New York: Avon, 1996. First edition - The first book written under this name (previous books were published under the M. K. Lorens pseudonym.) A historical mystery , the story of Hannah Trevor, midwife in the small town of Rutherford Maine in 1786. Nominated for both the Edgar and Agatha awards. While we highly recommend reading this novel, if it had won the Edgar in its category (for best first novel), the controversy surrounding it would have been even greater. It is an increasingly common practice for established mid-list authors to publish a "first book" under a new identity - and the Edgar nomination for this brought to the forefront one of the dangers of this practice. The back cover of this advance issue describes this as the 'debut' of a 'remarkable new talent. 307 pp.