In August of 1844, a
man named Leonard Reed takes violently ill at his home near Heathsville, Illinois,
and four days later he is dead. The cause? Arsenic poisoning.
The suspect? His
wife, Betsey.
The chief witnesses
against her? A hired girl, Eveline Deal, and the local apothecary, James Logan.
The evidence? Eveline claims she saw Betsey put a pinch of white powder in
Leonard’s coffee.
Betsey Reed, a woman
who dabbles in herbal healing, is known about town as a witch. As the gossip
and the circumstantial evidence mount, Betsey finds herself under the shadow of
a trial—and a noose.
A historical crime inspired by the true story of Betsey Reed, for fans of The Trial of Lizzie Borden and The Good Sister, Lee
Martin’s latest weaves a tale of a pinch of white powder, a scorched paper, a community
hungry for a villain, and a young girl’s first taste of revenge—but above all,
of the contradictions and imperfections of the human heart.
