A Bucket of Ashes — P.B. Ryan

Summers at the Hewitts' sprawling Cape Cod "cottage" always prove bittersweet for governess Nell Sweeney, for it was here that she lost three sisters and two brothers--and gained a reputation as the best pickpocket on the Cape. At last, her dark past is behind her--but soon she'll learn that it's never too far behind...

Nell has proven herself a model governess in the years she's worked for the Hewitts. But now a terrible secret from her past--and the lurking suspicion that she might be carrying Will Hewitt's child--threaten to rob her of everything for which she has worked so hard.

But these problems pale when Nell learns that the body of her only remaining brother has been discovered--and that he was wanted for murder. Though Nell's attempt to clear his name starts in the criminal underworld, it will lead her to the top ranks of Cape Cod society...