Jane and His Lordship's Legacy (Jane Austen Mysteries)

I have enjoyed every one of Stephanie Barron's fine mystery series and this book is no exception. In fact, this may be my favorite of the series. The mystery is well-written but, for me, this is not the true attraction of the novel--and it never has been for this series. Rather, I am always enthralled by Barron's ability to bring Austen back to life. Barron's grasp of Austen and her world is phenomenal. Her Jane always rings true and there are many echoes of the sentiments and expressions in this series that let the reader know that Barron is truly knowledgeable about her main character. That Barron has a great deal of affection for Jane also comes through and Jane comes alive as a witty, intelligent, and fascinating woman who is also flawed. Barron's Austen is not above bouts of pettiness and impatience and Barron serves Austen all the better for it. Anyone who enjoys and reveres Austen will likely enjoy these books immensely for Barron does an exemplary job of making Austen real and giving fervent Austen fans what they most crave--more of the fine brain and insight that characterize Austen's works. If we cannot have more Austen novels, we are yet very fortunate to have Barron's series. What really sets this book apart is the maturity that Jane shows. Barron has deftly and seemingly effortlessly written a work that mirrors the sometimes melancholy, often bittersweet, and decidely autumnal feel that characterizes Austen's late work Persuasion. Barron's Jane is not sorry for the choices she has made but has seen much and has such a keen self-awareness that she knows all that she has lost. Though Jane's relationship with Lord Harold Trowbridge is fictional, the details of her dependence on her brothers and her frustrated attempts at publishing during her lifetime are not and Barron gives voice to Jane's feelings on these subjects. Lest I give Barron short shrift, the central mystery of the story is well constructed and engaging. Barron, like Austen, shows the reader the constraints of the class structure of the day and the lengths to which people were willing to go to climb up the society ladder. Jane's bequest is both a blessing and a curse for it brings her closer to the man she loved and lost but it also imperils her because it contains provocative details that could make or break some of society's most powerful. At heart, this is a story of greed and ambition and though it is set hundreds of years ago its themes are still very contemporary.

Stephanie Barron has done a marvelous job, novel after novel, of bringing not only Jane Austen's world to life, but also the beloved author herself. Barron has perfectly imbued Jane Austen as a would-be detective, a woman whose keen intellect cuts through murder and mystery alike. "Jane and His Lordship's Legacy", the eighth novel in the series, is just as fresh and enjoyable as the ones that preceeded it. Upon the death of Lord Harold Trowbridge, Jane finds herself the recipient of his papers - all his journals and letters are left to her in his will, in an effort that she may sort through them and write his memoirs. Yet there are plenty of confederates, and enemies, of the Rogue who would do anything to know what was written about them by Lord Harold. As if the job of protecting his legacy from prying eyes wasn't burden enough, Jane finds that she and her mother as less than welcome in their new abode in the town of Chawton. Indeed, when Jane discovers the corpse of a man within the house's cellar on her first day in residence, she knows that someone is trying to paint the Austens in a negative light. And when the chest of Lord Harold's papers is stolen within mere days of her residency, Jane knows the murder and the burglary must be connected. As with all mysteries, another murder follows that confuses all of Jane's suppositions, and finds her racing to stop a murderer and to recover her lordship's legacy. "Jane and Her Lordship's Legacy" is a worthy addition to the series Stephanie Barron has created. While she obviously takes liberties with Austen's life, and those of some characters around her, the majority of the storyline is based on established fact, and the created aspects are within keeping of Jane Austen. At times the language may be forced to fit or the descriptions befitting the time period become too bulky for the narrative, but on the whole Barron's writing vividly evokes Austen's day. It is a boon for fans who know there is no more original Austen works to be read.

