4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 good solid stars from me, August 11, 2006
This review is from: Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Paperback)
When I read the first Jane Austen Mystery (Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor) I knew that I had found a series which would keep me interested and reading as long as the author continued writing. I liked this second installment of this series and actually prefer to rate it a 4.5 star book.
The writing is still very well done and it must be quite a challenge for this author to block out the modern day style of speech and produce readable prose from another time period. Unfortunately, because the speech patterns were so very different during Jane Austen's lifetime some of the sentences in these books just go on and on and on. I understand that it is realistic, but I also know that I found myself feeling that perhaps Ms Barron could have shortened up some of the sentence structure. Often it seemed forced and did not flow naturally. Ms Barron is not Jane Austen. I'll bet she even knows this without any of us telling her. What she is though is a very talented writer and I greatly admire and appreciate her willingness to tackle something as difficult as these books to give so many people so much pleasure. Having said that, I will have to admit that the novel bogged down in the middle for me. Ms Barron had so very much going on in this book with so many characters and they all had to be kept fresh and moving along toward a conclusion. I had a choice of three villians. One Jane became romantically attracted to. One died. Guess what, tag you're it! The bad guy was the only one left. I really never believed that Jane would have been attracted to a murdering smuggler, therefore, I actually only had two villians to choose between.
I don't think I have ever read a book where so many people were so wet and cold so often as in this book. (We are in the midst of a very dry summer and I found myself distracted by thoughts that I coveted some of that stormy, wet, cool weather!) It really did make me wonder how they went about drying their clothes. How long did it take a wool cloak to dry out? Lots of things distracted me from being totally concentrated on the book and especially the mystery.
There seems to be a very even split among reviews as to whether this second book is stronger or weaker than others in the series. For me, I vote weaker. I still loved it but I was easily distracted and very often wanted it to move along at a faster pace. I will be reading all the books and highly recommend that anyone even vaguely interested in Austen or her contemporaries do the same.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the first in the series, August 1, 2002
This review is from: Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Paperback)
I very much enjoyed reading this novel and thought that it was better than the first in the series. Some of Jane's actions are perhaps not realistic for an unmarried woman in the early 19th century, but remember this is fiction and as such meant to entertain, which this book definitely does! Lord Trowbridge's presence is delightful as always, and he and Jane make a good detective pair.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, those rogues . . ., July 6, 2000
This review is from: Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Paperback)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen had a special fondness for scoundrels and scallawags. How else explain her fully-realized portraits of Wickham (in Pride and Prejudice) or Willoughby (in Sense and Sensibility) or Frank Churchill (in Emma)? These rascals are, in many ways, the most interesting characters in her books.
Now comes the sleuth alter-ego of Jane in her second adventure, and in her journals, she makes no secret of her attraction for the man who is also, apparently, the head of the local smuggling band and known as The Reverend, rather than Captain Fielding, the upright Revenue spy.
En route to their holiday stay in Lyme Regis from their home in Bath, the Reverend Henry Austen and his wife, plus their two daughters, Cassandra and Jane, are considerably shaken up when their hired carriage overturns within a few miles of their destination. Cassandra suffers the most serious injury, and needs immediate attention. In the driving rain, Jane and the postboy set out on foot for the nearest habitat -- High Down the home of Geoffrey Sidmouth. After an initial not-at-all-welcoming greeting, Sidmouth makes himself, his staff and his home available. It is some three days later that the Austens are able to journey on to Winds, their hired cottage in Lyme.
Jane's writer's curiosity stands her in good stead as she sorts through the various miscellaneous characters rampant in Lyme, ranging from visiting second-rate nobility to smugglers, from retired Naval captains to French emigrees.
Ms. Barron's masterful technique in editing the pseudo-Jane's early diaries and journals is witty, pungent, and to the point. Any reader of either mysteries or Regencies, or even 'literature' will delight in this new look at our most famous woman author. Any reader of Jane Austen's books will easily recognize events and characters she later put to good use in those volumes bearing her own name.
I particularly like the listing of resource materials used by the 'editor' - they frequently send me haring off in enjoyable new directions.
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