Fleeing from a broken engagement, Jane Austen has scarcely arrived in Scargrave when the local earl is felled by a mysterious ailment that is far too agonizing and fatal to be credited to his fondness for claret and pudding. The earl's widow asks Jane to investigate.

In April 1811, while staying with her brother in London to await the publication of her first novel, Jane Austen finds herself deep in the heart of a conspiracy when she investigates the murder of a disgraced woman rumored to be the mistress of Lord Castlereagh.

“There’s plenty to enjoy in the crime-solving side of Jane....[She] is as worthy a detective as Columbo.” –USA Today

On a raw February morning, Jane Austen first learns of the case of Captain Tom Seagrave, who faces execution for a murder he swears he didn’t commit. Together, she and her brother Frank, a post captain in the Royal Navy, set out to uncover the truth.
It is a journey that...

"The twelfth installment in Stephanie Barron's fan-favorite Being a Jane Austen Mystery series. Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield...

"March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen's health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys' boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds--and...

"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...