Jane and the Year Without a Summer Published by Soho Crime by Stephanie Barron
Series: Jane Austen Mysteries #14
on February 8, 2022
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Historical, Regency
Pages: 336
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC, Paperback
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Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
ISBN: 1641292474
Rating:
If you have a Jane Austen-would-have-been-my-best-friend complex, look no further . . . [Barron] has painstakingly sifted through the famed author's letters and writings, as well as extensive biographical information, to create a finely detailed portrait of Austen's life--with a dash of fictional murder . . . Some of the most enjoyable, well-written fanfic ever created.--O Magazine May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript--about a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain--cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra.
Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged, however. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own--some of them deadly. But perhaps with Jane's interference a terrible crime might be prevented. Set during the Year without a Summer, when the eruption of Mount Tambora in the South Pacific caused a volcanic winter that shrouded the entire planet for sixteen months, this fourteenth installment in Stephanie Barron's critically acclaimed series brings a forgotten moment of Regency history to life.
So, I’m going to admit that I was a little nervous that, because this is the 14th book in the Jane Austen Mystery series, that I would have a difficult time getting into it.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This mystery, featuring an amazingly relatable portrayal of Jane Austen, had me from the very first page.
How is it that this book, about a fictional Jane Austen, can make me fall even more in love with Jane Austen? I don’t know, but–I’ll just call it magic.
This cozy mystery was just what I didn’t know that I wanted. Poor Jane’s health is suffering in this book, so she heads to find healing at Chaltenham Spa with her sister.
From this point, the plot takes a dive towards murder and intrigue that just brings out the author’s strength–keeping Jane Austen alive. With her wit and smarts, I know that I have no choice now but to read every other book in this series.
About Stephanie Barron
Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written twenty-five books, including five novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, and Death on Nantucket) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the penname, Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
14th books?! That’s really amazing!
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