Jean M. Roberts's Blog

 

The Enemy’s wife
Survivors of War Series
by Deborah Swift



Publication Date: April 6th, 2026Publisher: HQ DigitalPages: 380Genre: Historical Fiction

'A fast-paced, beautifully written, and moving story. Refreshing to read a book set in a different theatre of war. Wartime Shanghai jumped off the page'
CLARE FLYNN

A poignant story of the impossible choices we make in the shadow of war, for fans of Daisy Wood and Marius Gabriel.

1941. When Zofia’s beloved husband Haru is conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, she is left to navigate Japanese-occupied Shanghai alone.

Far from home and surrounded by a country at war, Zofia finds unexpected comfort in a bond with Hilly, a spirited young refugee escaping Nazi-occupied Austria.

As violence tightens its grip on the city, they seek shelter with Theo, Zofia’s American employer. But with every passing day, the horrors of war and Haru’s absence begin to reshape Zofia’s world – and her heart.

Can she still love someone who has become the enemy?

Readers love The Enemy's Wife:

'A gorgeous novel that will truly pull at your heartstrings'
~ CARLY SCHABOWSKI

'I loved The Enemy’s Wife – a gripping, fast-paced and evocative story about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during WW2 – and really rooted for the brave and selfless central character, Zofia. Highly recommended'

~ ANN BENNETT

'Such an emotional and moving read, grounded in immaculate research that never overshadows the heart of the story'
~ SUZANNE FORTIN

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Deborah Swift

Deborah used to be a costume designer for the BBC, before becoming a writer. Now she lives in an old English school house in a village full of 17th Century houses, near the glorious Lake District. Deborah has an award-winning historical fiction blog at her website www.deborahswift.com. 
Deborah loves to write about how extraordinary events in history have transformed the lives of ordinary people, and how the events of the past can live on in her books and still resonate today.
Her WW2 novel Past Encounters was a BookViral Award winner, and The Poison Keeper was a winner of the Wishing Shelf Book of the Decade.

Connect with Deborah:

Website • Twitter / X • Facebook • TikTok • PinterestAmazon Author Page • BookBub • Goodreads

 

 

fool
A Tudor Novel
by Mary Lawrence


Publication Date: April 14th, 2026Publisher: Red Puddle PrintPages: 322Genre: Historical Fiction / Historical Mystery

Betrayal. Power. Perception. The most dangerous mind at court belongs to a fool.

From the author of The Alchemist's Daughter comes a dark tale of ambition and survival.

"One of the most vibrant characters I've encountered in years."--Goodreads Ecostell

Kronos is a fool--mocked for his dwarfism, prized for his juggling, and underestimated by everyone who matters. But in a court ruled by paranoia and whispers, invisibility is its own kind of power.

When Kronos overhears a secret that could destroy Queen Katherine Howard, he becomes a liability the crown cannot afford. Silenced, mutilated, and left for dead, he survives--barely.

Rescued by an ambitious apothecary, Kronos soon realizes he has not escaped danger--he has merely changed masters. His secret is worth a fortune...and powerful men are willing to kill to control it.

But Kronos has spent his life being overlooked and he's ready to use that to his advantage.

As rival factions circle and scheme, Kronos sets a plan in motion--one that could topple the mighty, rewrite his fate, and force his foes to reconsider which of them is truly...the fool.

Perfect for fans of C.J. Sansom and Philippa Gregory.

Praise for Fool:

'Fool is a masterclass in immersive storytelling'
~ Tony Riches, bestselling author of The Tudor Trilogy

'Fool brings the Tudor world to life through an exciting narrative voice, placing real historical figures--Henry VIII, Katherine Howard, and Archbishop Cranmer--at the heart of the drama. Its unforgettable narrator, Kronos, the king's sharp-witted court fool, survives on intelligence and observations rather than power, moving invisibly through corridors of influence. Vividly written and grounded in scrupulous research, the novel captures both the dark comedy and lethal danger of Henry VIII's court.'

~ Nancy Bilyeau, author of The Crown, The Chalice, and The Tapestry

'A thoughtful and unsparing Tudor novel that reframes the court jester not as comic ornament but as a precarious witness to power.'
~ Megan Parker, for IndieReader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Sneak Peek:

London, October, 1541

A man of my stature must have twice the wits if he isto survive amongst men twice his height. That is not to say that I have hadfewer opportunities afforded me. Nay, decidedly not. My shortcomings havemerely coloured the cards of fate that I have been dealt. And while others mayhave folded, I have played on.

