Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mysteries, #1)

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Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mysteries #1)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 · rating details · 2,368 ratings · 343 reviews

For everyone who loves Jane Austen...a marvelously entertaining new series that turns the incomparable author into an extraordinary sleuth!

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband—a gentleman of mature years—is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published December 1st 1996 by Crimeline (first published January 1st 1996)

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Mar 21, 2007 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: girl-lit geeks

This series of fictional mysteries solved by Jane Austen are charming and witty and a whole lot of fun for people who can't get enough Jane Austen. You need a healthy dose of girl-geekness to love these, but luckily I have plenty to spare. Usually I dislike mysteries, but these have enough Austen flair to gloss over the fact that they're all whodunnits.

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Jan 09, 2011 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

The Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is the first in a series of novels that purports to be based on "long lost" Austen journals -- journals where, shockingly enough, Jane is revealed to have an aptitude for solving crimes. Perhaps even more shocking is how well the concept works in Barron's execution of the story. Through novels like Pride and Prejudice and Emma, Austen revealed herself possess a masterful understanding of human nature and all its foibles, and this skill lends itself well to c...more The Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is the first in a series of novels that purports to be based on "long lost" Austen journals -- journals where, shockingly enough, Jane is revealed to have an aptitude for solving crimes. Perhaps even more shocking is how well the concept works in Barron's execution of the story. Through novels like Pride and Prejudice and Emma, Austen revealed herself possess a masterful understanding of human nature and all its foibles, and this skill lends itself well to casting Austen as an unconventional investigator with a flair for understanding the criminal mind.

Since relatively little is known of Austen's life, there's plenty of opportunity for an Barron's imagination to fill in the gaps. She grounds her stories in what little is known of Austen's life. In the case of Scargrave Manor, the fact that Austen had once received and refused a proposal from a Harris Bigg-Wither serves as the impetus that allows Barron to send Jane to the home of a beloved -- but entirely fictitious -- friend in order to recover. Soon after her arrival, Jane finds herself embroiled in not one, but two cases of murder most foul, with her beloved friend Isobel standing accused of murdering her husband. Isobel begs Jane to employ her acute powers of observation in order to discover the truth of the matter, and so the chase is on for Jane to discover the truth before Isobel is brought to trial before the House of Lords.

Barron's first novel featuring Jane Austen in the role of sleuth succeeds on all fronts -- it's an incredibly engaging, fast-paced read, rich with historical detail (supplemented by select footnotes which aid in giving credence to the assertion that the story is an edited "journal"). Most enjoyable of all is the experience of seeing inside Jane Austen's head, albeit a fictitious Austen. The story's prose is rich with the language and customs of the early nineteenth century, and it's an enjoyable escape to read a novel that pretends to flesh out the character of one of the most beloved, but mysterious, novelists of all time. All in all it's a thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing read. (less)

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Jan 05, 2009 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteryormurder

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was well-written and fast-paced, with lots of lovely Georgian detail about dress, manners, and events. The footnotes explain some of the more arcane terms. I will probably end up reading all of these novels in which Jane Austen herself turns sleuth.

So, why the 3-star review?

In short, the character of Jane does not ring true with what is known of the real Jane's relatively quiet life. In one scene, the reader is told that an assembly of the Lords was a once...more

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Jan 15, 2008 Wealhtheow rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, regency

Jane Austen solves mysteries! The first half is very stilted and badly written. The author is clearly nervous and uncomfortable writing Regency-era dialog. The characters are boring cliches. Everyone compliments Austen on her wit, but she never said anything remotely clever. In the second half, Austen races around London trying to solve a murder mystery. Unfortunately, it's a stupid murder and an even stupider murderer (upon being caught, the person actually rants about how they'd have gotten aw...more

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Mar 23, 2009 Susanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, historical-mystery, regency

Good mystery element - but attempting to write in the voice of Jane Austen is ... ambitious.

