There is noting like coming into a series on the last book. I have seen many of the Jane Austen mystery books around the blog-o-sphere over the years and for whatever reason, I just didn’t connect that they were all part of a series. For example, I picked up Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas at a book store one day and then I saw Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron on a bunch of blogs when it came out so I immediately added to me TBR.
But I just didn’t connect that those books were all part of this fun little Jane Austen mystery series until l started reading this book! When this one came across my desk for review, I thought it sounded fun and yes I saw that it said ‘final mystery’ but I was thinking maybe it was only like 3-4 books in the series. Then I saw it was book 15 of the series and that’s how I discovered that there were a bunch of others in the series that I had already had my eye on for quite some time!
Even though I knew this book was 15 into the series, I still felt like I wanted to read it. Normally I would pass and do a feature on the book instead if I felt like I was too far behind in the series to appreciate the book and give it a fair review. However, I was in the mood for a cozy mystery and since I had added so many of the other books in the series to my TBR—I thought—why not!
Summary
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.
Review
Full disclosure it was weird coming into this series late. Did it actually impact my review—I don’t think so, but I will say that I recommend reading some of the other books in the series before this one. The author did do a nice job keeping the focus on the current story rather than the larger series narrative but it was still evident that there was more that readers would appreciate if they started from the beginning. If you are a fan of Jane Austen—not just her books but a fan of her as a historical figure, you will be more familiar with some of her health issues and life circumstances. I appreciated how accurately the author wanted to keep the history of Jane Austen and her illness as well as her struggles. I think the author did a nice job humanizing Jane Austen as a character—-it’s easy to love her characters but this author makes you love Jane Austen the author.
I did think this book ran a little longer than necessary but I appreciated that it did come full circle to the beginning of the series. It was obvious that this book tied back to others and it made me want to go back and read the other books, especially the early books, so I could gain a full appreciation for the narrative and larger story. I think the mystery itself was straightforward and I loved that Jane the sleuth felt really authentic. The mystery had enough that held my attention and I enjoyed solving the mystery right along with Jane. She made for an entertaining sleuth even is she was in poor health. I really enjoyed a character that had her own personal things going on—so often female sleuths in other series are focused on being ‘the odd duck’ in their families or becoming a ‘spinster’ but in this book Jane is struggling with he declining health and I liked that depiction.
Overall I would recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and of course Jane Austen fans! But I would say reading the series from the beginning is preferable. I mean, it can be read as a standalone—-which is how I read it. But I felt like I missed some of the finer nuances of the larger narrative and some some things tied back to the early books, I think starting from the beginning would give readers a better context. But it you just want to read a fun cozy mystery a you love Jane Austen, then this is a must not miss for you!
Book Info and Rating
Format 255 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 24, 2023 by Soho Crime
ISBN 9781641295062 (ISBN10: 1641295066)
Free review copy provided by publisher, Soho Crime in partnership with Austen Prose Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 4 stars
PRAISE FOR JANE AND THE FINAL MYSTERY
- “Poignant . . . Elicits deep emotion out of Jane’s struggles against her own mortality. This is a fitting send-off for a beautifully realized series.”— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
- “Barron developed Jane’s narrative voice by reading Austen’s collected and published letters, and it is neither spoiler nor surprise to say that series readers will be sorry to say goodbye to Jane Austen, amateur sleuth.”— Booklist
- “[Barron] has brilliantly combined authentic historical and biographical details with skillful plotting and a credible evocation of Austen’s wry, distinctive voice. She brings the English author’s final investigation to a poignant, unforgettable close. Fans of this historical series will not be disappointed.”— First Clue
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS
AUTHOR BIO
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 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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