Jane and the Barque of Frailty (Jane Austen Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephanie Barron (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane Austen Mysteries | Publication Date: October 30, 2007

In her latest spellbinding escapade, 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 monthlong 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.

Everyone who’s anyone in high society is certain the spurned princess committed the violence upon herself. But Jane is unconvinced. Nor does she believe the minister guilty of so grisly and public a crime. Jane, however, is willing to let someone else investigate—until a quirk of fate thrusts her and Eliza into the heart of the case…as prime suspects!

Striking a bargain with the authorities, Jane secures seven days to save herself and Eliza from hanging. But as her quest to unmask a killer takes her from the halls of government to the drawing rooms of London’s most celebrated courtesan, only one thing is sure: her failure will not only cut short her life. It could lead to England’s downfall. A compulsively readable, uncommonly elegant novel of historical suspense, Jane and the Barque of Frailty once again proves Jane Austen a sleuth to be reckoned with.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the spring of 1811, Barron's ninth Jane Austen mystery (after 2005's Jane and His Lordship's Legacy) finds both detective and author in sparkling form. Jane is at the London theater during a visit to her brother Henry when she glimpses a Russian princess gazing intently at the box of prominent politician Lord Castlereagh. That night, the princess is found dead outside Castlereagh's home. Unconvinced by the appearance of suicide, Jane begins inquiries that eventually encompass high society and their servants, politicians of every stripe and even courtesans. When a chance act brings Jane a threatening visit from the Bow Street Runners, her search for the truth intensifies still further. The book's intricate plotting is satisfying right to the last revelation, and the variety of secondary characters depicted with affectionate irony adds humor and historical depth. Like Regency great Georgette Heyer, the author excels at both period detail and modern verve. Aping Austen's cool, precise and very famous voice is a hard trick to pull off, but Barron manages it with aplomb. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

She penned insightful prose about prejudice and pride, but how would nineteenth-century novelist Jane Austen have fared as a sleuth? Fairly well, if Barron's popular series is any indication. In this ninth entry, 35-year-old Jane travels to London, where she oversees the printing of her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, and spends time among the city's high-society set, including her brother, Henry, and his wife, Eliza. As the novel opens, the elite crowd is rattled over the suspicious death of Russian princess Evgenia Tscholikova, whose body was found on the doorstep of a former Tory minister. Through a somewhat convoluted turn of events, Jane and her sister-in-law find themselves in possession of jewels belonging to the late Slavic beauty. They have seven days to prove their innocence before being hanged for their crimes. "Barques of Frailty" is one of the many monikers for courtesans of the era, who used their beauty and charm to manipulate powerful men. While Austen fans will enjoy Barron's period detail and series devotees won't want to miss the latest, Barron's voluminous descriptions come at the expense of suspense. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 333 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553584081
• ISBN-13: 978-0553584080
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

STEPHANIE BARRON

Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford, where she studied history. THE WHITE GARDEN is her twentieth novel, but she is perhaps best known for the critically-acclaimed Jane Austen Mystery Series, in which the intrepid and witty author of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE details her secret detective career in Regency England. JANE AND THE MADNESS OF LORD BYRON, the tenth Austen mystery, is forthcoming from Bantam in October 2010. A former intelligence analyst for the CIA, Stephanie--who also writes under the name Francine Mathews--drew on her experience in the field of espionage for such novels as THE ALIBI CLUB, which Publishers Weekly named as one of the fifteen best novels of 2006. She lives and works in Denver, CO.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 31, 2006

By 

Emily (LOS ANGELES, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane and the Barque of Frailty (Jane Austen Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I'm normally a huge fan of Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries, but I found this one to be a bit disappointing. In this novel, a Russian princess is found dead and Jane and her sister-in-law Eliza are accused of the murder. The man who accuses them (a Bow Street Runner) grants them a temporary reprieve and allows them a week to discover the real murderer. I found this to be a bit far-fetched, but I found Jane and Eliza's rather nonchalant attitude to their situation to be even more ridiculous.

However, the thing I found most disappointing about this book is how obvious the "guilty person" is. I figured it out very early on in the book, and thus I found Jane's investigation to be a bit boring.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable period mystery, January 16, 2007

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane and the Barque of Frailty (Jane Austen Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I love how Stephanie Barron captures the mood of 19th century England in her novels. I always feel like I've had a bit of a history lesson after reading the Jane Austen series esp since there are many interesting footnotes explaining some of the terms used. In the past I've almost felt overwhelmed in trying to keep up with the educational bent of the novels along with a complicated plot. The plot in this novel is a bit more straight forward and I found it an enjoyable read. I don't really look for character realism in historical novels. I think that would eliminate most of the women sleuths that populate many books in this genre. I can't really see the real Jane Austen as a sleuth, and this Jane Austen doesn't seem to do much writing, but I like that she has the real Jane Austen's family history.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frail Indeed, August 14, 2008

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane and the Barque of Frailty (Jane Austen Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall, Stephanie Barron has done a masterful job of invoking Jane Austen and her world through her series of mysteries starring Austen as a sleuth. The ninth installment, "Jane and the Barque of Frailty" is one of the weaker stories within the series. While still a testament to Barron's ability to weave a fictional tale around real-life historical figures, it is too far-fetched by half, straining the credibility that has been a keystone in the other works.

"Jane and the Barque of Frailty" finds Jane in London, awaiting the anonymous publication of "Sense and Sensibility" while staying with her brother Henry and his wife Eliza. While well past her prime, Jane still enjoys the delights of the town in spring. But as usual, she finds a mystery to solve when a Russian princess is found dead, her throat slit, on the doorstep belonging to a prominent Tory minister. Days before, scandalous letters between the two were published in the papers, but the death is declared a suicide. Jane knows it to be murder, and that the man under suspicion is not the guilty party, but before she can prove this to be true, she finds herself embroiled in guilt with the case and her very life in danger.

As always, Stephanie Barron's depictions of Austen's world are near-flawless: her use of language of the period and physical descriptions seem effortless and she does greater justice to Austen's legacy than many others who have stood to profit from her works. However, the storyline for "Jane and the Barque of Frailty" seems rather outlandish at times: the events that lead to Jane and her sister-in-law being suspected of foul play is a stretch, as are some of the manuevers Jane uses to gain information to clear her name. Still, this ninth installment is an enjoyable read for fans of the series, even if it does not rank up there with earlier and better entries.