The Almanack by Martine Bailey

Tabitha is hurrying home because her mother needs her.  She's devastated to find that she died before she got there.  The worst part is that when she examines her body, she finds it was not a natural death, it was murder.  The doctor disagrees and says she drowned, but Tabitha knows better.  She intends to find her murderer.  But the people in their town aren't very willing to work with her.  She had been a prostitute to make enough money to stay alive while she was in London and they've heard about it...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published May 1st.

She visits those who will talk to her, searching for the truth.  She finds out more than she wanted to know and now has to fear for her own life and the lives of those she loves.  She told everyone Bess was her baby, but she wasn't.  Her new love is a special man but she doesn't know him that well and wonders about what he isn't telling her.  When he becomes a target for vengeance, she is determined to save him.

Set back in 1752, everyone believes in superstitions.  Gossip is rampant, reputations are shattered easily, and with people dying, Tabitha begins to think that someone is poisoning them.  She and her new love are the only ones that believe that.  Everyone just blows her off.  Can she solve the murders soon enough to save her own life?  Can she save her love from hanging?

Tabitha is fighting an uphill battle but she doesn't give up.  She's been independent for some time, so she can take care of herself.  But she's not as strong as her opponent.  You don't know who is going to win until the last pages of the book...

You really feel like you're living in that era as you read this; it sounds authentic.  It's an intriguing mystery.