Taken Too Soon is the sixth book in the Quaker Midwife Mystery series.

Rose and David have just gotten married and are attending their reception at the Central House Hotel. They were expecting to spend their first night married life at the hotel and leaving for Cape Cod the next day. Shortly after the reception begins, the newlyweds have a couple of surprises to deal with. First, David’s brother, Currie, estranged from his family, shows up, then minutes later, Rose’s father receives a telegram from Rose’s Aunt Dru, demanding that the newlyweds immediately come to West Falmouth. The telegram goes on to say that Aunt Tilly’s teenage ward, Frannie, has been killed. The newlyweds were planning to stop in and visit with Rose’s aunts, tomorrow, and then head to Cape Cod. They catch the last train today and will proceed on their honeymoon after seeing what help they may be the aunts.

Upon arrival, Rose and David head for the aunt’s home to learn what had happened to the ward, Jenny. The only thing that Rose learns from Aunt Dru is that Jenny was found in the water and probably drowned. Rose and David begin by interviewing friends and neighbors of Jenny and the aunts. They will soon learn that one of Jenny’s close friends have had a falling out.
Most of the people Rose talks with automatically look to Rueben, a Native American, that has befriended Jenny. Even Rose’s brother-in-law becomes a person of interest. There will also be some family secrets revealed that will surprise Rose.

I love this series, and this is a wonderfully written and informative book. As always, the characters are well-developed and completely believable.

It may not have been the honeymoon that Rose and David had planned, but at least they are happy that they were able to give closure to Aunt Tilly and Aunt Dru.

I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

Quaker Midwife Mystery #6

Rose Carroll and her brand new husband, David, haven't even finished their wedding reception when word is received from her elderly aunts that their ward has died and she must come immediately. 

The young girl's murder has rattled her aunts and the entire New England town. And as Rose works with the detectives to find the killer, David must deal with his rakish brother and his manipulative mother.

Family secrets, long-held grudges, and misunderstandings abound and Rose is ready to find a killer and get back to her beloved.

This is one of my favorite series! Rose is such an interesting character and I can't wait to see what Ms. Maxwell will have in store for Rose and David!

NetGalley/ September 8th, 2020 by Beyond the Page

This is a book I just couldn't get into. I usually love cozy mysteries but for some reason, I don't know why, this book just didn't hold my attention. I did finish reading it, but it took me a couple of days. Please don't let my review stop you from giving this book a try, you may love it. Thank you Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinons expressed are my own.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.


Rose and David are married but as they are about to leave for their special wedding night in a hotel, Rose received a telegram demanding she go immediately to her aunts' home in Woods Holl, Cape Cod.

She is needed to solve a murder.

Rose questions all sorts of people.
While the honeymoon wasn't what they had hoped, they made the best of the situation,

Rose is involved in a rather tricky birth, she’s has a couple of hair raising incidents.

Recommend it.

This is my favorite series by Edith Maxwell. I received a free digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Rose and her beloved David finally get married. They are planning on a honeymoon near Rose's paternal aunts. They receive a telegram asking Rose and David to come earlier. Upon their arrival, they discover that the aunt's ward was murdered.

While Rose is investigating and working with Edwin, Rose meets an Indian midwife whose son Reuben was in love with Frannie the ward.

We meet many new characters.

Highly recommended for readers who love history and mystery without the violence.

I love cozy mysteries and historical fiction so I was excited to receive this book from NetGalley. However, once I was into the book I was disappointed. The characters were not well portrayed and shallow. I admit the book was not so bad I could not finish it. In addition, references to the newlyweds “cavorting” were unnecessary and added nothing to the story. All opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this book and will go back and read the other books Maxwell has written in this series, though as a stand-alone it also works well.. It's not hard to see that the author enjoys her research and writing very much. The details of the time period she writes about are fascinating and the story she creates with historical facts is almost better than the plot of this mystery.
A newly-wed midwife gets called to service as a help to a detective since she's had previous "detecting" experience and is related to the young woman who has assumably been murdered. There are several likely candidates for the crime and story line is adept. A really fun read for the times.