First Time in Paperback
SummaryAs a midwife working in the tenements of
turn-of-the-century New York, Sarah Brandt has witnessed joy
and misery, birth and death. Now Sarah suffers the
heartbreak of losing a patient—but not from natural
causes.
Called to attend a birth in Little Italy, Sarah finds an
anxious family: Young Nainsi Ruocco's baby is being born too
early. But when he proves to be a fat, lusty lad, their
concern turns to fury—the child was obviously conceived
before the girl and her husband had even met. The next
morning, Sarah returns to check on the new mother, and finds
Nainsi dead in her bed.
The family insists that the death was from complications of
childbirth. Sarah thinks not. Soon the mystery has
inflamed the tensions between the Italian and Irish
immigrants, and Detective Sergeant Frank Mallory must find
out the truth before a full-scale street war develops. Once
again, he's going to need Sarah's help to unravel the
secrets of this troubled family, bring a killer to
justice—and restore order to the volatile community.
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