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Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House (Jane Austen Mysteries #6)
In her sixth engrossing outing, Jane Austen employs her delicious wit and family ties to the Royal Navy in a case of murder on the high seas. Somewhere in the picturesque British port of Southampton, among a crew of colorful, eccentric, and fiercely individual souls, a killer has come ashore. And only Jane can fathom the depths of his ruthless mind....
Jane and the Prisoner...more
Jane and the Prisoner...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
October 29th 2002
by Crimeline
(first published 2001)
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In the winter of 1807, we find Jane Austen in the seaport of Southampton living in hired lodgings while her brother Francis Austen’s new residence is made ready for them at Castle Square. The Austen women (Jane, sister Cassandra, their widowed mother and a dear family friend Martha Lloyd), will all be residing together under her brothers kind graces. He is at present a landlocked Royal Navy post captain anxiously awaiting his next assignment, and his first child.
News has reached Frank of a possi...more
News has reached Frank of a possi...more
a pretty good yarn! I learned quite a bit about English Maritime history of that period and Barron really does carry off the Jane Austen characterizations and period details and mannerisms very well. After sort of avoiding the series for quite some time, somewhat convinced of its in-authenicity, I find now I was quite wrong and have really been enjoying it, enough in fact to have picked up another one... Jane and the Stillroom Maid, although I am finding that I'd be better off reading #1 first,...more
I'll admit it. I groaned a little to myself when I read the book sleeve's description of Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House. Royal Navy? Yuck. Murder on the high seas? Blech. I was fully prepared to dislike the book on the whole and have to force myself to trudge through it's nearly 300 pages.
But . . . I was wrong. The book was fast-paced and so not over my head with naval details, terms and settings. Furthermore, for the first time in reading Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mystery series, I wa...more
But . . . I was wrong. The book was fast-paced and so not over my head with naval details, terms and settings. Furthermore, for the first time in reading Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mystery series, I wa...more
I've liked this one best so far and thought it merited a few lines of review. The naval and maritime period details are marvelous--The researcher in me continues to be tickled by the idea of all those fine academic studies of obscure British history and Austen biographies providing the raw material for historical mystery like this. I haven't read the whole series yet but I think I like the ones without Sir Harold better--I find him a bit too unreal in comparison with the other factional characte...more
Okay, got sucked into this on the Jane Austen line and ended up enjoying it. The language was very true to Jane Austen and the story was interesting. It was a mystery of Jane Austen's brother's friend accusted of murder. Had characters of Austen's real-life and characters displaying traits of her novels. Got a kick out of it. A few twists of the plot were plausible and the ending a surprise but not far-fetched.
Oct 22, 2011
Carmen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-and-thrillers
In the sixth book of the series, Jane must discover how to prove the innocence of her brother's friend. He was accused of killing a French captain, after he had surrended. Instead Jane finds out all this intrigue and that it had nothing to do with the "Monster", Napoleon, as first thought.
I thought the Jane series had gotten tired, but I quite enjoyed this one. Perhaps I merely needed a vacation from them.
Plot wandered - my patience for plot twists and red herrings in mysteries is not infinite - but characters and period details more than compensated.
Plot wandered - my patience for plot twists and red herrings in mysteries is not infinite - but characters and period details more than compensated.
Barron has the Austen era language down pretty well. Seemed to be historicall accurate, though I'm not a student of history and may not know better. It was fun to imagine Jane Austen engaging in everyday occurances and out of the ordinary events.
Sixth one....loved it.....I love the relationship with Jane and Lord Harold. These are such great simple reads that they keep me coming back for more. I'm hooked on this series...will I ever read a classic again? I need to get back on track but while I'm derailed I'm having a lot of fun.
Reading Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austin sleuth is always a breath of fresh air. The reader gets quality writing and quality editing, a great story, murder without graphic details, and creativity that permits you to use your imagination.
Very good. I think Barron's Jane has really grown over the books and taken on a life of her own. This particular mystery involves naval matters and is full of lots and lots of period tidbits to please those fans of ships and battles.
i am retarded and didn't realize it was the 6th in a series when i grabbed it off the shelf, but now i have a lot of catching up to do which is fine by me. I'v managed to read the inkspell books out of order and still grasped the plot.
