Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron

Publication Date: February 8, 2022
Publisher: Soho Press
Series: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (Book 14)
Length: (336) pages
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook
Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque


Synopsis

May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript—about a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain—cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra.  

Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged, however. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own—some of them deadly. But perhaps with Jane’s interference a terrible crime might be prevented. Set during the Year without a Summer, when the eruption of Mount Tambora in the South Pacific caused a volcanic winter that shrouded the entire planet for sixteen months, this fourteenth installment in Stephanie Barron’s critically acclaimed series brings a forgotten moment of Regency history to life.

My Thoughts

Jane and her sister Cassandra are visiting Cheltenham Spa. The weather is dreadful as is, apparently, the spa water that Jane and Cassandra are urged to drink for their health, but they embrace both and make the best of their stay. Despite the weather, there are still plenty of opportunities for sightseeing, shopping expeditions, visits to the reading room and a masquerade ball at which a tragedy occurs, including a suspicious death.

With a lot of time spent indoors, Jane and Cassandra are able to observe and interact with the other guests. Some are difficult to like, others have interesting reasons for visiting Cheltenham Spa other than their health. Soon Jane and Cassandra are drawn into the lives of these people, with one of them assisting with a family matter troubling Jane.

Jane and the Year Without a Summer is a very engaging blend of fact and fiction. Written in a style similar to that of Jane Austen, and told from her perspective, made it very easy to become immersed in this story. Jane's observations are astute and witty, but sometimes tinged with sadness as she hides the true extent of her illness from her family.

Despite it being the fourteenth book in the series, Jane and the Year Without a Summer is a satisfying standalone. A fast-paced and intriguing read, it is sure to delight fans of Jane Austen and those who enjoy well-written cosy mysteries.

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Meet the Author

Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written twenty-five books, including five novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, and Death on Nantucket) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the penname, Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

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Reading Challenges

This book satisfies the following Reading Challenges: