1790s, Maine. In the depths of winter Hortense, a midwife, disappears after attending a birth in the woodlands. During the search Will Rees finds her struggling through the snow and woods without shoes or a coat.
After two young men begin stalking the community in search of her – including targeting Rees’s own family – she is questioned further and claims she was kidnapped . . . but Rees and his wife Lydia are suspicious. It is agreed Hortense’s presence is endangering everyone’s safety and she needs to leave. As the arrangements are made she is hidden in Zion, the local Shaker community, only while there a Shaker Sister is murdered. Witnesses describe a man fitting Josiah Wooten’s description, a ferocious man living in the woods with two young sons.
What is the truth behind Hortense’s disappearance, and who is responsible for the death of the Shaker Sister? (Summary via Amazon)
Simply Dead is the seventh book in the Will Rees Mystery series written by Eleanor Kuhns. It doesn't matter if you have read every book in the series, a few, one or none, as soon as you start reading Simply Dead you will feel like you are in the middle of winter in the 1790's.
In Simply Dead Will Rees and his family are trying to get through the cold weather but it isn't going to be easy for them. Early one morning the Constable and his sister Bernadette, show up at Rees house looking for his help. Bernadette's daughter, Hortense, is missing. Bernadette and Hortense are midwives and Hortense was assisting a family deliver their baby but that was a few weeks ago and Hortense hasn't returned home. They are worried with it being winter and it is not like her to not return home.
When they find her buggy abandoned a search party is organized. Rees finds her stumbling in the woods without shoes or her cloak. When she is questioned as to what happened, Rees can tell that she is not being completely honest but Lydia, his wife, silences him so that Hortense can rest.
They soon figure Hortense is not safe as two strange men show up and try to abduct Rees one daughter and then they learn that a woman in the Shaker community nearby has been murdered and she was wearing Hortense's cloak.
Rees wants to find out what happened so that his family will be safe but there are a lot of obstacles that he will have to get over ... unfortunately getting the truth out of people and their help will be trying.
Readers cannot help but love this series and reading about the simplicity of the times back then will be enjoyable and frustrating at the same time. I highly recommend digging into this series and allowing Kuhns to navigate for you.
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