Mysterious Maladies, Masquerades, and Mayhem

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Review Copy from Blog Tour

TYPE OF NOVEL: Mystery, Jane Austen as a Main Character

SERIES: Being A Jane Austen Mystery #14 (while it is a much richer experience to read these novels in order, they can easily be read out-of-order and standalone).

THE PREMISE: In need of some rest and self-care Jane Austen arranges for her and Cassandra to spend a two-week holiday in the spa town of Cheltenham. Hoping to witness the restorative properties of taking the waters in Cheltenham firsthand, Jane Austen instead witnesses some strange and intriguing goings-on with the other guests at their lodgings…

WHAT I LOVED:

• So Factual!: With setting her story during an actual two-week holiday that Jane Austen took with Cassandra, incorporating pertinent and known events about Jane Austen’s family and life, and framing it all within relevant historical details of Regency England in 1816, this story feels like it is just as much a biographical work as it is a work of fiction. Throughout this entire series Stephanie Barron has been meticulous and thorough with her research and attention to detail. And yet, I’m still always in awe with how many details of this story originate from true events, and how seamlessly and effortlessly they are woven into the storyline.

• Intrigue Is All Around: For some, this might be an everyday assortment of guesthouse borders, but for Jane Austen’s acute powers of observation – there is plenty to imagine and suppose about these new acquaintances. I loved seeing Jane Austen’s mind at work as she encounters these new characters – how she tries to infer their relationships, backgrounds, and purposes. Even before there is a mystery to solve or suspicions to follow, Jane Austen is practicing sketching the characters of all that surround her.

• Brilliantly Balanced: With the mystery, story-lines about Jane Austen’s health and the fate of her brother, Charles hanging in the balance, and a possible romance or two, there were so many interesting and important components to combine in this tale. And Stephanie Barron balanced and blended all these components together beautifully. I loved the touches of romance found with some couples, especially with Jane Austen and Mr. Raphael West.

• Deft and Delicate: I absolutely adore Stephanie Barron’s writing style. To write in Jane Austen’s style is already a daunting task, but to also emulate her tone and portray events from her perspective firsthand, is something that only the bravest and most skilled authors can undertake. And I think many of us would agree that Stephanie Barron excels at it. She has mastered both Jane Austen’s elegance and economy with words. Her writing is wonderfully succinct yet revealing. I loved spotting some familiar phrases or nods to Jane Austen’s own quotes periodically inserted into the narrative, it always happens with delicate subtlety and was never pretentious or contrived.

WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:

• Small Quibbles: My only small quibbles would be that it took awhile for the actual mystery to begin (which maybe can’t be helped because of the story’s timeline) and that I had some unanswered questions in the end (mostly to do with the guilt and/or innocence of some characters).

CONCLUSION:

With Jane and the Year Without a Summer, Stephanie Barron delivers another enthralling and expertly-executed mystery for our beloved authoress to use her keen insight and astute knowledge of human nature to solve. The Being a Jane Austen Mystery series is a fascinating and illuminating series that divulges all the unknown intrigues of Jane Austen’s life, and I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t done so already. It is heartrending to think about this series coming to an end, and I hope we are not there just yet! 15 or better yet, 16 is a much more round number on which to end…

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My sincere gratitude to Laurel Ann Nattress of Austenprose PR for putting this lovely blog tour together and inviting me to take part!