Keeper of Pleas Series by Annelie Wendeberg

On December 10, 1880, Coroner Sévère makes a gruesome discovery: nine newborns, buried in flowerpots, and hidden in plain sight in Whitechapel. A mortician receives the bodies and vanishes. Clues for the two seemingly unconnected cases are scarce. When police and coroner learn that the missing mortician might have spent his last moments at the bosom of the infamous prostitute Miss Mary, a series of events is nudged into motion. Lies are unearthed, rumours spread... moreOn December 10, 1880, Coroner Sévère makes a gruesome discovery: nine newborns, buried in flowerpots, and hidden in plain sight in Whitechapel. A mortician receives the bodies and vanishes. Clues for the two seemingly unconnected cases are scarce. When police and coroner learn that the missing mortician might have spent his last moments at the bosom of the infamous prostitute Miss Mary, a series of events is nudged into motion. Lies are unearthed, rumours spread. Yet, the killer remains a faceless phantom.His secret seems buried forever. Until the night Sévère requests Miss Mary’s services…Warning: Postmortems and prostitution are depicted un-prettified. less

Coroner Sévère has it all: a beautiful young wife, money, influence…and secrets. Not only is a disease slowly crippling him, but his wife, Olivia, is a former prostitute who once served the Chief Magistrate himself — a man with cruel appetites. When Sévère and Olivia begin to investigate the heinous crimes of Chief Magistrate Frost, more than the Coroner’s career is at risk. Sévère might just end up at the gallows.