So where must my tale begin—this one of courts,and queens, dissemblers, and fools? Should I bore you with tales of my youth?Of being raked out of a dung heap as a babe at Thetford Priory? The monksraised me and taught me to read and write, then tossed me out after I wasdiscovered with a farmer’s daughter behind a wheel of Wensleydale.

Instead, I shall take you to Whitehall whereour sovereign, King Henry, fat as a stuffed boar and about as lively, delightsin his new child bride, Katherine Howard.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Mary Lawrence

Mary Lawrence is the author of the Bianca Goddard mysteries, a 5-book series that takes place in the slums of Tudor London featuring the daughter of an infamous alchemist.
Suspense Magazine named The Alchemist’s Daughter and The Alchemist of Lost Souls best historical mysteries of 2015 and 2017. Her writing has been published in several journals, including The Daily Beast.
When she is not writing, she tends a small berry farm in Maine with her husband and creates artisanal jams for sale at market.
Connect with Mary:

Website • Instagram • Facebook • Bluesky • PinterestAmazon Author Page • BookBub • Goodreads

 

For tomake flaumpeyns

Hereis an interesting recipe from The Forme of Cury, a 14thcentury manuscript,  for what sounds likea pork pie. Like most of the recipes from this cookbook, there is quite a combinationof ingredients, like pork and figs, but it sounds pretty good. Here is the originalrecipe. Remember when you’re reading the þ is a ‘th’ sound.

Takeand clene pork and boile it tendre. Þenne hewe it small and bray it smal in amorter. Take fyges and boil hem tender in smale ale. And bray hem and tendrechese þerwith. Þenne waisthe hem in water and þene lyes hem alle togider withayrenn, þenne take powdour of pepper or els powdour marchannt and ayrenn and aporcioun of safroun and salt.

Þennetake blank sugur, eyrenn and flour and make a past wit a roller, þene make þerofsmale pelettes and fry hem broun in clene grece and set hem aside. Þenne makeof þat oo þer deelof þat past long coffyns and do þat comade þerin and close hem faire with a counterand pynche hem smale about þanne kyt abouue foure o þer sex ways, þanne take euy of þatkuttying up and þenne colour it wit zolkes of arenn, and plant hem thick, intothe flaumpeyns above þtat þou kuttest hem and set hem in an ovene and lat hembake eselich and þanne sreue hem forth.

 

Mytranslation:

Takeand clean pork and boil until tender. Cut or grind into small pieces. Take figsand boil in small ale until tender. Add cheese and mix together. Mix in an egg,add pepper and a spice mix called  powermarchant (which could contain cinnamon, ginger, cloves and or other popular spices),saffron and salt.

Makepastry with sugar, egg and flour. Roll it out and put part of it into smalltriangles. Fry the triangles in oil. With the rest of the pastry line a dish. Brushthe triangles with egg yolk to color them. Add the pork mixture and then pushthe fried triangles into the meat mixture. Bake until done. This sounds a bitlike a minced meat pie. 

                       

 

                   The Deep Green Rising: Hedge Witch Plants of April

April is themonth when the earth no longer whispers—it begins to speak. The hedgerowsthicken, the damp soil softens, and the green world rises in earnest. For thehedge witch, this is a time of gathering, listening, and working with theliving breath of the land.

Cleavers– TheBinding Herb

Cleavers cling to everything theytouch, weaving themselves through hedge and field. They are those pesky weedsthat hang on your pants leg and are hard to get off.

Use as a ‘cooling herb’: Cleavers canbe used in a tonic or poultice to ease skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis.They support the liver and are known to be anti-inflammatory.

Use as a ‘spring tonic’: a cleansingherb, diuretic, they help support the health of the urinary tract.

Use the aerial parts of the plant steepedin hot water or juice them.

Pull Quote:
“It is good for cleansing the blood and opening obstructions.” — Culpeper

HistoricalNote: Associated with binding magic, connection, and cleansing.

Primrose – The Fairy Flower

Primroses bloom in soft yellowclusters, often linked to the unseen world. In addition to their lore as theentry to the Otherworld, primroses have been written about since ancient timesas a treatment for rheumatism and other muscular ailments. Culpepper wrote thatthe leaves  are used in a salve to treat wounds.The dried roots can be used in an infusion to treat headaches. Note the Englishprimrose is a different flower from the Evening Primrose which is native toNorth America. This herb is used to treat hormonal issues like PMS and can befound in most health food stores and pharmacies.