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Jan 18, 2009 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, mysteries

I think the later volumes are of a slightly higher quality than the first two (this one being the first). There is not as much depth to Jane here, which does make sense considering her acquaintance with mystery and violent death only begins with this book. But it is delightful to see her encounter Lord Harold first as an antagonist here (since I read later volumes first, it was quite entertaining).

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Sep 20, 2012 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series

Where to start...Aha! We shall start at my reasons for purchasing this book.

I recently moved away to college, and didn't bring any books with me since I had too many to choose from. I was walking into my new local Big Lots and bee-lined for their clearance books *since I'm a broke college student*. While there, I saw this book that had Jane Austen on it and a $2.00 price tag...yes and yes! I do not regret buying this book but it is a bit misleading in it's declaration to be Austen's long lost jo...more Where to start...Aha! We shall start at my reasons for purchasing this book.

I recently moved away to college, and didn't bring any books with me since I had too many to choose from. I was walking into my new local Big Lots and bee-lined for their clearance books *since I'm a broke college student*. While there, I saw this book that had Jane Austen on it and a $2.00 price tag...yes and yes! I do not regret buying this book but it is a bit misleading in it's declaration to be Austen's long lost journal entries.

So Stephanie Barron would have us believe that she is acquainted with a family who happen to be distant relatives of the Austen family, and one day this family finds a collection of letters from Miss Austen to her distant nieces to which Miss Austen's purpose was to instruct her young nieces on how not to become embroiled in scandal. The family, before having donated the letters, gave them to Stephanie Barron, whom they knew was an author, to edit and publish. And now we have a series of mystery novels that Jane Austen was supposed, by her letters, to be an integral part of.

Now I find this to be intriguing but not enthralling. Maybe it's because I'm enrolled in all Social Science classes, but I was/am extremely skeptical about the validity of Stephanie Barron's "Editor's Foreword." Mainly because when you begin reading, if you have read any of Austen's works, you would know that the style of writing is close to Austen's but lacks a sort of depth you get with real Austen works.

I am not bashing Barron, I just don't like being misled *even though it's a mystery novel :).

The summary is above so I won't bore you by recounting it, but I have to say this book is fairly entertaining. It took me about 60 pages to really get into it, but it was a pretty fun read overall. The character development was well done, the reader knows enough about the characters to understand where they are coming from and their immediate relationships but not enough to glean the murderer too soon. Each character has their own mini story which was expected since it's a mystery but they flowed with the novel in such a way that it didn't seem convoluted or tangled.

One character I had trouble relating to was Isobel. She is supposed to be a great friend of Jane's, which I wanted to know more about, but before you can really get the essence of who she is, she suffers this horrible tragedy and so all you see is a woman grieving. Meh...whatever, she's not thaaat important anyway.

The mystery actually did throw me for a loop. I was not expecting the ending but it happens very quickly, practically in the span of two pages, so read carefully and don't be like me and have to go back and re-read. I like how Barron didn't give it the traditional, "And they all lived happily ever after," but played into the humanity of the characters. It was here that I really felt a closeness between Austen and Barron. Barron also adds some annotations to help the reader better understand the social customs of the time, which is super helpful if you're lazy and don't want to research it yourself.

I did have one major problem with Barron using Austen's phrases from other books. While I understand that it was common speech back then, if I have to read another sentence with the phrase, "It is not to be borne," I be forced to hurl the book across the room, roll my eyes, and walk away.

That is about it for my review, and yes I did not go into the," But that's not how Jane would've acted," rant only because I didn't know the woman well enough to rant about it. BAM!...DONE!...C Y'All AT THE NEXT REVIEW(less)

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Feb 23, 2012 Alice rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jane-austen-around, séries-en-cours

Jane rend visite à son amie Isobel Payne qui vient d'épouser Lord Scargrave. Si sa nouvelle situation est des plus avantageuses, Isobel semble pourtant anxieuse et malheureuse. Il n'en faut pas plus pour éveiller la curiosité de notre chère Jane et lorsque Lord Scargrave meurt brutalement, elle aura fort à faire pour sauvegarder la réputation de son amie et la défendre contre les mauvaises langues qui trouvent la mort du Lord bien opportune.

