Simply Dead

A midwife disappears after attending the birth of a child in another community, leading to an investigation that uncovers innumerable lies and secrets.1790s, Maine. In the depths of winter Hortense, a midwife, disappears after attending a birth in the woodlands. During the search Will Rees finds her struggling through the snow and woods without shoes or a coat. After two young men begin stalking the community in search of her including targeting Rees s own family she is questioned further and claims she was kidnapped . . . but Rees and his wife Lydia are suspicious. It is agreed Hortense s presence is endangering everyone s safety and she needs to leave. As the arrangements are made she is hidden in Zion, the local Shaker community, only while there a Shaker Sister is murdered. Witnesses describe a man fitting Josiah Wooten s description, a ferocious man living in the woods with two young sons.