The joy in reading Stephanie Barron's excellent Jane Austen mystery series, for me, lies not always in the mystery at hand (though they are rather good), but rather in the manner in which Ms Barron has successfully and brilliantly captured the inimitable Miss Austen's prose style, the manner in which she describes scenes and incidents and the manner in which she vividly portrays her characters. No one, to my mind, has ever successfully recaptured Jane Austen's voice to such an extent. And Stephanie Barron deserves all the praise for her hard work (I especially enjoy all those footnotes) and all her meticulous research. "Jane and His Lordship's Legacy," the latest Jane Austen mystery, was a joy to read. It takes place in 1809, when Jane and her mother had moved to the village of Chawton in Hampshire, where Jane's brother, Edward, owns property. Edward has decided to move his female relatives into his dead bailiff's cottage in Chawton village, thus displacing the bailiff's widow, and provoking much displeasure amongst the villagers. Jane, still grieving privately for the death of Lord Harold Trowridge, a gentleman with whom she had solved several mysteries, and whom she had come to love quite deeply, is quite thrown to discover that the villagers view the Austens with suspicion and displeasure; and further, that residing in Chawton is one Jack Hinton, who claims that he, and not Jane's brother Edward, is the rightful heir to all the Hampshire estates that Edward will inherit from his rich relatives, the Knights, who had adopted Edward at an early age as their heir. If that is not all, on the very day that the Austen women move into their new abode, Jane receives a visit from Lord Trowbridge's lawyer and learns that Lord Trowbridge has left her all his papers and letters, so that she may write a memoir of his life. Lord Trowbridge's relatives are in an uproar over the legacy and have allowed people to believe that Jane was once Trowbridge's lover. Undeterred by all the malicious gossip surrounding her (to her mother's chagrin), Jane is resolved to read Trowbridge's letter and diaries and to write memoir that he believed only she could write. But even before Jane can delve into his lordship's papers, she discovers the dead body of a labourer is her cellar. A coroner's inquest reveals that the dead man, Shafto French, was murdered. Who killed him, and why was he left in Austens' cellar? Even as a very curious Jane considers these questions, the chest containing Trowbridge's papers is stolen. This coincides with the arrival of the enigmatic Julian Thrace, a gentleman whom it is rumoured is the new heir to the Earl of Holbrook, and his half-sister, Lady Imogen (the Earl's acknowledged daughter), whom Julian would displace as heiress to her father's riches. Could the theft be tied to the newcomers' presence? The quiet village of Chawton is suddenly hopping with activity! Nonetheless, Jane is determined to solve the mystery of the dead man in her cella

This latest book in the Jane Austen detective series is better than the previous entry ("Ghosts of Netley"). This book picks up with Jane and her mother moving into Chawton House - where Jane was to spend the last eight or so years of her life. Jane is, of course, mourning the death of Harold Trowbridge, but soon finds more than enough happening in Chawton to distract her. The family is given a cold welcome in Chawton, where her brother/landlord Edward Austen-Knight is held not to have paid sufficient attention to the villagers' needs. In addition, she is saddled with the bequest of Trowbridge's personal papers and the request to write his memoirs, not to mention a dead body in the cellar! High points of this book: a well-plotted mystery with multitudes of suspects, the reunion of most of Jane's siblings as they help her figure out the mystery, riveting excerpts from Lord Harold's letters and diaries... do I need to add more? It's really good and, I would say, a high point in the series.

Edward Austin, Jane's wealthy brother, possesses the freehold of every house in Chawton Village; he gives his sister and their mother the cottage of the late bailiff, dispossessing is wife which made the villagers irate. The female Austins believe the renovated cottage will make a happy home for them, a new beginning of sorts. On their first day in their new home, a lawyer visits Jane with a Bengal trunk that contains the letters, dairies, and miscellaneous papers of Lord Harold Trowbridge, the only man Jane ever loved. Realizing that the trunk contains items that people would kill to own, she has it taken to the basement where they find a dead body. That same night while dining at the magistrate's house, someone steals the trunk and a laborer is arrested for the crime. A new arrival Justin Thrace arouses gossip and suspicion because he claims to be the Earl of Holbrook's heir. He and his half-sister Imogen are riding when she is thrown from her horse and dies because a thorn was placed beneath the saddle. Justin runs from the law after people accuse him of placing the thorn there. Jane learns that the corpse in the cellar was placed there by Mr. Hinton. As she makes inquiries she thinks the real killer has yet to surface. Stephanie Barron gives a realistic portrayal of how impoverished genteel folks lived in Regency England. The investigation into the murders enables Jane to temporarily take her mind off the death of her beloved Harold. Though somewhat overly scattered with the motive coming late, the who-done-it is cleverly conceived inside of a fast-paced plot populated by eccentric likable characters making for a gem of a historical amateur sleuth. Harriet Klausner