Etant fan de Jane Austen ET de romans policiers, j'ai...more Jane rend visite à son amie Isobel Payne qui vient d'épouser Lord Scargrave. Si sa nouvelle situation est des plus avantageuses, Isobel semble pourtant anxieuse et malheureuse. Il n'en faut pas plus pour éveiller la curiosité de notre chère Jane et lorsque Lord Scargrave meurt brutalement, elle aura fort à faire pour sauvegarder la réputation de son amie et la défendre contre les mauvaises langues qui trouvent la mort du Lord bien opportune.

Etant fan de Jane Austen ET de romans policiers, j'ai tout naturellement pensé que ces livres étaient fait pour moi. Et imaginer Jane Austen en détective curieuse n'est pas bien difficile en soi.

Pour ce qui est du côté policier, je n'ai pas été déçu: j'adore l'époque et le pays qui se prêtent parfaitement aux énigmes et aux mystères, et l'intrigue est originale et bien ficelée. Si ça ne vaut pas un Anne Perry selon moi, ça mérite quand même le titre de "bon roman policier", d'où la note que je lui ai attribué.

En revanche, si j'avais du noter uniquement en fonction de l'intêret pour une Janeite, j'aurais sans doute été plus sévère. La Jane que l'on retrouve ici me paraît une pâle copie de notre Jane adorée. Elle est un peu trop effacée, j'oserais presque dire timorée. J'ai trouvé son caractère peu approfondi, le personnage est traité de façon assez superficielle. Cela s'arrange un peu au fil des pages, peut-être aussi parce que l'on est pris dans l'intrigue.

N'étant que le premier tome d'une longue série, je me dis que Stéphanie Barron a sûrement voulu se laisser de la marge pour faire évoluer son personnage et je vous en reparlerai sûrement après avoir lu les suivants dans lesquels je plongerai tout de même avec plaisir. Je ne veux pas donner une impression trop négative de ce livre que j'ai apprécié mais il est certain que si vous n'aimez pas particulièrement les romans policiers et que vous ne vous intéressez qu'au côté Jane Austen, vous pouvez passer votre chemin sans regret.
(less)

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Feb 01, 2012 Bridgette Redman rated it 2 of 5 stars

It is rare for me to write that the first book in a series I am fond of is a dud. Perhaps that is because if the first book is unenjoyable, it is rare for me to read any further in the series. One exception to this rule is Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen series.

The first book in the series, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is rather forgettable. So forgettable, that when I decided to review the first three books in the series, I realized there was little I could recall about the boo...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Pattyrflg rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jane Austen as sleuth. Jane is invited by her friend Isobel to Scargrave Manor. Jane has recently refused Mr. Bigg-Withers' offer of marriage on the grounds that marriage to him would bore her to death. On the other hand, Isobel has just returned from her wedding trip with her new husband, Lord Scargrave. On the night of their wedding party, Lord Scargrave dies of some type of gastric problem. The attending physician calls it natural causes, but letters from Isobel's handmaid accuse her of murde...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, british-period, janeaustenesque, mystery, series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 27, 2009 Ash Bruxvoort rated it 3 of 5 stars

Stephanie Barron's Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is the first novel of the Jane Austen Mystery series. Jane attends the wedding of her friend, Isobel Payne at the beginning of the novel. The wedding is by no means normal though, as the groom dies directly after it. He is an older, wealthy gentleman and it turns out that Isobel did not actually love him. Instead she was interested in his nephew, Fitzroy Payne. After her husband's death Isobel receives a letter that accuses Fitzro...more

