From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
Lace hankies at the ready, Janeites. Releasing on October 24th is the fifteenth and concluding novel in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Jane and the Final Mystery. Author Stephanie Barron has written a poignant, compelling, and uplifting story for the last book in a series that began in 1996 with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. We have faithfully read and reviewed all of the books—following Jane, her family, and the Regency society in which she lived
through so many travails and enlightening investigations.
After close to thirty years, it is bittersweet to say a fond farewell to Jane Austen amateur sleuth. Each of the immaculately researched mysteries are standalone stories, so please do not hesitate to jump right in with book fifteen, and then circle back to any of the previous novels. You won’t be disappointed.
Best, LA
BOOK DESCRIPTION
The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys’ boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?
Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.
PRAISE FOR JANE AND THE FINAL MYSTERY
- “Poignant . . . Elicits deep emotion out of Jane’s struggles against her own mortality. This is a fitting send-off for a beautifully realized series.”— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
- “Barron developed Jane’s narrative voice by reading Austen’s collected and published letters, and it is neither spoiler nor surprise to say that series readers will be sorry to say goodbye to Jane Austen, amateur sleuth.”— Booklist
- “[Barron] has brilliantly combined authentic historical and biographical details with skillful plotting and a credible evocation of Austen’s wry, distinctive voice. She brings the English author’s final investigation to a poignant, unforgettable close. Fans of this historical series will not be disappointed.”— First Clue
AUTHOR BIO
Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford, where she received her Masters in History as an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow in the Humanities. Her novel, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN (Ballantine, January 22, 2019) traces the turbulent career of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill’s captivating American mother. Barron is perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Jane Austen Mystery Series, in which the intrepid and witty author of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE details her secret detective career in Regency England. A former intelligence analyst for the CIA, Stephanie—who also writes under the name Francine Mathews—drew on her experience in the field of espionage for such novels as JACK 1939, which The New Yorker described as “the most deliciously high-concept thriller imaginable.” She lives and works in Denver, CO.
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BOOK INFORMATION
- Jane and the Final Mystery: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (Book 15), by Stephanie Barron
- Soho Crime (October 24, 2023)
- Hardcover, eBook, & Audiobook (312)
- ISBN: 978-1641295055
- Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque Fiction
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | GOODREADS
Are you curious about the other fourteen novels in the Being a Jane Austen Mystery series? You can read reviews of them all right here on Austenprose.com.
We received a review copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Cover image, book description, & author bio courtesy of Soho Crime © 2023; text Laurel Ann Nattress © 2023, austenprose.com, an Amazon affiliate.
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Austenprose 
Yes, it was with bittersweet joy I picked up this final book in the series.
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I enjoyed this last book in the series and have every intention on circling back to the beginning. I’ve already purchased the first book in the series. 😊
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