QUICK FACTS
Title: Jane
and the Final Mystery
Series: Being
a Jane Austen Mystery (Book 15)
Author: Stephanie
Barron
Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque Fiction
Publisher: Soho
Crime (October 24, 2023)
Length: (312)
pages
Format: Hardcover,
eBook, & audiobook
ISBN: 978-1641295055
Tour Dates: October
16 – 31, 2023
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.
MY REVIEW
Jane and
The Final mystery is the culmination of a series 30 years in the making that I
have only been recently introduced to. The heroine is none other than Miss
Austen herself and this one occurs very shortly before her death.
Her
rapier wit is every present on the page as she tries to help discover the truth
of a school boy's death. The son of her friend is implicated and it is up to
her nephew and herself to discover the truth before it is too late. This story
has an emotional depth, both in Jane's empathy to her friend and to the situation,
but also in her own personal struggle with her health and with the family's
finances.
As she
is written, Jane is ever as witty and thoughtful as our favorite of her
heroines. There is no romance, but there is a strong mystery, good friendships,
and a thoughtful conclusion. This is a proper send off to this author who makes
a good heroine herself. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and found myself
turning page after page in order to figure it out.
I highly
recommend this delightful mystery that has a proper twist as any good mystery
should. I received an early copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this
is my honest review.
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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