Preview: Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron, by Stephanie Barron

Good news Janeites! The four year wait for the next novel in the Jane Austen Mysteries series by Stephanie Barron is almost over. On September 28th, 2010, Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron will be available to quell that consuming need to feed your murder and mayhem meets Austen passion.

Marking the tenth book in this critically acclaimed series, the story set in 1813 throws Jane into a murder investigation in Brighton (oh, won’t Kitty & Lydia Bennet be thrilled) involving that infamous mad, bad and dangerous to know poet of the Regency-era. Here is the publisher’s description:

The restorative power of the ocean draws Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry to the seaside, after Henry’s wife Eliza is lost to a long illness. But Brighton, a glittering resort overrun by London’s Fashionables, is scarcely peaceful. Not long after their arrival, Jane finds herself caught up in the town’s turmoil when the body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered, lifeless, in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon—otherwise known as Lord Byron.

Byron has already carved out a shocking reputation for himself, both as a poet and as a seducer of women—swooning legions of whom seem to follow wherever he treads. Yet until this moment, no one thought him capable of murder. Now it falls to Jane to pursue this puzzling investigation and discover just how “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Byron truly is. And she must do so without falling victim to the charming versifier’s legendary charisma, lest she too become a cautionary example for the ages.

I for one am swooning over the beautiful cover (Is that out Jane looking so seductively fetching?) and all anticipation of yet another thrilling whodunit involving our Bardess of Basingstoke solving murderous deeds.

• Read the first chapter online
• Visit author Stephanie Barron’s website
• Pre-order your copy of Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron today!