A must-read for all Jane Austen fans!
Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron is a true Regency immersion.
Our thanks to the author, Soho Crime, and Austenprose for the advanced reader’s copy of the book and audiobook.
Book Details
Print Length: 312 pages
Publisher: Soho Crime (October 24, 2023)
Language: English
ASIN: B0BRMH1DXB
Book Description
The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys’ boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?
Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.
From the Publisher’s Blurb
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Review
Jane and the Final Mystery and the whole Being a Jane Austen Mystery series is a unique reading experience that takes the reader into Jane Austen’s private world.
I felt transported to the Regency and witnessed Jane’s day-to-day life, a precious experience for a die-hard Jane Austen fan like myself. My favorite part of the book is feeling like I’m walking around town with Jane, appreciating her persona and unique wit.
In this final book, we know Jane is about to die, but the author did an excellent job of keeping the story for being gloomy. It was touching to read about her coping with her disease and, at the same time, moving on with her life.
The mystery was gripping, if a little dark, and the resolution was fulfilling. It’s a great end to a fantastic series!
I highly recommend it!
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
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About the Author
Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford, where she received her Masters in History as an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow in the Humanities. Her forthcoming novel, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN (Ballantine, January 22, 2019) traces the turbulent career of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill’s captivating American mother. Barron is perhaps best known for the critically-acclaimed Jane Austen Mystery Series, in which the intrepid and witty author of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE details her secret detective career in Regency England. A former intelligence analyst for the CIA, Stephanie–who also writes under the name Francine Mathews–drew on her experience in the field of espionage for such novels as JACK 1939, which The New Yorker described as “the most deliciously high-concept thriller imaginable.” She lives and works in Denver, CO.
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