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Jul 21, 2009 Jemima rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have very little experience in reading or reviewing mystery books, so I am not really confident that I know what makes a good mystery novel. That being said, I enjoyed reading Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor but did not feel that it created enough suspense or intellectual puzzlement (which I would assume to be important to the mystery genre). I love the Jane Austen period and loved the references to the dress and customs of the day. Stephanie Barron did a good job at imitating...more I have very little experience in reading or reviewing mystery books, so I am not really confident that I know what makes a good mystery novel. That being said, I enjoyed reading Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor but did not feel that it created enough suspense or intellectual puzzlement (which I would assume to be important to the mystery genre). I love the Jane Austen period and loved the references to the dress and customs of the day. Stephanie Barron did a good job at imitating Austen's writing style which is probably why it was not very suspenseful. The story plods along and develops slowly and evenly. Austen's original works portrayed daily life in great detail and focused on the motives underlying her character's actions. I am still unconvinced that this style works well in a mystery where extraordinary events such as murder and mayhem are the topics. It seemed to lack emotional intensity which I would expect from characters under such strain.

It is written in first person by Jane under the guise that she recorded the story in her journal as well as in letters to her sister Cassandra. As a guest at a bridal ball being held at Scargrave Manor in honor of her close friend, Jane becomes entangled in a murder case. Her friend, Isobel is accused of murdering her new husband who is found to have been poisoned, but Jane never wavers in her faithfulness to her friends innocence. Though Isobel is secretly in love with her new husbands nephew she is not the type of person to commit a murder. Jane finds important clues, overhear suspicious conversations and uncovers a lot of financial difficulty amongst various members of the family. She is amazingly strong in every circumstance, such as when faced with the horror of discovering a body, when required to testify in court, when visiting the notorious Newgate Prison and when under personal threat. In the nick of time Jane figures out who the real murderer was and saves her beautiful friend from being sentenced to death.

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is the first in a series of Jane Austen mystery novels by Stephanie Barron. She captures the style, time and setting very well. Her characters are interesting but not very deeply drawn. The mystery held my interest but did not grip me. I would certainly suggest it to readers who enjoy old-fashioned mysteries. (less)

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Jun 07, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jane Austen tackles 19th century English society and manners in her novels; Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen tackles society, manners, and murder. In Barron’s Jane Austen mystery series, she attempts a daunting task—to mimic Jane Austen’s literary style with all its gentility, formality, elegance, satire, wit, and meandering. Jane Austen’s penetrating observation of those around her that is so apparent in her novels makes plausible the premise of her succeeding as an amateur sleuth.

In Jane and the...more Jane Austen tackles 19th century English society and manners in her novels; Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen tackles society, manners, and murder. In Barron’s Jane Austen mystery series, she attempts a daunting task—to mimic Jane Austen’s literary style with all its gentility, formality, elegance, satire, wit, and meandering. Jane Austen’s penetrating observation of those around her that is so apparent in her novels makes plausible the premise of her succeeding as an amateur sleuth.

In Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor, Barron realizes this premise. Jane Austen, the novel’s protagonist and intrepid narrator, applies her keen observational skills to investigating murder.

Jane’s prosaic visit to her friend Isobel’s mansion turns sinister. Isobel’s homecoming party to establish herself as the new Countess of Scargrave turns sinister when her husband, the Earl of Scargrave, falls ill and dies suddenly of an enigmatic ailment. Shortly thereafter, Isobel receives an incriminating letter suggesting she was involved in a conspiracy with Fitzroy, her purported lover the Earl’s nephew and heir, to do away with the Earl. Isobel pleads with Jane to ferret out the true murderer. Jane’s investigation takes on increased urgency as Isobel and Fitzroy are whisked away to dwell in despair in the depths of Newgate prison. Each day brings closer the House of Lords trial upon which a guilty verdict and a hanging will follow.

Purportedly the story has been pieced together from selections of Austen’s personal journal and letters to her sister Cassandra. Barron’s research into Austen’s life, letters, and fiction shines through clearly in her fiction mysteries as she incorporates true facts from Jane Austen’s life such as her nullifying Jane’s agreement to marry Harris Bigg-Wither and her close relationship with her sister Cassandra. Barron also includes quotes from Jane Austen’s novels as if suggesting their origin to be in Jane’s experiences at Scargrave manor.

