#Blogtour #Excerpt: The Murderer's Maid by Erika Mailman @ErikaMailman @HFVBT @yellowpearpress19/10/2017 Release date - 30th October 2017 Book length - 366 pages Publisher - Bonhomie Press Buy links - Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Powell’s *I want to thank Amy from hfvirtualbooktours.com for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour, and the author Erika Mailman for such a chilling excerpt. ABOUT THE BOOK Bram Stoker Award finalist Erika Mailman brings the true story of the brutal murder of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother into new focus by adding a riveting contemporary narrative. The Murderer’s Maid interweaves the stories of two women: one, the servant of infamous Lizzie Borden, and the other a modern-day barista fleeing from an attempt on her life. Trapped by servitude and afraid for her own safety, Irish maid Bridget finds herself an unwilling witness to the tensions in the volatile Borden household. As Lizzie seethes with resentment, Bridget tries to perform her duties and keep her mouth shut. Unknowingly connected to the legendary crime of a century ago, Brooke, the illegitimate daughter of an immigrant maid, struggles to conceal her identity and stay a jump ahead of the men who want to kill her. When she unexpectedly falls in love with Anthony, a local attorney, she has to decide whether to stop running and begin her life anew. With historical detail and taut, modern storytelling, Erika Mailman writes a captivating novel about identity, choices, freedom, and murder. She offers readers a fresh perspective on the notorious crime and explores the trials of immigrants seeking a better life while facing down fear and oppression, today and throughout history. Intelligent and detailed, The Murderer’s Maid is a gripping read from beginning to bloody conclusion. Author Bio Erika Mailman is the author of The Witch’s Trinity, a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book and Bram Stoker Award finalist, and Woman of Ill Fame, a Pushcart Press Editor’s Book Award nominee. She’s a Yaddo fellow and lives in Northern California with her family. For more information: Website - erikamailman.com Twitter - twitter.com/ErikaMailman Instagram - www.instagram.com/erikamailman/ *Read on for a chilling excerpt ... EXCERPT
On the seventh day of the trial, Governor Robinson confirmed his status as someone Bridget would dully hate for the rest of her life. When Officer Hyde testified about looking through the window to see poor Alice Russell trembling in the cellar, afraid to go close to the pile of bloodied clothing on the washroom floor, the governor pretended to be a palsied woman, imitating her shaking. The jurors, damn them, laughed. "She had a kerosene lamp, didn't she?" Governor Robinson asked. "Did it smoke, then, when she shook it so?" "I never noticed," said Officer Hyde quietly, comprehending he was being made sport of. "It didn't shake the chimney off the lamp?" The jury laughed again. Bridget seethed. She would like to see how brave Governor Robinson would be in a dark night's cellar with two corpses hacked to ruin just upstairs. After Officer Hyde sat down, the court resettled in anticipation of the next witness, Dr. William Dolan, whose tale would surely be gory and satisfy the hungry housewives crowding the benches. It was thought his testimony would be too upsetting to the prisoner, so Miss Lizzie was escorted into an adjoining room to hear, but not watch, the questioning. Dr. Dolan was a man who might be considered handsome if he didn't always lift his head while talking, like an alert mastiff. He had light brown hair and a mustache, and an inquisitive face. After a brief listing of his medical qualifications, he spoke about the morning of August 4 in plain terms, unafraid to talk about the undigested contents of the Bordens' intestines. Bridget felt her fingernails scraping at the wood of her chair. He discussed the bloodstained clothing that Miss Russell had quaked at, and which Bridget had last seen on the cellar floor. It had been buried in the backyard and dug up again a week later: some items brought to the marshal, and others reburied. Mrs. Borden's ugly work dress had been treated like an archeological treasure. It was so odd to see things she recognized in this sterile courtroom: a bit of the sitting room's flower-patterned carpet, cut into a rectangle, held up for jurors to see. Dr. Dolan pointed to two large pools of blood on the carpet, and Bridget shivered. A second piece was the upstairs carpet in the guest room, lighter in color, but still besmirched with dried blood.
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WelcomeHi fellow bookworms. My name is Linda and I'm a reviewer & blogger, wife & mother who loves all things books! Currently ReadingUPCOMING BLOG TOURS
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