my day.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
– – I will help Faith with preparing the breakfast porridge and the lunch pails for the family. Once they are all off to work and school, I straighten my room, attend to paperwork, and usually see two or three clients for antenatal visits. After a midday meal, I might make a home visit to a woman near her term, or check on a postpartum mother and baby. Of course, when I am summoned to a woman in labor, any regularity in my schedule flies out the window. First labors can last as long as two full days, and sometimes subsequent births take place in as little as two or three hours. But I am ready for whatever confronts me.

Might I express my appreciation for these thought-provoking questions?
— I would be most pleased to request of my author that she mail a copy of the new book to one commenter here today. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends April 14, 2018. Good luck everyone!

You can read about Rose in Turning The Tide, the third book in the “Quaker Midwife” mystery series. The first book in the series is Delivering the Truth.

A suffragist is murdered in Quaker midwife Rose Carroll’s Massachusetts town

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. When Quaker midwife Rose Carroll finds the body of the group’s local organizer the next morning, she can’t help but wonder who could have committed the murder.

Rose quickly discovers several people who have motives. The victim had planned to leave her controlling husband, and a recent promotion had cost a male colleague his job. She had also recently spurned a fellow suffragist’s affections. After Rose’s own life is threatened, identifying the killer takes on a personal sense of urgency.

Purchase Link
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About the author
Agatha- and Macavity-nominated author Edith Maxwell writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. Called to Justice, Maxwell’s second Quaker Midwife mystery, is nominated for a 2018 Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel. As Maddie Day she writes the popular Country Store Mysteries and the new Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries.

Maxwell is president of Sisters in Crime New England and lives north of Boston with her beau, two elderly cats, and an impressive array of garden statuary. She blogs at Wicked Cozy Authors, Killer Characters, and with the Midnight Ink authors. Read about all her personalities and her work at edithmaxwell.com.

All comments are welcomed.