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is but the first of Barron’s comedy of manners and a cozy mystery series; the ninth, Jane and the Barque of Frailties, was published in 2006. For readers who enjoy period detail and mystery, Barron’s series should be an apt one to suggest they try.(less)

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Mar 25, 2011 Zulfiya rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is an entertaining read, and the second (middle) part of the book is really exciting, but sometimes Barron tries too hard to imitate the style of Jane Austen, and though the words like 'probity', 'perspicacity', 'equanimity' are truly words of the early nineteenth century fiction discourse, their usage in the Barons novel is a bit too far-fetched, repetitive and slightly artificial.
If anyone is looking at Barron's books as a wonderful example of stylization, my advice is to look elsewhere....more

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May 20, 2009 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

I didn't really like the premise of this book, the idea of Barron finding the lost journals and letters of Jane Austen in an attic in America and determining to edit and publish them. Farfetched, but as it has nothing to do with the story except serve as an explanation of sorts for the source of the story its not a big deal I suppose. What I disliked more was that Barron is writing Jane Austen's journals - I would much prefer to read a story about Jane Austen that is simply that, a story, no fur...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Lynne Tull rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

I really liked this book-it "Being the First Jane Austen Mystery". It was really refreshing after reading the books about the Georgian and Regency Periods using a more modern language style. It was kind of like reading Georgette Heyer. I always like to read her books in between some of my reads. It seems to pull me back down to the "real" world. This is exactly what Ms. Barron's book did. She writes as Jane Austen would and in a journal style. It was like Jane herself was telling the story. The...more

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Jun 08, 2010 ladywallingford rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

Jane Austen, writer by day, detective at night. The premise seemed interesting enough and I must admit, I think the author pulled it off admirably with just a few minor issues. The story unfolds through Jane's journal. Her voice very much reminds me of the real Austen's novels, no small feat to accomplish. The geek girl inside of me loved seeing references to said novels, no matter how obvious they were.

Nevertheless, I did give it a lower rating for two issues that I had with it. First issue: Th...more

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May 27, 2009 Keegan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I might have given this book a three except for the Jane Austen tie-in. My grandmother knows I really like Jane Austen so she gets me Jane Austen related books. I have looked forward to the two she's given me, until I read them and then I was annoyed with them. I am swiftly coming to the conclusion that I really just like Jane Austen herself, the author, and not these other things.

With this book, I thought it was a fun mystery set in the time of Jane Austen, but the fictionalized version of Jane...more I might have given this book a three except for the Jane Austen tie-in. My grandmother knows I really like Jane Austen so she gets me Jane Austen related books. I have looked forward to the two she's given me, until I read them and then I was annoyed with them. I am swiftly coming to the conclusion that I really just like Jane Austen herself, the author, and not these other things.

With this book, I thought it was a fun mystery set in the time of Jane Austen, but the fictionalized version of Jane Austen's life seemed completely unnecessary. Just make it a different main character. I felt that the only reason to have the character be Jane Austen is so that Jane Austen fans would buy it and read it-- money, money, money. I guess I can't fault the author since writing is a business, but it mostly annoyed me.

I'm sure the author is a Jane Austen fan, and I'm sure she knows much more about Austen than I do, but I still felt that attempting to write a mystery in her voice was an oddly jarring sensation since Austen's books are about relationships on the simple, everyday level and her perceptiveness on those experiences is what makes Austen so great. This book isn't on the simple, everyday level, it is in the wake of the extreme. So it could have happened, but since it didn't I wish the character hadn't been Austen herself because trying to match voices is a tricky business and it seems you're bound to annoy more than succeed where your readership is concerned when the main character is so beloved. That was the case with me.

Choosing a different character would have been so liberating. And I would have enjoyed it in the way I enjoyed Anne Perry's the Thomas Pitt series or the Amelia Peabody books. Even if Barron (the author) wanted her character to have some of Austen's characteristics (clergyman's daughter, independent minded, refused a proposal of marriage, etc.) that would have been okay with me. But it wouldn't have been so, well, presumptuous if she had just been named something else.(less)

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Dec 31, 2007 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was excited by the premise behind this novel - but the telling didn't match the idea. The theory is that some of Jane Austen's personal diaries and letters have been recovered and in them she goes about her normal life but is interrupted by mysteries. Sounds fun - but it was pretty boring. The real author does not create exciting and engaging characters and the mystery is formulaic. I won't be reading anymore in the series.

