“Still Life With Murder” by P.B. Ryan

Review #170
First book in the series of Nell Sweeney Mysteries

Post-Civil War Boston 1868:

After their mother died from cholera and their father ran off with another woman, the three Sweeney children are 170 the baby of a servant in the home of the wealthy Hewitt Family.

Viola Hewitt adopts the child and hires Nell to be the baby's governess. Viola sweeps Nell into a world of respect and wealth. Four years later, word arrives that the eldest son, thought to have died in the confederate prison camp in Andersonville, is alive and awaits trial for cold-blooded murder. Viola asks Nell to find evidence that will set her oldest son free since his father, August Hewitt doesn't care if he hangs (turns out he is William’s stepfather). Nell risks everything to clear Will because she believes he is innocent despite all the evidence to the contrary.

The heroine is a spunky woman who climbed out of a poverty-stricken and crime infested area to make something of herself. Readers will admire her and won't be able to resist her many charms. STILL LIFE WITH MURDER is a well-constructed and fascinating mystery in what has become a great series.