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168th out of 419 books
—
401 voters
Jane and the Barque of Frailty (Jane Austen Mysteries #9)
In her latest spellbinding escapade, Jane Austen arrives in London to watch over the printing of her first novel, and finds herself embroiled in a crime that could end more than her career. For it is up to Jane to tease a murderer out of the ton, lest she—and her country—suffer a dastardly demise.…
On the heels of completing Sense and Sensibility, Jane heads to Sloane Stree...more
On the heels of completing Sense and Sensibility, Jane heads to Sloane Stree...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
November 28th 2006
by Bantam
(first published 2006)
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The latest outing of our intrepid Jane Austen into the role of sleuth is wonderful!
Still mourning her unrequited love Lord Harold, Jane is visiting her brother Henry and his wife Eliza, and - surprise! - becomes involved in a murder.
And not an ordinary murder either, mind you, but the murder of a Russian princess believed to be the mistress of a prominent English politician, with her bloody body left on his very doorstep!
The mystery, and Jane's activities in ferreting out the murderer are highly...more
Still mourning her unrequited love Lord Harold, Jane is visiting her brother Henry and his wife Eliza, and - surprise! - becomes involved in a murder.
And not an ordinary murder either, mind you, but the murder of a Russian princess believed to be the mistress of a prominent English politician, with her bloody body left on his very doorstep!
The mystery, and Jane's activities in ferreting out the murderer are highly...more
I had never encountered this series before with its conceit of Jane Austen as Regency detective writing autobiographical accounts of her cases and Stephanie Barron editing those manuscripts with historical annotations. The library only had volumes well into the series, so I had to take #9 rather than starting at the beginning. But I was mightily impressed and diverted by it all the same. Barron has a splendid ability to take the copious historical material about Austen's life and family and the...more
A unique idea using a much beloved Jane Austen as a sleuth! Ms. Barron successfully imitates the vernacular of 19th century England as Jane narrates the story of the suspicious death of Russian Princess Evgenia Tshoikova. However, this historical tale has some incredulous moments, but overall is a sweet cozy mystery for Austen fans.
At the height of 1811 Season, Jane Austen is in London supervising the publication of Sense and Sensibility and scandal has the ton (High Society) in uproar. A Rus
...more
I was prejudiced against this novel because of its conceit - Jane Austen, Regency-era authoress, as heroine of mystery novels? But it was inexpensive and a possible item to review for The Primgraph, so I picked it up. And I must confess myself charmed, and not a little drawn in to the delicately archaic style of the writing. The novel is intelligent and steeped in history (complete with the occasional helpful footnote!) and I shall have to look up more of them. I am not certain whether this was...more
This book is a real treat for fans of Jane Austen and mystery books alike. The Barque of Frailty is book nine in Barron’s Being A Jane Austen Mystery series. I wish I had started at the beginning, but I will certainly enjoy going back to the start.
Barron does a brilliant job of weaving together the facts of Austen’s life with her imagined world of political intrigue – her research is superb. Austen does not play a typical murder mystery detective, but rather uses her wit and imagination to get...more
Barron does a brilliant job of weaving together the facts of Austen’s life with her imagined world of political intrigue – her research is superb. Austen does not play a typical murder mystery detective, but rather uses her wit and imagination to get...more
At first I was intrigued with the title. Midway through the book I learned that barque of frailty meant a mistress in the slang of the early 1800's. A Russian princess is found dead, her throat slit, in front of someone's house. Letters are published that are reputedly between the woman and the owner of the house in front of which she was found. To Jane's astonishment, she and her sister-in-law are implicated in the murder. In order to free themselves, they must discover who is the actual murder...more
3.5 stars I have read all 9 books in this series and have thoroughly enjoyed every one. Being somewhat of a purist, I may have rolled my eyes and avoided this series, which casts Jane Austen in the roll of crime-solving Regency era sleuth..Not typically my thing but these novels are so smart, unpredictable, well-written, and true to the Regency style that a Jane Austen lover cannot help but eat them up. I find Barron's Jane Austen persona thoroughly engaging and totally believable. This is a cha...more
"Jane and the Barque of Frailty" finds Jane visiting Henry and Eliza in London while she is supervising the printing of "Sense and Sensibility." And, as we have come to expect from our heroine, Jane becomes entangled in a mysterious murder. The Russian Princess Tcholikova is found dead on the doorstep of a reputed lover and everyone seems convinced that she did herself harm; everyone, that is, except for Jane. What Jane does not see coming is the accusation that she and her sister Eliza were res...more
Here we are at the ninth novel in the Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron’s sagacious slant on “our dear Jane” as a sleuth!
The spring of 1811 finds Jane in London staying with her banker-brother Henry Austen and his sophisticated wife Eliza at their residence on Sloane Street preparing her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, for publication. While attending a performance of Macbeth at the Theatre Royal at Covent Garden, it is difficult to determine who is the bigger draw to the...more
The spring of 1811 finds Jane in London staying with her banker-brother Henry Austen and his sophisticated wife Eliza at their residence on Sloane Street preparing her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, for publication. While attending a performance of Macbeth at the Theatre Royal at Covent Garden, it is difficult to determine who is the bigger draw to the...more
This book is number 9 in a series featuring Jane Austen as an amateur sleuth in regency England. The books are presented under the guise of being the formerly lost journals that Jane Austen kept during life. I really enjoy this series. Stephanie Barron is quite adept at producing Jane Austen like prose – rarely overdoing it and striking the same wry tone. And I have to admit that I am almost more fond of Jane Austen than I am of her books and the Jane presented in this series is wonderful and se...more
Dec 10, 2007
Jen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of Regency England, Jane Austen, and murder mysteries.
Shelves:
mystery
Loved it! This latest of Stephanie Barron's Austen mysteries is on par with the others, which is a relief when a series gets to be this long.
