From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story occur seventeenth-century ManhattanIt’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan kids are going missing, and among those looking at the mysterious state of affairs certainly are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old investor, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing English spy called Edward Drummond.

Suspects abound, like the governor’s about The Orphanmaster wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who could be possessed by a demon that transforms people into cannibals; as well as the colony’s very own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, nevertheless, when Blandine is definitely accused to be a witch and Edward is sentenced to hold for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.

Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period fine detail. Lively, overly busy, and filled with colorful heroes, The Orphanmaster is normally a dramatic page-turner which will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.