Jane and the Final Mystery (Being a Jane Austen Mystery #15) (Hardcover)

Description

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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.

About the Author

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Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history. A former intelligence analyst at the CIA, she is the author of thirty novels, including the critically acclaimed Merry Folger series, which she writes under the name Francine Mathews. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Visit her online at www.stephaniebarron.com.

Praise For…

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Praise for Stephanie Barron

“Witty, immaculately researched.”
—USA Today

“Barron nails the period. She talks the talk and knows her history.”
—The Boston Globe

"Wonderful . . . echoing the rhythms of the Austen novels with uncanny."
—Entertainment Weekly

“Some of the most enjoyable, well-written fanfic ever created.”
—O Magazine

“Sings with not just a good plot but courtly language and an engaging group of characters worthy of the famed novelist herself . . . A first-rate mystery with so many twists and turns that you can hardly blame a reader who doesn't figure it out until the end.”
—The Denver Post

"Ingenious in plot—Barron plays fair with clues in this intriguing whodunit—Jane’s latest adventure offers readers still more: a glimpse of holiday celebrations of two centuries ago, a pleasant excursion into the lives of Britons and a collection of well-drawn characters. Add Barron’s deft imitation of her subject’s prose style, and you have a novel that its subject may well have admired."
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Splendid fun!"
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[A]n excellent period mystery for all historical fiction fans . . . Jane Austen devotees will especially appreciate immersing themselves in the many biographical details about Austen that accompany the fictional murder mystery."
—Library Journal, Starred Review

"Vivid characters propel the subtle plot to its surprising conclusion. The first-person narration captures Austen’s tone as revealed in her letters: candid, loving, and occasionally acerbic."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review