Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps I'm Prejudice?
Review: This is one of two historical mysteries featuring real people that I have read (Seneca Falls Inheritance being the other) and perhaps I just don't enjoy the genre. Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is contrived at best. There are far too many betooks and bethought me's (in one sentence, mind you!) for my taste. The real Jane Austen didn't write like that. It is missing the characteristic Jane voice that is sarcastic, feminist, judgemental and proper all at the same time. The footnotes and accuracies of Jane's life are interesting, but probably not interesting enough to make me pick up the second in the series. If you are a true Jane Austen fan, from Emma to Northanger Abbey, you'll probably read this book anyway, but I don't advise it. And if historical mysteries are your thing, it is probably worth your while. For everyone else, STAY AWAY!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Austen fans everywhere will love this series!
Review: This is the first in a consistently fabulous series, in which Jane Austen is the main character, and a brilliant sleuth at that!Barron, the author, does a superior job of catching both the ambience and the language of Austen's times and literature. Social satire underlies the series, as does an inherent respect for Jane herself. Occasional, and sparing enough not to become annoying, quotes or near-quotes from Austen's works creep into the dialog in a way that gives the Austen fan a happy twinge of wistful nostalgia, without disrupting the flow of the story. And the story itself is well worth the time--it's a rich mystery, with well developed plot, characters, environment, and dialog. The author goes out of her way, particularly in this first installment, to create a sense that this is truly a documentation of actual events--that Jane's letters, diaries, and other accounts have been woven together into a narrative to share with Austen fans an element of her life that was previously unknown. This is accomplished in a number of ways, including clever techniques and footnotes that do in fact contain historically accurate information about Jane, her family, the political and social context of her times, etc. I really enjoyed this book, as well as the rest of the series, and recommend it not only to Austen fans, but fans of well-written mysteries, as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Idea
Review: This was an interesting concept for a novel series. This first one was a little slow, but personalites and characters needed to be defined. Hopefully they will become quicker and more humorous (in keeping with Ms Austen's humor).
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Idea
Review: This was an interesting concept for a novel series. This first one was a little slow, but personalites and characters needed to be defined. Hopefully they will become quicker and more humorous (in keeping with Ms Austen's humor).
Rating: 
Summary: terrific premise, well executed
Review: What a wonderful idea -- the astute and observant Jane Austen as amateur detective in the English countryside! Of late I have been underwhelmed by several Austen homages and a few mystery novels, but author Stephanie Barron seems to have got it right on both fronts. While no one has ever duplicated Jane Austen's combination of wit and elegance, of the recent authors Ms. Barron comes closest in my opinion, though I do find her occasional use of sentences lifted directly from the original works disruptive. You can tell that Ms. Barron did her research, and she fluidly incorporates people and events from JA's life into the story in an entertaining way. In addition, the mystery is a good one, interesting and plausible. Personally I liked the footnotes, which are neither idiotic nor ubiquitous, as some have stated; there are approximately 40 notes, which are generally brief, informative and interesting -- and easily ignored if one so chooses. I thought the one weakness of the novel was Isobel, Jane's friend and the accused murderess in whose interest Jane acts. She pouts and whines and is inconstant -- certainly not the kind of person one would imagine appealing to Jane. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and will definitely read others in the series.
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