This was also a pretty good book. Though I will admit that the stories that do not have Lord Harold in them seem to be a little slower than when he is in them. He is a good foil for Jane's thinking.
An interesting mystery with Jane Austen as sleuth, written in the style Jane and everyone else in 1807 would likely speak. The author was very good at keeping the real perp in the shadows until the very end.
I am thoroughly enjoying this series. Despite reading it completely out of order. Must locate the first one, one of these days, and attempt to start working my way forward.
Mar 05, 2011
Maia B.
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical,
jane-austen
My favorite Jane Austen mystery. Well-written, exciting, and though the end descends into the very unrealistic, it's fun to read and suspend your disbelief.
Meh. It took me months to get around to finishing this, because neither the story nor the characters were engaging. Jane is still stupid.
The very first paragraph states, "Had I suffered the misfortune to be born a man, I should have torn myself early from the affections of my family and all the comforts of home, and thrown my fate upon the mercy of the seas." Who knew that Jane Austen left behind loads of material to be turned into detective stories from her past. Crazy. I am going to read all these books now.
A long book without a big payoff at the end. The second of hers that I've tried, I'm going to move on to another series.
It's always a pleasure spending time with Miss Jane Austen, but I have to say that the ending was wildly improbable. Nevertheless, a pleasant read.
I needed more Jane Austen and period fiction. This whole series is good without being astounding.
See my other review, Scargrave Manor.
read by Kate Reading
Another GREAT read. I'm loving these Jane Austen mysteries! This one had tons of twists and turns and even till the very end left you in suspense.
I find the Jane Austen mysteries to be dear, if historically inaccurate, combinations of two of my favorites: murder mysteries and Jane Austen. This particular volume also deals with the seaside and the Royal Navy, so it had a nice nautical twist.
The story and the voice weren't as lively as they had been in earlier books in the series, though. It may be that Barron is imitating an older Jane Austen writing style; I hope it's not that she's getting tired writing the books!
The story and the voice weren't as lively as they had been in earlier books in the series, though. It may be that Barron is imitating an older Jane Austen writing style; I hope it's not that she's getting tired writing the books!
I think Barron borrowed from authors besides Jane Austen for this book, which annoyed me a little, but the story was interesting. I was glad to have a book without Lord Harold; I enjoy him well enough, but he's a ridiculous plot device. This felt much more believable, which much less mixing outside of the Austen family's class.
Jun 22, 2009
Carissa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-fiction-mystery
Excellent! The best so far, by far. I was guessing at the outcome toward the end and was completely taken in. I love that. Jane was awesome, as always, and what fun to have her brother Frank in the adventure, too.
And Etienne . . . le sigh. Sorry, Lord Harold, but since you weren't in this book, I had to swoon over someone else. And what a someone he was!
And Etienne . . . le sigh. Sorry, Lord Harold, but since you weren't in this book, I had to swoon over someone else. And what a someone he was!
Aug 05, 2011
Elizabeth S
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
z-my2011challenge
These books each get a little better as the series goes on. And they were pretty good to start with.
This one involves a lot of naval customs and such. Knowing what a post captain is or what a midshipman is, and knowing a little about how naval wives operate is helpful. But I don't think the knowledge is required to enjoy the book.
This one involves a lot of naval customs and such. Knowing what a post captain is or what a midshipman is, and knowing a little about how naval wives operate is helpful. But I don't think the knowledge is required to enjoy the book.
My first book in this mystery series. Well written and actually believable. I think I will go back and read the others!
Aside from scuba reading, I finished Jane & The Prisoner of Wool House in the last couple of days. It inspired me to pick up an actual 19th-century novel. It's a little denser than the mysteries, so we'll see how far I get in the next couple of weeks.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Austen Sequels: * Favorite Jane Austen Inspired Mystery Bks | 13 | 67 | Mar 01, 2013 07:44am | |
| Jane Austen Sequels: Jane and the Prisoner of the Wool House: Being a Jane Austen Mystery #6, by Stephanie Barron | 1 | 3 | Oct 16, 2012 08:26pm |
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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