Rueben's Ramblings

Here is the next list of modern-day writers who, in their own way, have paid homage to Jane Austen’s legendary stories. The entire list below is actually by one author – Stephanie Barron – who wrote books inspired by Jane Austen herself, but with a decided new twist: murder mysteries.

Jane and the Canterbury Tale by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Canterbury Tale”
Publication Date: August 30, 2011

Three years after news of her scandalous husband’s death, Adelaide Fiske is at the altar again, her groom a soldier on the Marquis of Wellington’s staff. The prospects seem bright for one of the most notorious women in Kent—until Jane Austen discovers a corpse on the ancient Pilgrim’s Way that runs through her brother Edward’s estate. As First Magistrate for Canterbury, Edward is forced to investigate, with Jane as his reluctant assistant. But she rises to the challenge and leaves no stone unturned, discovering mysteries deeper than she could have anticipated. It seems that Adelaide’s previous husband has returned for the new couple’s nuptials—only this time, genuinely, profoundly dead. But when a second corpse appears beside the ancient Pilgrim’s Way, Jane has no choice but to confront a murderer, lest the next corpse be her own.

Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron”
Publication Date: September 28, 2010

The restorative power of the ocean brings Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry, to Brighton after Henry’s wife is lost to a long illness. But the crowded, glittering resort is far from peaceful, especially when the lifeless body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon—otherwise known as Lord Byron. As a poet and a seducer of women, Byron has carved out a shocking reputation for himself—but no one would ever accuse him of being capable of murder. Now it falls to Jane to pursue this puzzling investigation and discover just how “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Byron truly is. And she must do so without falling victim to the charming versifier’s legendary charisma, lest she, too, become a cautionary example for the ages.

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor”
Publication Date: May 20, 2008

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’s death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it’s only the beginning of her misfortune, as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl’s nephew of adultery—and murder. Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords—a trail that may well place Jane’s own person in the gravest jeopardy.

Jane and the Barque of Frality by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Barque of Frality”
Publication Date: October 30, 2007

Jane Austen arrives in London to watch over the printing of her first novel, and finds herself embroiled in a crime that could end more than her career. For it is up to Jane to tease a murderer out of the ton, lest she—and her country—suffer a dastardly demise. On the heels of completing Sense and Sensibility, Jane heads to Sloane Street for a month-long visit with her brother Henry and his wife, Eliza. Hobnobbing with the Fashionable Great at the height of the Season, Jane is well aware of their secrets and peccadilloes. But even she is surprised when the intimate correspondence between a Russian princess and a prominent Tory minister is published in the papers for all to see. More shocking, the disgraced beauty is soon found with her throat slit on Lord Castlereagh’s very doorstep.

Jane and His Lordship’s Legacy by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and His Lordship’s Legacy”
Publication Date: September 27, 2005

It’s with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she’s stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home. The dead man was a common laborer, and a subsequent coroner’s examination shows he was murdered elsewhere and transported to Chawton Cottage. Suddenly Jane and her family are thrust into the center of a brewing scandal in this provincial village that doesn’t take kindly to outsiders in general—and to the Austens in particular.

Jane and the Ghosts of Netley by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Ghosts of Netley”
Publication Date: April 27, 2004

Jane Austen finds her crime-solving mettle put to the test in a confounding case of intrigue, murder, and high treason. Among the haunted ruins of an ancient abbey, Jane is drawn into a shadow world of dangerous secrets and traitorous hearts where not only her life is at stake—but the fate of England. As she stands before the abandoned ruins of Netley Abbey, she imagines that ghosts really do haunt the centuries-old monastery. But the green-cloaked figure who startles her is all too human and he bears an unexpected missive from Lord Harold Trowbridge, one of the British government’s most trusted advisers—and a man who holds a high place in Jane’s life. Trowbridge tells Jane about a suspected traitor in their midst—and the disastrous consequences if she succeeds.

Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House”
Publication Date: October 29, 2002

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 Stillroom Maid by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Stillroom Maid”
Publication Date: May 1, 2001

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.

Jane and the Genius of the Place by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Genius of the Place”
Publication Date: February 1, 2000

In the waning days of summer, Jane Austen is off to the Canterbury Races, where the rich and fashionable gamble away their fortunes. It is an atmosphere ripe for scandal—but even Jane is unprepared for the shocking drama that unfolds. A flamboyant French beauty, known for her brazen behavior, is found gruesomely strangled in a shabby chaise. While many urge the arrest of a known scoundrel with eyes for the victim, Jane looks further afield and finds a number of acquaintances behaving oddly. As rumors spread like wildfire that Napoleon’s fleet is bound for Kent, Jane suspects that the murder was an act of war rather than a crime of passion. Suddenly the peaceful fields of Kent are a very dangerous place and Jane’s thirst for justice may exact the steepest price of all—her life.

Jane and the Wandering Eye by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Wandering Eye”
Publication Date: November 3, 1998

As Christmas of 1804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself “insupportably bored with Bath, and the littleness of a town.” It is with relief that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge—to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the unsavory Earl of Swithin. But Jane’s idle diversion turns deadly when a man is discovered stabbed to death in the Theatre Royal. Adding to the mystery is an unusual object found on the victim’s body, a pendant that contains a portrait of an eye! As Jane’s fascination with scandal leads her deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that she will not uncover the truth without some dangerous playacting of her own.

Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron

“Jane and the Man of the Cloth”
Publication Date: November 3, 1997

Jane and her family are looking forward to a peaceful holiday in the seaside village of Lyme Regis. Yet on the outskirts of town an overturned carriage forces the shaken travelers to take refuge at a nearby manor house. And it is there that Jane meets the darkly forbidding yet strangely attractive Mr. Geoffrey Sidmouth. What murky secrets does the brooding Mr. Sidmouth seek to hide? Jane suspects the worst—but her attention is swiftly diverted when a man is discovered hanged from a makeshift gibbet by the sea. The worthies of Lyme are certain his death is the work of “the Reverend,” the ringleader of the midnight smuggling trade whose identity is the town’s paramount mystery. Now, it falls to Jane to entrap and expose the notorious Reverend even if the evidence points to the last person on earth she wants to suspect a man who already may have won her heart.

More lists coming soon…

Read Full Post »