During the Facebook portion of the Sherlock Holmes book club discussion, we went on a tangent discussing historical mystery series, and one of the recommendations that came up was the Jane Austen mysteries. Based on mutual like of other series, I decided to give it a shot.
Overall, it was a delightful novel, and I think the author did an admirable job of using Jane Austen in a respectful manner in this first novel. I recognized a few turns of phrases that were direct nods to the some of her novels, and also recognized characters that reminded me of Jane Austen’s. Given that this novel is set in 1802/1803, I think Barron does a great job of introducing characters that are similar enough to Austen’s characters to present them as potential inspirations for Austen’s characters later in life without being copies of them. One example specifically that this is the case for is Lieutenant Hearst and Fanny, whose flirtation is slightly reminiscent of Wickham and Lydia while still very much being its own separate thing.
She also has turns of phrase that I think Austen herself would have enjoyed, such as this description of one of more tedious women in the story: “we may perhaps impute her husband’s demise these two years past to a surfeit of his lady’s conversation.”
As far as the actual plot, shortly after ending a 24 hour engagement, Jane visits a newly married friend who has recently returned from her honeymoon and is hosting a winter ball/celebration with her husband at their country home, Scargrave Manor. Unfortunately, the celebration is short lived when Lady Isobel Scargrave’s husband Frederick takes ill the night of the party and dies by dawn of the next day. While Jane thinks his death rather violent and sudden, no one questions it, including his doctor, until her friend receives a note accusing her of murder and of having a lover.
To protect her friend, Jane starts asking questions around the household. As the evidence against Isobel and her husband’s nephew and heir (whom she did indeed have feelings for) mounts, Jane tries to find other suspects, and there are quite a few in the household that could potentially gain from the Earl’s death and the disposition of his heir. Granted, Isobel herself was rather bland to me – kind of like Jane Bennett. It probably didn’t help that one of the first things we learn about Isobel is that she is having some business issues with a Lord Trowbridge. Isobel is from Barbados, and due to some of her deceased father’s decisions, her estate is in debt. Trowbridge has collected all those debts, and is trying to press his advantage to take over her property. Isobel is very upset about his persistence, but I didn’t exactly have much pity for a woman who has married well being asked to pay off her debts or lose her childhood home (especially when she lists one of the reasons for their misfortune as “unrest among the slaves who work the estate”).
The novel also addresses some of the other, darker sides of nobility and some of the things they can occasionally get away with due to titles and money (or the promise of money). Austen is not naive or innocent to many of these circumstances, and is not surprised that her questions reveal hidden dynamics.
I still have a huge backlog of other unread novels, but once I work through a few of those or next time I feel like a historical mystery, I will definitely be continuing this series.