Pull Quote:
“Primrose opens the way to hidden places.” — folklore tradition

HistoricalNote: Believed to invite or appease fair folk and spirits of the land.

 

WildGarlic – TheWarding Green

The sharp scent of wild garlic fillswoodland edges in April. A fan of foragers, wild garlic is a tasty addition tosalads, soups or used as a garnish adding its pungent taste to any dish.

Pull Quote:
“Garlic resisteth poison and driveth away evil airs.” — old herbal lore

HistoricalNote: Used for protection, purification, and warding off harmful influences.

 


Daisy – The Innocent Bloom

Daisies scatter across fields,opening with the sun and closing at dusk. The common daisy has been used for centuries in the treatment ofrespiratory issues, wound care and to decrease the appearance of bruises. It isboth an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant. They also offer antibacterialbenefits. It used to be called ‘gardener’s friend. All parts of the plant aboveground can be used.

 

Pull Quote:
“The daisy is governed by Venus and brings gentle healing.” — Culpeper

HistoricalNote: Linked to renewal, love, and gentle protective magic.

A Simple Hedge Witch Practice for April

Gather a small bundle of spring herbs(or visualize them). Hold them and focus on growth. Speak your intention softlyand place the bundle near a window or doorway as a charm of flourishing.

AprilFolklore Calendar

• 'Aprilshowers bring May flowers.'
• Rain in April was said to carry blessings.
• First daisies meant luck in love.
• A strong month for gathering herbs.

April is nolonger the quiet beginning—it is the rising. The hedge witch walks to gather,to work, and to weave their will into the living green world.

 

BezoarStones: Relics of Poison and Cure

 

Inthe dim cabinets of early modern apothecaries, nestled between dried vipers andglass vials of powdered pearl, one might find an object of peculiar reverence:the bezoar stone. Smooth, enigmatic, and quietly unsettling, these mineralconcretions—formed within the stomachs of animals—were once believed to beamong the most powerful antidotes known to humankind.

 

[Marginalia:From the Persian pādzahr, meaning “antidote.”]

Bezoarsform most commonly in the digestive systems of goats, deer, and certain otherruminants, where indigestible materials accumulate and gradually solidify. Rarely, they can form in humans, usually in someone who has undergone gastic bypass surgery. Tothe medieval and early modern imagination, this natural curiosity becamesomething far more potent: a safeguard against poison, a talisman againsttreachery, and an emblem of hidden knowledge.

AStone Against Death

Poisonwas the invisible weapon of courts and kings. In an age when a cup of winemight conceal betrayal, the bezoar stone offered reassurance. It was believedthat placing the stone in a drink would neutralize any toxin within. Noblespaid exorbitant sums to possess one, often mounting the stones in gold andwearing them as pendants or rings.

 

[Marginalia:Catherine de’ Medici was said to test poisons on prisoners, sometimes usingbezoars as controls.]

Thebelief in their efficacy was not without challenge. In the sixteenth century,the French surgeon Ambroise Paré famously tested a bezoar on a condemned cookwho had ingested poison. Despite the stone’s application, the man died—castingdoubt upon the object’s miraculous reputation. Yet belief persisted, as beliefoften does, clinging to hope rather than evidence.

 

Alchemyand the Body

Toalchemists, the bezoar represented a convergence of the natural and themystical. It was a substance born of the body, yet capable—so it was thought—oftranscending bodily limits. Ground into powder and dissolved into draughts, itwas prescribed for ailments ranging from epilepsy to melancholy.

[Marginalia:A common preparation involved scraping the stone into wine or vinegar.]

Inthis, we see the porous boundary between medicine and magic. The bezoar was notmerely a remedy; it was a symbol of purification, of the body correctingitself, of corruption rendered inert.

 

GlobalTrade and Exotic Origins

Bythe seventeenth century, bezoars had become a coveted commodity in global tradenetworks. Stones from the East—particularly those sourced from Persian andIndian animals—were considered superior. Merchants trafficked them alongsidespices and silks, their value sometimes exceeding that of gold.

[Marginalia:So-called “Oriental bezoars” were especially prized.]

Thistrade also invited deception. Artificial bezoars entered the market, crafted tomimic the genuine article. Physicians and collectors alike developed methods totest authenticity, though certainty was rarely guaranteed.