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May 16, 2011 Charla Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started this series as part of a reading challenge. This is the first book in the series and there have been eleven written so far. This book read just like you would expect a Jane Austen Novel to read. Jane, herself is telling the story and in the telling of the story, you get to know the real Jane Austen. Stephanie Barron has managed to weave some of the real Jane Austen's life into the story. The book has footnotes to help with some of the language used during Jane's life, and I found the f...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Catherine Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, mystery

Fleeing the ignominy of a broken engagement, Jane Austen (yes, that Jane Austen) visits her friend, the newly-wed Countess of Scargrave, Isobel Payne (nee Collins), at the Earl of Scargrave's country estate of the title. During the festivities to celebrate the Earl's wedding, the Earl falls gravely ill and dies. It seems a natural death, but Jane isn't convinced... and then the first of the threatening letters arrives.

This first in the Jane Austen Investigates series (that's the only way I can d...more

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May 15, 2011 Pylgrym rated it 4 of 5 stars

In keeping with my current "no gore, guts or getting it on" campaign, I decided to try this series. Enjoyable. I dislike the "found manuscript" ploy. As a recovering scholar unable to ignore footnotes, I found them disrupting and unnecessary. No one picks up anything with Jane's name on it without having been immersed in the period. Most readers have gained sufficient background from her "stepdaughters", Heyer, Veryan and the entire Regency ouevre. The author did an excellant job of imitating Au...more

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Nov 19, 2010 Theresa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

I'm really getting a kick out of these silly mystery series. It's my newest genre fixation. In this case, the book centers around Jane Austen and her detecting ability. She is visiting a recently wedded friend when the friend's husband dies in very suspicious circumstances. When it looks like the friend and her husband's nephew are to be blamed for the murder, it is up to Jane and her untiring wit to save the day. What I liked was the author's ability to yoink sentences right out of Austen's nov...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Janell rated it 2 of 5 stars

My rating wavered back and forth through most of this book. I had a hard time getting past the idea of the main character being Jane Austen. She really seemed out of place in this setting. Plus, for me the "language of Austen" didn't mesh well with the "cozy mystery" concept. It was frustrating to read which made it hard to stay interested in the story.

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Jan 15, 2013 Candy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: austenesque

The story, Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor is an excellent mystery! It felt like Jane wrote the book herself! According to the Editor’s Foreword that’s what it is, manuscripts written by Jane Austen, and edited by Stephanie Barron. I do not know if this is true or part of the story, but I enjoyed the story immensely!

After accepting and breaking a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither’s within a twenty-four hour period, Jane Austen accepts an invitation to visit her dear frien...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Tiger rated it 3 of 5 stars

I couldn't wait to start this book, being a huge Jane Austin fan. I wasn't sure how the author, Stephanie Barron, would be able to blend the known facts of Jane Austen's life with the the intricate plotting of a murder. Having read the book, I thoroughly enjoyed some aspects,others less so.
Her inclusion of "informative" footnotes was distracting. And I found her transformation of a historically retiring and proper Miss Austen into a somewhat forward, unladylike sleuth to be totally out of line w...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Mysterious Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical, mystery

Interesting view of the social mores of turn-of-the-19th-century rural England.
The novel purports to be from journals of Jane Austen (and letters to her sister) found during a building renovation in Baltimore.
Copious footnotes explaining social structure, legal system, etc. were welcome and not at all excessively academic or overbearing.

