by Edith Maxwell
Cute little themed "cozy" about a Quaker midwife who solves murders on the side. I didn't find the murder very interesting--not sure if it was poorly plotted, poorly portrayed, or just an example of my interests--when people in a book are having babies, I get bored with the people who aren't having them.
Midwife Rose Carroll, the mysery solver, is more than a mystery solver. I expect character development for the main character, and wouldn't continue reading a series without it. But in this case, she's got so much of a character going that the murder investigation became an annoying sideplot--I could enjoy this character better without the murder.
The mystery novel format gives an author a ready-made audience. People know what to expect out of a mystery. I'm no exception--I put a lot of scrutiny into a plain old novel before I commit to it. A novel can take you anywhere--wrench your emotions--tarnish your soul--go where no man has gone before. Not so, I assume, for a mystery. Especially a "cozy" like this. You stay on planet earth; the main character never dies and seldom do her best friends; her story continues in Volume 2; human civilization is not wiped out by an alien invasion.
And that's the problem with this. I think this character deserves a different genre. I'll happily read the next--it's already on my to-read list--but I wonder what she could have done if released from the cage?
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