 

ARelic of Belief

 

Today,bezoars have lost their place in pharmacology, though they remain of medicalinterest in a different sense: as pathological formations requiring removalrather than reverence. Yet their history lingers, a testament to the humandesire for protection against unseen threats.

Tohold a bezoar stone is to hold a fragment of that desire—a quiet, calcifiedhope that somewhere within the natural world lies a cure for all poisons.

[Marginalia:Not all that hardens within us is harmful; some things were once believed tosave us.]

Inthe end, the bezoar is less about what it is and more about what it meant: abridge between fear and faith, science and superstition, life and death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read more about Medieval Magic in my series

The Women of Midsummer

 

 

THE LAST FAIRY WITCH

By Jean M. Roberts

Historical Fantasy

Publication Date: March 31, 2026

SYNOPSIS

Hannah Heronstone appears to have everything—a devoted husband, a beloved child, and a thriving business built on ancient herbal knowledge. Yet beneath the calm surface of her life, something old and malevolent stirs. A disturbing encounter with a friend from her husband’s past awakens Hannah’s suspicion that a coven of dark witches is gathering near Wentworth Manor. When Hannah, Peter, and Johannah journey to Ireland, her fears take terrifying form as she comes face to face with an unspeakable monster. A fairy offers her aid—but in a land where truth is slippery and magic demands a price, can such a creature be trusted? And where, across legend and time, can she find the Last Fairy Witch?

Centuries earlier, Eithne is a young Irish slave whose gift for healing marks her as something more. Trained by a druid, her growing power cannot be hidden for long. Sent to the sacred stronghold of Rathcroghan to become a Bandrui, Eithne finds herself caught between two suitors—a gifted bard and a handsome prince—while a darker force watches from the shadows. A ruthless witch who will stop at nothing to destroy her.

Separated by centuries but bound by magic and fate, Hannah and Eithne must each risk everything to confront the darkness rising in their worlds. To save those they love, they must cross through time itself—or lose all they hold dear.

The Last Fairy Witch is book three in The Women of Midsummer Series. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jean M. Roberts makes her home outside of Houston, Texas. Her experiences as a military brat, a serving Air Force officer, and wife of an Air Force pilot have left her with a love of travel, history and a sense of adventure. THE LAST FAIRY WITCH  is her 11th novel. She writes historical fiction, historical fantasy, and cozy murder mysteries set in a fictitious Texas town. When not writing, she loves to garden, cook, read and dream of her next book. WEBSITE ◆ NEWSLETTER ◆  INSTAGRAM BOOKBUB ◆ BLUESKY ◆AMAZON ◆ GOODREADS TIKTOK ◆  PINTEREST ◆ THREADS ◆ FACEBOOK  TWITTER (X)

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Welcome to a stop on the blog tour for THE SCALD CROW by Hanna Park.This is the first book that I’ve read by her and really enjoyed it. I’m aboutto release my own book on that includes Irish Mythology so it was fun to diveinto this one!

 

The Scald Crow
(Beyond the FaerieRath Book 1) 
By Hanna Park

Publication Date: 26th May 2025
Publisher: Baisong Press
Print Length: 260 Pages
Genre: Fantasy / Romance

 

Blurb:

Calla left herlife behind, haunted by a curse she cannot control. She seeks refuge in theland of a thousand hellos, Ireland, for a fresh start—a place where no oneknows who or what she is.

Colm fled fromClonmara seven long years ago, but now it’s his father’s birthday, and the clanhas gathered to celebrate the ould one. Each day brings back the memories thatruined him.

Saoirse dwells inthe shadows of a lost love, unwilling to move on and unable to forget. Thecrystals say one thing, but the cold, hard truth tells another.

Ciarán walked awayfrom the woman he loved for the fun, for the craic. He didn’t realize that onerash decision would impact the lives of so many, least of all his own.

 Four brokenhearts, brought together by the thread of love.

 

My Review: I enjoyed reading The Scald Crow. I had to start by looking up what a scald crow was, as that's how I roll. What I found is that it is a crow, native to Ireland, that considered a scavenger and a, occasionally menacing, omen of death in Irish folklore. So this sets the scene! The MC Calla Sweet is a Canadian TV personality who flees to Ireland under a cloud of mystery. She's inherited a farm from what she thinks is a distant relative. Immediately she becomes involved with the O'Donnell family, esp. Colm, who has his own personal issues going on. 