Normally I'd scoff a bit at someone making Jane Austen a main character of a series of murder mysteries, but Barron manages to make Jane both believable for her time and an interesting character in her own right. Add in the fascinating way she weaves the events in her novels in with Jane's real life as documented in letters and biographies, and you have som...more
Normally I'd scoff a bit at someone making Jane Austen a main character of a series of murder mysteries, but Barron manages to make Jane both believable for her time and an interesting character in her own right. Add in the fascinating way she weaves the events in her novels in with Jane's real life as documented in letters and biographies, and you have som...more
I have read all 9 of the "Jane" books and I have to admit that this was not my favorite. Still it was a good read. Although these books stand up well on their own, I would recommend you read them in order. It gives much of Jane Austen's life and history, so, of course, previous events are referenced. I found Jane's history as intersting as the mysteries she solves.
Loved the author's writing style. Her voice was believable for the time period and she is well researched. The plot was engaging and well paced. And who doesn't love having Jane Austen as a heroine? Very cleverly written! I will definitely be reading more from her!
I really like this author and have read the whole series thus far. I gave it a 3 star rating because I felt the plot wasn't as strong as some of the other books. The author does an excellent job of weaving truth & fiction and I will keep reading this series!
You will like this book if you like history, tales from times past, and intrigue. It's British through and through, and the language reflects that. So if you don't like that kind of book, don't even pick it up. Very well written and loads of historical facts. Loved it, as I do all of Barron's "Jane" novels.
Although I've long been a fan of the Austen mysteries, and much as I like the way this installment has Jane starting to come into her own as a novelist - the plot in this one is much more melodramatic and seemingly incomprehensible.
This is more like a 3 1/2, but it gets a 3. I've enjoyed the Jane Austen mysteries overall, and this one wasn't any different. I had a harder time with the last one, being the first without Lord Harold (if I remember right), and I felt like that book kind of suffered for it. But this one got back into the swing of things. The mystery was good, Jane was entertaining as always, and I solved it before the end. This time some of the mystery-solving a little unbelievable, though. Much as Jane was adv...more
I picked this up at the used book store (The Book-Off) and I totally enjoyed it! I like how Stephanie Barron puts little footnotes (?) at the bottom so that you know the lingo or a certain historical fact. I downloaded the first three Jane Austen mysteries on the Kindle and I can't wait.
This is the last in the Jane Austen mysteries so far. It give us an interesting look as to how Jane does on her own solving mysteries, especially when she is a suspect. It did take a little long to get to the end. But once again, Stephanie Barron does include a male character who can match wits with Jane. It would be nice if she would make this character the villain for a change.
I've enjoyed tis series in the past, but this one was definitely subpar. I figured out the killer halfway through, and I never figure out a mystery. Also, I'm not sure she tied up all the lose ends.
Russian maid named Druschka, really? Druschka, my ass!
Why, oh why it's so hard to do a little tiny bitty research when writing about russians?
UPD. Oh, my. Her surname is Molova (Druschka, btw, is given as her full name). Feat. Prince Pirov and count Kronsky.
And another 'oh, my' - there's a dead russian princess with a surname that sounds like an american idea of russian language. But actually she is noble nobody, who appears ine the novel only to be killed ten pages later.
But nevertheless her...more
Why, oh why it's so hard to do a little tiny bitty research when writing about russians?
UPD. Oh, my. Her surname is Molova (Druschka, btw, is given as her full name). Feat. Prince Pirov and count Kronsky.
And another 'oh, my' - there's a dead russian princess with a surname that sounds like an american idea of russian language. But actually she is noble nobody, who appears ine the novel only to be killed ten pages later.
But nevertheless her...more
Historical - Barron does well. Suspense - Barron needs to work at this. Barron's elaborate descriptions of all things historical come at the expense of suspense.
Good Regency fun, centered around a mystery rather than a romance. Jane Austen makes an excellent narrator, and I found the early 18th century vocabulary to be quite educational!
As the series has progressed, the author's voice has strengthened and her style has become more assured. The occasional quotes from Austen's books still tend to feel slightly awkward, but fans will hardly complain. The mystery was compelling and satisfying. I've read a few mysteries from the point of view of the runner or policeman trying to look in on the affairs of London's high society to solve crimes. This is the first time I've come across the point of view of the society lady acting from t...more
This book was just okay. I wanted a fun light read and I didn't love the writing style or story (and I got bogged down in all the details).
I continue to thoroughly enjoy this series. This one is set in London for a change--and despite the many aristocratic characters, it's the real London of the time, stinky & dark with soot & full of poverty.
All the misspelling was annoying. I can't believe this is part of a series. One of the worst stories I've read in a long time.
The only one of the Jane Austen knock-offs that I like. The writing style is very close to Austen and the situations seem plausible.
The least satisfying/interesting of all of the Jane Austen mysteries. A shame with it being the last of the series.
Guilty pleasures. The Jane Austen mysteries are well-written, so I don't feel guilty reading them.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Jane Austen Sequels: Jane and the Barque of Frailty: Being a Jane Austen Mystery #9, by Stephanie Barron | 1 | 1 | Oct 16, 2012 06:57pm |
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Stephanie Barron was born Francine Stephanie Barron in Binghamton, NY in 1963, the last of six girls. Her father was a retired general in the Air Force, her mother a beautiful woman who loved to dance. The family spent their summers on Cape Cod, where two of the Barron girls...more
More about Stephanie Barron...
Stephanie Barron was born Francine Stephanie Barron in Binghamton, NY in 1963, the last of six girls. Her father was a retired general in the Air Force, her mother a beautiful woman who loved to dance. The family spent their summers on Cape Cod, where two of the Barron girls...more
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