Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One of the sweetest surprises of the recent Jane Austen revival has been the exquisite Jane Austen mystery series begun by Stephanie Barron's Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. Fans of Jane Austen will appreciate the detailed and stylistic sensitivity of Barron's sequel. When a storm forces Jane to take shelter at the home of Geoffrey Sidmouth, she uncovers a mystery surrounding her host's character and a powerful romantic attraction as well. But this is Austen on the case, and you can count on propriety at every turn. Jane's ear for gossip and her careful manners make her a super sleuth in this romantic mystery full of Victoriana and literary charm. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly as wry as Jane Austen herself, Barron delivers pleasure and amusement in her second delicious Jane Austen mystery (Jane and the Unpleasantness of Scargave Manor, 1996). While headed to Lyme Regis for a seaside holiday in 1804, the Austen carriage overturns and Jane's sister Cassandra is injured. The family finds shelter at High Down Grange, home of sardonic Geoffrey Sidmouth and his beautiful cousin Seraphine LeFevre. The narrative is structured as a journal in which Barron's Jane notes her distress at finding herself attracted to the sensuous Sidmouth. The Austens' trip is historically accurate but sparsely enough documented to allow Barron great latitude in creating a tale that makes the most of the period when the Napoleonic Wars raged and the coast was rife with smugglers. At the local Assembly dance, Jane gathers gossip from the Crawfords, Barnewalls, Lucy Armstrong and Captain Percival Fielding, an injured naval officer, who hints that Sidmouth is the "Reverend," a notorious smuggler. When Fielding is murdered and Sidmouth arrested, a customs agent asks Jane to conduct an undercover investigation. She eagerly agrees. With indefatigable daring and intelligence, Jane discovers the true natures of her new acquaintances and the meaning of heroism. While Austen denied that her characters were based on real people, Barron cleverly turns to characters from Austen novels as models for her own: Mrs. Bennet for Mrs. Austen, Willoughby for Sidmouth, Elizabeth's relationship with Darcy for Jane's with Sidmouth. Worthy of its origins, this book is a delight.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Crimeline (November 3, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553574892
• ISBN-13: 978-0553574890
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #227,564 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The Jane Austen Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great light reading, December 28, 2001

By A Customer

I chose to comment on this book because it is my particular favorite in the series, though I much enjoyed all the others. I have read and re-read all of the "real" Jane Austen novels with much delight (except Mansfield Park, which was peculiarly hard going). IMHO the reviewers who compare Ms. Barron's "Jane" with the "real" Jane Austen, are missing the point. The "Jane as detective" works by Ms. Barron are truly "entertainments," the delightful results of a fanciful and imaginative reconstruction of history as it might have been, with humor and astute social observation to the fore. Whether or not Ms. Barron's novels depict the "real" Jane, I will leave to readers to judge, but for my own part, Ms. Barron's "Jane" is every bit as lovable as Emma (my favorite heroine), and reading the Barron series left me wanting to reread all of my favorite Austen novels, with the added resolve of trying to slog my way through Mansfield Park.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 good solid stars from me, August 11, 2006

By	J. Lesley (Midsouth, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Find, March 17, 2004

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

What a delightful find Stephanie Barron has been for anyone who loves Jane Austen and wishes that the author herself had more new material to read (after exhausting completed and incomplete novels, and juvenile writing). For those whose wish is the same as mine, Stephanie Barron's mystery novels have been a pleasure to read.

While not entirely perfect, and at times perhaps a little forced in language and style, Barron has affected a heroine of Jane, the likes of which Austen herself would create. One might not deem Jane a likely detective, but anyone who has read her novels is familiar with the secrets and mysteries that are uncovered within. This is proven evidence that Austen herself would've made a likely detective.

Her second foray into sleuthing seems more quick-paced than the first ("The Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor"). While vacationing in Lyme, Jane is thrown into the acquaintance of a Mr. Sidmouth, whose dark demeanor and sardonic wit grab at Jane's heart as readily as her mind's vexation. The town is in an uproar over smuggling and the mysterious night-time leader of illegal activity, known only as the Reverend. Jane, in her curiosity, finds herself embroiled in the mystery of discovering who the Reverend is, in order to save the life of Mr. Sidmouth, or (perhaps to her dismay) prove he is the Reverend. Barron paints the cast of supporting characters well, and creates just enough plot twists to keep you wondering who the Reverend actually is.

Barron has captured the time and language of Austen's day. She insists, in her introductions, that these are Jane's actual memoirs and she has just merely edited them. While at times, the style seems a little too forced in order to evoke Austen's writing, this is easily overlooked through the sheer pleasure of reading what Jane herself might have written. I look forward to reading more of the series.