Charity’s Burden Cover Reveal

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News Flash: Ruth Ann is our winner! Congratulations, Ruth Ann. Please check your email.

Edith here, loving full summer north of Boston, with a cover reveal and a giveaway!

I am pretty sure I announced here that my Quaker Midwife Mysteries had been renewed for two more books (a total of five – fingers crossed for even more). If not, now you know! I am delighted, of course, because I love writing these historical mysteries set right here in my town in the late 1800s.

Turning the TideBook three, Turning the Tide, came out in April and is getting lots of awesome press, including:

“Wonderful storyteller…mystery was complex…very exciting with a surprising ending” – Dollycas’s Thoughts

“Masterfully weaves a complex mystery…clever and stimulating novel…brings this era to life…many surprises and twists” – Open Book Society

And now book four is in labor! Charity’s Burden has an awesome cover, once again created by the talented Greg Newbold, and the book is already up for preorder. Here’s the cover blurb:

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 diagnosis. She learns that Charity’s husband may be up to no good with a young woman whose mother appears to offer illegal abortions. A disgraced physician in town does the same, and Charity’s cousin seems to have a nefarious agenda. With several suspects emerging, each with their own possible motives, Rose and police detective Kevin Donovan race against time to solve the case before another innocent life is taken.

And now – trumpets please – the cover!

Charity's Burden

I hope you like it as much as I do, especially the house and the buggy. (Yes, I wish she was wearing her gloves, shawl, and cloak, but ya can’t always get what ya want…)

Readers: Which of the four Quaker Midwife covers is your favorite, and why?

Quaker Midwife Mysteries 1-4

I’ll send a signed copy of either Called to Justice or Turning the Tide to one commenter – your choice!

 

Published by Edith Maxwell

Agatha Award -winning author Edith Maxwell writes the historical Quaker Midwife Mysteries (Beyond the Page) and short crime fiction. As Maddie Day she writes the Dot and Amelia Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries series, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the Cece Barton Mysteries (all from Kensington Publishing). She lives north of Boston in an antique house with her beau and cat Martin, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook.

80 Thoughts

  1. I like the first one best, because it tells its story in symbols–city scene seen through the (productive) body of a woman. In another context, the figure might seem disembodied, but here it’s mysterious and the title is punny. The bag is a medical bag, but also a mode of delivery that is for delivery. This clever cover made me pick up the book. Having picked up and read this book, I was hooked on the series.

  2. Charity’s Burden has to e my favorite. I love the wintery background.

  3. The cover for Delivering the Truth is my favorite. There is something mysterious about the medical bag and the body behind it that attracts me.

  4. I think the first: the bag is smaller in the second, missing in the third, and she is inappropriately dressed in the fourth.

      1. I’ve hung with first responders too long not to know they are ALWAYS prepared. I’m sure she carries more than just birthing tools in that bag.

  5. Congrats and I do like the buggy too! Overall, I like the first one. Even though I am glad we seem to be getting away from headless covers, there is something about the apron and doctor’s bag that makes me want to pick it up and see what it is all about. Historical garb, with such an attention grabber!

  6. LOVE this cover! Greg Newbold has done well by you (and us) for this whole series. It would be hard to choose my favorite cover – but I think it still has to be Delivering the Truth. Something about the mystery of the woman holding the black medical bag. Congratulations on signing up for two more Rose Carrolls. We’ll all have something to look forward to!

  7. I think they’re all wonderful, but the first is my favorite. It hit me today that each reveals a bit more about Rose–you see more of her face each time.

  9. I love this series so very much. Edith Maxwell’s research into midwifery, the Friends, and this historical era is wonderful. Each book leaves me anticipating the next one. Thanks for the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a book. If I am chosen, I would love Turning the Tide.

  10. Practical, realistic self: Rose should have her gloves on. Symbolic, continuity seeking self: Rose’s hands are a powerful image of her strength and dedication to her work, the immediacy of touch (clear in each of your descriptions of examination and delivery, Edith).
    As for cover preference, those that do not show Rose’s face. This preference feels related to the symbol of the bare hands — they tell me more about Rose than her face.
    Thank you for this wonderful continuing story.

