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Jane and the Stillroom Maid: Being the Fifth Jane Austen Mystery

Average customer rating:

fine recovery
Fifth Time's a Charm
fine mystery
Predictable
A Darker Tone Than the Earlier Books

Jane and the Stillroom Maid: Being the Fifth Jane Austen Mystery
Stephanie Barron
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery
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Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery

ASIN: 0553578375
Release Date: 2001-05-01

Book Description

Jane Austen is enjoying August, 1806, among Derbyshire's craggy peaks, sparkling streams, and cavernous gorges. That is, until she discovers the corpse of a young gentleman whose blond curls and delicate features suggest the face of an angel.

More shocking still is the coroner's revelation: the deceased is no man but a maidservant — clad in the garb of her master, Mr. Charles Danforth of Penfolds Hall. Tess Arnold had ruled the stillroom at Penfolds for many years — until she was labeled a witch and dismissed for indiscretion. Was Tess the prey of a madman loose in the hills, or perchance the cast-off impediment to a gentleman's marriage?

As usual, Jane's acute perception and her nose for trouble place her supremely at risk — from a killer who may strike as violently by day as he once did by night....

Customer Reviews:

fine recovery.......2005-09-04

Jane and the Stillroom Maid is a nice comeback from the disappointment of the fourth installment in this otherwise spritely series. Unlike Jane and the Genius of the Place, the reason for the servant's odd dress isn't obvious from the very first. Indeed, I found myself being constantly surprised. You won't guess "who done it" until you're told in the very last pages.

As with all the Jane Austen mysteries, you'll find yourself enjoying the style and historical footnotes as much as the mystery itself. Ms. Barron has mastered imitating the voice of Restoration "ladies" books and scrupulously researched the customs of the early 19th century. I felt a little thrill when she alluded to the customs of mourning and "half-mourning."

Lovers of Jane Austen won't be disappointed, of course. But neither are mystery lovers who want something a little bit off the beaten path.

Fifth Time's a Charm.......2005-07-17

Having read the previous mysteries in this series, I've admired the way that Stephanie Barron has brought Jane Austen back to life. At times in her efforts to capture the time period, the language and story have been forced; but all in all she has been true to the author's world. I believe that "Jane and the Stillroom Maid" is by far the best mystery out of the first five books in this series.

The fifth saga of Jane Austen as detective finds her in Derbyshire, with many a hint of "Pride and Prejudice" settings, in August of 1806. While out walking, she discovers the corpse of a young gentleman who has been gruesomely murdered; Jane is even more shocked when it turns out that the victim is not a gentleman, but a maid disguised in her master's clothes. Unable to leave a mystery in the hands of the local (perhaps inept, backwater) town's justice, she begins investigating the matter herself, along with the help of the Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge. Jane is insinuated in the plots of the local gentry and must uncover the truth behind the maid's death - not a random act by a madman, but possibly by someone who had everything to lose or gain by the maid's life and death; and there are several characters who fit the bill.

Barron has re-created Jane Austen's time perfectly, and the series progressively improves. This mystery offers plenty of twists and turns, but enough clues are scattered throughout the narrative to lead reader's to the conclusions that Jane herself reaches. If the next novels are as well-written as the fifth one is, I truly look forward to more of Jane's exploits in sleuthing out the truth among the most dastardly acts.

fine mystery .......2004-11-29

I've enjoyed the previous books in Barron's series about Jane Austen as sleuth, and I will proceed to read the rest of the series, though I was slightly disappointed in the details of this crime. I thought the murder itself was unnecessarily brutal and distracted from the otherwise fine writing.

Barron captures the tone and style of Austen very well, and the series in general is a pleasure to read. Regular readers will be pleased to see Lord Harold Trowbridge, and the secondary cast -- from Austen intimates to the elevated residents at Chatsworth -- are excellently drawn.

Predictable.......2004-07-09

Altogether too predictable, making it a huge yawn. An excellent idea going to waste under this author.

A Darker Tone Than the Earlier Books.......2001-09-03

I continue to be very impressed with this series of mysteries. This one took me a little bit more time to get into, perhaps more because of busyness in my own life than actually having trouble getting into the story, but, as in the past with these books, I ended up being very satisfied. There is a slightly larger cast of supporting characters here than in the past books, and this one is a little less overtly political (not so much worry about Napoleonic France here) but there are certainly class and social issues. Jane is more socially anxious than in the earlier books, as she heads off to the opulant home of her Whig friends. Some of this is a class and political consciousness, and some of this comes from the growing sense that she is older, without money, and without some of the prospects for happiness that she has to admit she yearns for. This is stronger here than in any of th earlier books. Jane's relationship with Sir Harold Trowbridge brings her both great joy and terrible pain, as she confronts the abyss between their social positions and knows that she can never home to cross the divide between them, no matter how beautifully their minds work together and they appreciate each other.

The actual plot here is as clear and direct as the plot of the ealier books as well--solving the mystery is not the ultimate satisfaction here. It is coming to that solution with the very satisfying characters.

Average customer rating:

Jane and the Stillroom Maid
Stephanie Barron
Manufacturer: Books on Tape, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: 0736670696

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly Jane Austen as sleuth continues to delight in her latest adventure (after Jane and the Genius of the Place), which sheds new light on the author's travels in 1806. While enjoying a ramble in the Derbyshire hills near Bakewell (a town Eliza Bennett visits in Pride and Prejudice), Jane discovers the mutilated body of a young man. Jane's suspicions are roused when her escort, Mr. George Hemming, prefers to remove the unidentified corpse to Buxton, rather than Bakewell, and they increase when the body proves to be that of a woman dressed in men's clothing. Moreover, the corpse is identified as Tess Arnold, a servant at one of the area's great houses, whom Mr. Hemming should have recognized. As the compounder of stillroom remedies, Tess had a reputation as a healer, until accused of witchcraft. Rumors of ritual murder by FreemasonsAwho include most of the neighboring gentryAexcite the local populace and jeopardize the investigation of the justice of the peace, himself a Mason. When Mr. Hemming disappears before the inquest, Jane and the justice turn for help to Lord Harold Trowbridge, a guest at the nearby ducal house of Chatsworth. Barron catches Austen's tone amazingly well. Details of early 19th-century country life of all classes ring true, while the story line is clear, yet full of surprises. The "editor's notes" that punctuate the text and old cures for various ills that open each chapter add to the charm. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. 8 compact discs/9 hours approx.

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