4 out of 5 stars
I would like to thank Midnight Ink for providing me with a free electronic ARC of this book, via Netgalley. Any reviews I give are done obligation free, and are unpaid… well, unless you count getting this book for free… but we won’t go there. 😉
‘Turning the Tide’ is book three in the ‘Quaker Midwife Mystery’ series, and I have been a fan of said series since getting a chance to read ‘Delivering the Truth’ a few years ago.
Set in Massachusetts in the late 1800’s, ‘Turning the Tide’ tells the ongoing story of Quaker midwife Rose and what happens when murder is mixed in with her daily midwife routines. I mean, it’s not as if she goes looking for murder and crimes, they just seem to be stumbled across, as is the case in this book.
My regular readers will know I try not to just go on about the plot and sound like a paid for blurb, so I won’t do it here. I will say, however, that I thoroughly enjoyed the suffragette movement displayed within ‘Turning the Tide’. I am a bit of a fan of our foremother’s and what they did for women today and so I loved seeing it from the American point of view, having grown up learning of the Australian and British heroines of the time – and what they had to go through.
And I liked how it wasn’t just a crime mystery that relied on the suffragette plot to get by. No… it was just the colourful background used to explain who was murdered, why, and to add a bit of padding to hide the whodunit and add a little difference to the series. And, to me, it worked well.
The continued mild education of the reader into the ways of both Quakers and 19th century midwifing practices is also enjoyable. Yes, if you read this you may just happen to learn some things on these topics, as it is obvious that Ms Maxwell puts a lot of factual research into her creative prose. And, I love it! I find it always adds a nice touch to a story, adding some true facts into your fiction. I know it is not possible in all genres (says the woman who writes about demons 😉 ) but in historical fictions, such as the ‘Quaker Midwife Mystery’, it makes for a much better book. Highly enjoyable.
Oh, and no quibbles over the formatting and layout. Done perfectly for the Kindle version I read. So, well done Midnight Ink!
Would I recommend this book to others?
I would. But you know what I am going to say here, don’t you? That’s right! Although ‘Turning the Tide’ could maybe be enjoyed as a stand-alone book, I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in it go and read the first two books in the series first. You are doing yourself and Ms Maxwell an injustice if you don’t.
Would I buy this book for myself?
Yes I would. In fact, I am so behind on leaving my review for this book I’ve already gotten hold of the next book in the series and can’t wait to read it! A highly enjoyable book, a great series, and there is already another book in it waiting for me to read. Yay!
In summary: Great next instalment in an enjoyable series, detailed historic fiction that lovers of this genre will enjoy.
Until next time,
Janis.
Janis's Journal 