Simply Dead (A Will Rees Mystery Book 7)
Will Rees is happy with the blended family he and wife Lydia are raising on the Maine frontier in the early 1790s when the village midwife comes to tell them that her daughter, Hortense, is missing. After the girl is finally found out in the snow, she moves between mute terror and evasive responses to Rees’ questions. The mystery deepens when the two young men Rees eventually identifies as the ones who took her begin to target other young women who resemble her.
Kuhns re-creates rural Maine in winter in the early republican era with a close focus that could be called “cozy” in any other subgenre. Some details, like the name “Sharon” for Will and Lydia Rees’ baby daughter, struck me as a bit anachronistic. Will’s backstory is woven into the narrative in a largely seamless fashion, although the recounting can drag in places.
Setting a mystery in the very first years of the U.S. in a rural setting is a tall literary order, but Kuhns handles it very well overall. Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this addition to the subgenre. Those who are interested in the early independent United States will love this look at its family life and a religious community that is little known today.
