A Regency detective
story with Jane Austen as our sleuth.
Jane and her sister Cassandra are invited for dinner to a neighbours house - Mr and Mrs Paulson. The weather has turned and they know they may have to stay overnight but Mrs Paulson is very hospitable and they have no qualms over this.
The evening progresses with music and good conversation, until the body of their host is discovered in the study stabbed. What makes it incomprehensible is that the study is locked, the windows are firmly closed with no access in or out. To add to the quandary, they are all snowbound. It is dangerous to even think of sending someone to fetch the local magistrate and despite objections from one of the men, Jane takes on the role of investigator, preserving the evidence and questioning everyone in the house. When the butler is found murdered the next day the household is in hysterics because everyone realizes the murderer is in their midst. The weather still seems bad and then their hostess is found dead, seemingly a suicide till proven otherwise.
Putting together whatever evidence is available is hard as there is very little and although the tendency is to put the blame squarely on one of the staff, for Jane the solution seems too slick and convenient.
This was really a very well written detective story which other than the setting would be perfect even in a modern setting.
The author has a new book coming out in October and I am very keen to get my hands on that.
Sent by Sapere Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley
I read a book in another series that had Jane Austen as the detective and really enjoyed it. This sounds like a fun read and definitely one I should check out.
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