Erica R. Buteau · The bookshelf

Every story has
its own weather.

Some stories carry you into dark North Country mysteries. Others are written for the hardest chapters of real life. These are the books I've brought into the world—and the ones I'm still writing toward.

01 / Fiction · Four connected seasons

Androscoggin
After Dark.

Small towns keep secrets. Rivers keep the rest.

Dark romantic suspense set against northern New Hampshire's river roads, mill towns, and old family histories. Start with winter and follow the river through all four seasons.

The four books in the Androscoggin After Dark series
Four seasons. One river. Four mysteries.
01 / Winter

When the River Freezes

A body in the ice. A secret in a red coat. A river that remembers.

Explore this book
02 / Historical true crime · Women's history

Nurtured
to Death.

Women, Poison, and the Price of Caregiving in American History

It wasn't witchcraft. It was arsenic.

What happens when the person entrusted to nurture, heal, or protect becomes the focus of a murder investigation?

Nurtured to Death follows the evidence behind women accused of poisoning and suspicious deaths in New England households. Drawing on historical records, it distinguishes allegations from convictions, rumor from documentation, and confirmed victims from the stories later told about them.

Stearns Brook Press · 2026 · Historical nonfiction · Paperback ISBN 979-8-9970511-5-0

Nurtured to Death: Women, Poison, and the Price of Caregiving in American History, book cover
Historical true crime, researched with care.
The Burn Line by Erica R. Buteau, full book cover spread
03 / Historical crime thriller

The Burn Line.

Berlin, New Hampshire. 1974.

Before the town had secrets, it had systems. A young woman with a notebook starts tracing the disappearances respectable men would rather leave unexplained.

A standalone thriller from the world of Androscoggin After Dark—with a different era and its own dark current.

Discover The Burn Line ↗
04 / Memoir · Guidance · Family crisis

Weathering
the Storm.

For parents who love fiercely and need a little solid ground.

Part personal story and part practical guide, Weathering the Storm grew from the book I needed during a family crisis and couldn't find. It offers scripts, reflection, practical tools, and reassurance without pretending any hard situation has an easy answer.

The companion journal offers extra room for reflection, boundaries, difficult decisions, and hope—at your own pace.

Weathering the Storm guide and companion journal by Erica R. Buteau
The book and its companion journal
Beyond the bookshelf

More stories.
More chapters.

Children's books, North Country stories, practical guides, and new publishing projects live at Stearns Brook Press. Browse the full catalog, discover what's coming next, and find the right edition.

Browse Stearns Brook Press ↗
Independent publishing

Stories rooted in place.
Written for the human spirit.

Fiction · Nonfiction · History · Children's books

Booksellers · Publishers · Readers

Let's talk books.

Interested in an interview, a book-club visit, signed editions, bookstore orders, literary representation, or publishing and adaptation opportunities? I'd love to hear from you.