Jane Austen recounts her visit to the home of her dear friend Isobel, Countess of Scargrave. Isobel and her 48-year-old husband, the earl, host a ball after retu...more

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Apr 16, 2011 Maia B. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Mystery fans but not necessarily Austen fans

Shelves: historical, mystery, jane-austen

This book was a little long, a little confusing, a little dull, but overall an enjoyable read. The part that bothered me the most was that Jane never once for an instant considered Isobel Payne as the murderer - she had two excellent motives, money and a lover, and opportunity. Everything pointed towards her - and yet Jane never, ever thought that she might have been the murderer. She seems to pride herself on her distance from most people later in the novel, but she maintains her stance of refu...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Margaret Metz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd never heard of these books until I decided to try the challenge this year and I am so glad I did. The premise is that the author is acting as an editor of a journal which Jane Austen used to relate several times where her wit and connections allowed her to take part as a sort of amateur detective and help find out the truth in complicated and mysterious situations where crimes had been committed. I thought it sounded a little far-fetched considering the roles of women during the times, but t...more

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Jane Austen Sequels: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor: Being a Jane Austen Mystery #1, by Stephanie Barron	4	18	Oct 14, 2012 03:50pm

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About Stephanie Barron

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 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 now live with their families; Francine's passion for Nantucket and the New England shoreline dates from her earliest memories. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, a two hundred year-old Catholic school for girls that shares a wall with Georgetown University. Her father died of a heart attack during her freshman year.

In 1981, she started college at Princeton – one of the most formative experiences of her life. There she fenced for the club varsity team and learned to write news stories for The Daily Princetonian – a hobby that led to two part-time jobs as a journalist for The Miami Herald and The San Jose Mercury News. Francine majored in European History, studying Napoleonic France, and won an Arthur W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities in her senior year. But the course she remembers most vividly from her time at Princeton is "The Literature of Fact," taught by John McPhee, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and staff writer for The New Yorker. John influenced Francine's writing more than even she knows and certainly more than she is able to say. If there were an altar erected to the man in Colorado, she'd place offerings there daily. He's her personal god of craft.

Francine spent three years at Stanford pursuing a doctorate in history; she failed to write her dissertation (on the Brazilian Bar Association under authoritarianism; can you blame her?) and left with a Masters. She applied to the CIA, spent a year temping in Northern Virginia while the FBI asked inconvenient questions of everyone she had ever known, passed a polygraph test on her twenty-sixth birthday, and was immediately thrown into the Career Trainee program: Boot Camp for the Agency's Best and Brightest. Four years as an intelligence analyst at the CIA were profoundly fulfilling, the highlights being Francine's work on the Counterterrorism Center's investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and sleeping on a horsehair mattress in a Spectre-era casino in the middle of Bratislava. Another peak moment was her chance to debrief ex-President George Bush in Houston in 1993. But what she remembers most about the place are the extraordinary intelligence and dedication of most of the staff – many of them women – many of whom cannot be named.

She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Fifteen books have followed, along with sundry children, dogs, and houses. When she's not writing, she likes to ski, garden, needlepoint, and buy art. Her phone number is definitely unlisted. (less)

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Books by Stephanie Barron

Jane and the Man of the Cloth (Jane Austen Mysteries, #2)

Jane and the Wandering Eye (Jane Austen Mysteries, #3)

Jane and the Genius of the Place (Jane Austen Mysteries, #4)

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House (Jane Austen Mysteries, #6)

Jane and the Stillroom Maid (Jane Austen Mysteries, #5)

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“There is something so INEVITABLE about seven-and-twenty; it is decidedly on the wrong side of the decade for a lady, particularly an unmarried one.” — 9 people liked it

“...the long blue shadows of afternoon advanced before me like cheerful ghosts of last summer's growth, dancing past the withered flower borders and the stiff hedges to fall at the feet of a stone nymph, her cascade of water frozen in her urn.” — 1 person liked it

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title link	preview: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor
avg rating	preview: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor Goodreads rating: 3.60 (2368 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76712.Jane_and_the_Unpleasantness_at_Scargrave_Manor?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320492497l/76712.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76712.Jane_and_the_Unpleasantness_at_Scargrave_Manor?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron[/url]

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mysteries #1)

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