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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
an enjoyable addition to the series, June 21, 2002
This review is from: Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
I enjoy these Jane Austen-as-sleuth novels. Author Stephanie Barron is a fine writer who emulates Austen's elegant prose style with success. This third installment of the series takes place in 1804 Bath, where Jane's family has moved, in part to accommodate father George's declining health, and Jane dislikes intensely living in a place of such "dissipation". A murder has occurred during a fancy dress party Jane attends, and she is drawn into the mystery by her old friend, Lord Harold Trowbridge. I had some minor quibbles with the book -- Austen's renowned wit is missing, too many characters (in costumes, no less!) and relationships make the plot confusing -- but in general I enjoyed this book very much, and appreciate the opportunity to spend time with our beloved Jane as the author deftly weaves historical and biographical facts into her story. Personally I enjoy the footnotes, which are infrequent, informative and not at all intrusive.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Darn! I wish I could say I liked this book better., June 21, 2008
This review is from: Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
Having read the first two books in this series and enjoyed them both I thought I would just pick this book up and begin a delightful reading experience. Sadly, that did not turn out to be the case. Even though a three star rating is not actually considered bad, it does say that I did not find the pleasure in reading this one which was so evident for me in the previous two. Right away I began to have trouble. Maybe it was a lack of concentration on my part, maybe not. I had to go back and read the first chapter a second time in order to get all the many characters placed in my head. Even so I still lost track of one of them. I didn't think that Stephanie Barron did a very good job of clearly defining who was who for the characters. This was magnified by the fact that they were all in fancy dress, wearing masks, and Jane didn't know any of them, even if they had not been in costume. Lord Harold Trowbridge had gotten in touch with Jane (he knew her from another one of her mystery adventures) and asked her to keep an eye on his niece, Lady Desdemona. Lady Desdemona has been made an offer of marriage by the Earl of Swithin. She turns him down flat and leaves London to stay with her grandmother in Bath. Lord Harold wants Jane to keep an eye on Mona to make sure she doesn't do anything foolish, such as form an unacceptable alliance, just to prove to Swithin that she is serious about not marrying him. How was Jane Austen, a spinster on the fringes of high society, in very perilous financial circumstances, supposed to accomplish this task? That weakness in the plot was such a glaring problem that I began to read with a frown on my face and it didn't leave my countenance very often. The murder which happened at the fancy-dress ball was what ultimately threw the characters together but under normal circumstances I don't think Jane would have been very likely to become a confidant for Lady Desdemona. I needed something more substantial to tie these two women together in the first place. I found that the sentence structure and word usage was not always well done. I had to fight to comprehend some of the sentences and read them over and finally arrived at the meaning. I do not read these books because I am a fan of the writings of Jane Austen. I read these books, first and foremost, because I love a good mystery. Having them "told and solved" by Jane Austen is just a plus for me. This mystery was not a very good mystery. I went back and read the last half of chapter 16 and the first half of chapter 17 over again to make sure I understood who, what, when and why. That is not a ringing endorsement. I pay close attention when I read a mystery because I like to solve it myself. Yet in this case I was confused and not very happy about it when all was revealed. And I will tell you right now, I did not like what Ms Barron did with one of the real life friends of Jane Austen. There was no reason that I can see for her to have cast any doubts on the death of that person. No reason whatsoever! I'm sorry to say that any friend who asks my opinion of this book, and indeed this entire series, will likely get an earfull. I will not sugar-coat the entire series just because I liked the first book so very much and continued to enjoy the second in the series. This one was not up to standard for me and I will have to relay that information. It almost seemed that Ms Barron was using so much of her attention in getting the historical setting and the Austen voice correct that she forgot the mystery. Well, the historical setting is fine by me. I don't know enough to be critical. The Austen voice became quite a bit weaker in this third book, at least for me. The mystery? That came off almost like an afterthought which she continued to re-write and solve as she went along.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better as they go, September 18, 2004
This review is from: Jane and the Wandering Eye: Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
'Jane and the Wandering Eye' is the third novel in Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen as detective series; and she merely improves each time upon an ingenious and highly likely concept, as our favorite author plays sleuth to high-profile murders and crimes. Barron has realistically recreated Austen's time period, playing the editor to Jane's "found" diaries that record these events, and peppering her narrative with footnotes that inform the reader about Austen's day. With the third book of the series, Barron has improved upon her style. At times it almost seems a bit of a stretch to capture the language used in Austen's day, but Barron is comfortable in Jane's mindset. She does the author justice in thought and deed - one can very easily imagine Jane adventuring to discover the twists and turns of the mysteries that fill Barron's pages. And if there is a slight resemblance to some of Austen's published novels, well, we know when the idea/observation struck her. The third book introduces us to a murder mystery, filled with numerous twists and turns. Once again we find Jane in the companionship of Lord Harold Trowbridge, as they try to solve a mystery that was committed at his mother's house and that throws suspicion on his family, as well as on various suitors who would claim his niece's hand in marriage. Together, Lord Harold and Jane uncover the murderer while the law remains impotent to do so. I very much look forward to whatever mischief she may set her sights upon in book four.
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