We quickly learn that Calla has special powers, can see death coming, and has a connection with the Otherworld. Her attraction to Colm is fast and furious even as she tries to figure out who and what she is. 

The writing is dense with lots of discription. The Irish mythology is good and well explained. I will warn you that it ends on a total cliff hanger which is not a favorite of mine. 

I would totally recommend this book to lovers of fantasy/romance with a deep dive into mythology. 

Twitter / X Handle: @maryanneyarde
Instagram Handle: @hannaparkwrites@yardereviews

Bluesky Handle: @maryanneyarde.bsky.social

 

 

Tour Schedule Page:

https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2025/12/blog-tour-scald-crow-beyond-faerie-rath.html

 

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Author Bio:

 

I began my writingcareer in the pre-dawn of a winter morning while my husband snored like atrain. We could call my husband the catalyst. If it weren’t for him, I wouldnever have gone to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, feed the cat, and siton the loveseat in front of the fire. It was there, in those moments ofwondrous quiet, that I did something I had never thought possible. I opened mylaptop, and while the coffee went cold, I wrote a story. My husband had no ideathat these sojourns to the loveseat in front of the fire would become a dailyoccurrence, that writing would become an obsession, but the cat knew. She knowseverything.

 

I write storiesthat make you laugh, make you cry, and make you love. Thank you, friends, forreading!

In the beginning,there was an empty page.

I am a writer wholives in Muskoka, Canada, with a husband who snores, a hungry cat, and analmost perfect canine––he’s an adorable little shit.

 

 

Social Media Links:

 

Website: https://www.hannapark.ca

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannaparkwrites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hanna.park.1485537

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/hanna-park

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21418698.Hanna_Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rowan Tree: A Study in Red Berries& Quiet Protections

 

Thereare trees that whisper, and there are trees that remember. The Rowan standssomewhere between the two, its slender branches lifting clusters of scarletberries like drops of sealed wax. Known in old lore as a guardian againstmalice and wandering spirits, it has long occupied the threshold between theseen and the unseen.

Inthe north of Britain and across the mist-heavy reaches of Ireland, Rowan treeswere planted close to doorways and farmsteads. Their purpose was notornamental. Rather, they were sentinels—living wards believed to turn aside illwill, witchcraft, and the quiet creep of enchantments gone wrong.

Theberries themselves, bright as fresh blood, carry a subtle mark: a pentagramformed at the base of each fruit. This natural sign was read as a protectivesigil, a symbol of balance and warding. To gather Rowan berries was to handle acharm already written by the hand of nature.

Woodfrom the Rowan was fashioned into crosses, amulets, and staffs. Shepherds wouldcarve small pieces and tie them with red thread, hanging them among livestockto guard against sickness and unseen interference. Travelers, too, carriedRowan twigs in their pockets—small assurances against the unknown roads ahead.

Yetthe Rowan is not merely defensive. There is a quiet potency to it, aninvitation to clarity and second sight. In certain traditions, its presence wasthought to sharpen intuition, to peel back the veil just enough to glimpse whatlingers beneath the ordinary. It is a tree of thresholds—not only of place, butof perception.

Tosit beneath a Rowan is to enter a liminal space. The air feels altered, asthough time itself has slowed to listen. Whether this is imagination orsomething older is a question that scholars and witches alike have debated forcenturies. The Rowan does not answer. It simply remains.

Evennow, in a world that prefers its mysteries explained away, the Rowan persists.It grows along forgotten roadsides, in hedgerows, and at the edges offields—quiet, watchful, and unchanged. Its magic, if one chooses to call itthat, has never been loud. It does not demand belief. It only offersprotection, patiently, to those who think to notice.

——————————

Marginalia& Notes

• Rowan is oftencalled the 'Witch Tree' or 'Traveler’s Tree' in folklore.

• Red thread wastraditionally used alongside Rowan wood to strengthen protective charms.

• The pentagram shapein the berry is a recurring motif in European protective symbolism.

• In some traditions,it was considered unlucky to cut down a Rowan without cause.

• Associated with theliminal—thresholds, crossroads, and boundaries.

• Sometimes linked tosecond sight and the softening of the veil between worlds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enter the World of The Women of Midsummer

Check out these beautiful books, full of ancient lore and magic. 