  11. Delivering the Truth because it lets you fill in how Rose looks and what is going on around her, and the focus is on the medical bag. Love the series!

  14. I think for me it is a tie between Delivering the Truth and Called to Justice. I enjoy not seeing the characters on the cover in detail. I can use the author’s description and come up with my view of what they look like, lol. I agree, hard to see her standing there in the snow with no gloves at least, lol. Love all of them

  15. I absolutely adore your new cover! I think the cover of Turning the Tide is my favorite. It not only conveys the women’s suffrage theme, but it has a dark and foreboding background that hints at the trouble brewing. I also love the hand on the hip! Thank you so much for the chance to win!

  16. CHARITY’S BURDEN is the one I like best. Seeing her without gloves and shawl tells me she needs to get somewhere in a big hurry!

  18. Called to Justice is definitely my favorite, though Delivering the Truth is a close second. I like Called because it give a real sense of the time and place, and shows Rose looking to her future, either the immediately future or to the long-term.

    Edith, I love all your books, in all the series. You write the kind of books I so enjoy reading.

  19. Oh, I like them all! Charity’s Burden with the buggy and the snow scene really speaks to me. Having spent time in New England winters any trip through the snow is a burden. As Rose is taking a carriage she is traveling far and her lack of outerwear tells me she needs to move quickly (although I’m sure there are heavy blankets in the front of the carriage). Horses are not terribly surefooted on snowy and icy streets so even her faster than on foot mode of transportation puts her at risk. There’s a lot of urgency in this cover. I like it.

  20. The new one is a great cover, but I think I prefer the second one, myself. I think the fireworks in the background are the most fun.

  21. I think my favorite would have to be Turning the Tide because it deals with women’s suffrage and also hints at the mystery that occurs in the book. I really like the new cover as well though. Thanks for the chance to win!

  22. Loving this series and I can’t wait for the newest book. Love the winter scene with the buggy. I like buggies and horses. Thank you for the chance to win.

  23. I like how the covers progress and show more and more of Rose. The Delivering the Truth cover grabbed me from the very beginning, and it’s still one of my favorites, but now I am also really liking Charity’s Burden with the winter scene (maybe because it’s so hot here in Colorado!). I am so excited your contract has been renewed for more books in this wonderful series!

  25. My favorite is Charity’s Burden. I love all these books – it’s a great series and love the research you put into them. Thanks for a great series! Can’t wait to read this one!!

  28. There’s something about the way Rose is standing in Called to Justice that is so powerful. But I love them all! Congratulations, Edith!

  29. For some reason, Delivering the Truth stands out. Don’t know if I habe a specific reason. Just jumped out at me.

  30. This is so kind of you! It’s been so hot this summer & I need a cool read with inspiration to keep me going.

  32. Congrats! I love the new cover, possibly because the snow and colors bring light into events. While I like all of the covers, and think all are appropriate to their events…I have to go with Charity’s burden. The air of suspense in Rose’s expression, the snow and backdrop, altogether make it something I would pick up to look at without even knowing your name or the series.

  33. The covers are all good, but there is something intriguing about “Delivering the Truth” because of the medical bag and apron but no face shown. Makes one’s imagination fill in the blanks with different possibilities.

  34. I like the mysterious aspect of the cover for “Delivering the Truth”. It makes me want to pick up the book and read it. Congrats on two more books in the series.

  35. I like the new cover best. The blueish tint to the snow is so pretty.

  37. I like Charity’s Burden best. Maybe it’s her intense look at something or the carriage in the background, it all appeals to me.

  38. All wonderful, but my favorite would be TURNING THE TIDE and the yellow sash in honor of the suffrage movement. <3 ETA for CHARITY'S BURDEN?

    1. Thanks, Mary! I love that one, too. The books in this series release April 8 every year – so Charity’s Burden is the 2019 book, and #5 – which I hope is titled Judge Thee Not – will be April 2020. Fingers crossed for more!

  39. This is an interesting twist on a mystery. I would love to read about the quakers and a midwife who solves mysteries. All the covers are lovely. I like how Rose is posed in Charity’s Burden. She appears on the verge of figuring out the mystery. The snowy scene is also appealing as right now it’s so hot outside!

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