Find the series here:  The Women of Midsummer

 

Physic and Charm: TheMedieval Doctor and the Cunning Woman

Healing,Magic, and Medicine in the Medieval World

In the medieval world, illness was rarely seen as asimple failure of the body. Disease could arise from imbalanced humors, badair, divine punishment, ill‑fortune, or the unseen malice of spirits andwitches.

When sickness came, ahousehold might summon two very different healers: the learned physician—or thevillage cunning woman.

Both sought to restore health. Yet their methods,beliefs, and social standing could not have been more different.

✶ ✶ ✶

The Learned Physician

Medieval physicians belonged to a tradition rootedin the ancient authorities Hippocrates, Galen, and later the Persian scholarAvicenna. Their works formed the foundation of university medical training.

MarginalNote: Medieval physicians studied Latin texts and often trained at universitiessuch as Paris or Bologna.

Their medicine revolved around the four humors:blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Health meant balance; sicknessmeant imbalance.

A physician might examine a patient’s urine in aglass vial, studying color and sediment as signs of disease. Astrology alsoguided treatment, as the body was believed to move in harmony with the heavens.

Medicine of thephysician was a medicine of books, charts, and theory.

Common treatments included:

·       Bloodlettingwith lancets or leeches

·       Purgingand emetics to cleanse the body

·       Herbalcompounds recorded in Latin medical texts

·       Strictdiets designed to rebalance the humors

✶ ✶ ✶

The Village Cunning Woman

Far from university halls, another healer practicedquietly in cottages and kitchens. The cunning woman—sometimes called a wisewoman or charm‑wife—learned her craft through experience and oral tradition.

MarginalNote: Cunning folk were common throughout medieval Europe and often servedentire villages.

Where physicians spoke Latin, cunning women spokethe language of field and forest. They knew when herbs were strongest and whichplants soothed pain or fever.

Her medicine grew notfrom books, but from hedgerows.

Common herbal treatments included:

·       Yarrowpoultices to stop bleeding

·       Honeyand plantain for infected wounds

·       Willowbark tea for fever and pain

·       Mugwortbeneath the pillow for troubled sleep

✶ ✶ ✶

Charms and Spoken Magic

The cunning woman often combined herbal cures withspoken charms. Words themselves were believed to hold power.

Example charm for stopping blood:

AsChrist stilled the river Jordan,
So I still this flowing blood.
Bone to bone, flesh to flesh,
By earth and word, be whole.

Protection knot charm:

Oneknot for the body,
One knot for the soul,
One knot to bind all malice whole.

MarginalNote: Many medieval charms blended Christian prayers with much older folktraditions.

✶ ✶ ✶

Diagnosis: Book Learning vs. Folk Insight

Physicians diagnosed illness through humoral theory,examining urine, pulse, and complexion.

Cunning women often looked to circumstance andstory, asking questions such as:

·       Wholast visited the household?

·       Hasthe patient quarreled with anyone?

·       Didthe illness begin after crossing water at dusk?

·       Hassomeone recently died in the home?

To the cunning woman,illness was rarely random—it had a story.

✶ ✶ ✶

Status and Suspicion

Physicians enjoyed prestige and education. Theirlearning placed them among the intellectual elite.

Cunning women occupied a far more uncertainposition. Villagers depended on their cures, yet fear and suspicion followedtheir work.

The line between wisewoman and witch could be dangerously thin.

✶ ✶ ✶

Two Worlds of Healing

In many medieval communities, both healers existedside by side. A noble household might call a physician for grave illness, whileservants quietly sought charms or herbal remedies from the cunning woman.

One practiced medicine of the books.
The other practiced medicine of the hedgerow.

Both sought the samefragile hope: relief from suffering and the restoration of life.

 

I must say this beautiful cover lured me in, but the story kept me turning the pages. 
I did not realize that this book was part of a series (book 20) and at first I worried I would struggle with the characters, but I was proved wrong. I fell right in with Lady Emily and her investigation of a murdered Englishman, found on the banks of the Namarada River. The setting is India in the early 1900s during the Raj. The book is a dual-time story that centers on a Maharajah, Ahilyabai, who ruled her kingdom after the death of her husband. I enjoyed both time periods immensely and the murder mystery kept me guessing. I loved the setting, and the descriptions of the Maharajah's palace, the town, and life during the period. I will definitely have to explore the other books in the series. 

I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction and historical murder mysteries. 

This book is currently available on Netgalley. It will publish in September 2026. Here is a link to preorder:  MURDER ON THE SACRED RIVER