jane and the genius of the place [MP3 CD]

stephanie barron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2000

2000 books on tape. mp3 cd. 12 hrs. unabridged. jane austen mystery. read by kate reading.

Product Details

• MP3 CD
• Publisher: books on tape inc. (2000)
• ISBN-10: 0736679634
• ISBN-13: 978-0736679633
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So What If She's Not Really Jane Austen?, July 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jane and the Genius of the Place: Being the Fourth Jane Austen Mystery (Hardcover)

I'm surprised by the number of readers of this series (not so much for this book as the earlier ones) who fault Barron for not being Austen. None of us are Copernicus either, but we may still revolve around the sun. To those critics I am inspired to paraphrase the little Comtesse to Cassandra: "La, you are such a stick!" Barron's series is imaginative in its premise, and engaging in its execution. I love every book and look forward to the next, regretting only that a full-fledged romance between Jane and Lord Harold is quite literally impossible.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written but over-transparent, July 15, 2002

By 

ViolaNut "lrviola226" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane and the Genius of the Place: Being the Fourth Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

The style is fabulous, the footnotes lend that authentic air, but unfortunately the means and the culprit are all too transparent in Jane Austen's fourth outing as a detective. Familiar characters from the first three books put in appearances, and as a whole are well-drawn (although with nine kids in the house I'd like to at least know who they all are...). The murder here is more gruesome than some of the earlier ones, but let's face it, as soon as the body is discovered you know how the trick was played, and a certain other scene, related by a jealous would-be suitor, lays the whole thing open. I spent the last two hundred pages or so enjoying the writing but thinking "Get a clue!" I'd recommend any of the others over this one, but for those (like me) who tend to collect an entire series no matter what, it's not a waste of money by any means. At the very least, you get to exult in how smart you are, which is always fun, right? As an aside, the landscaping descriptions are great; even for those who haven't traveled to Canterbury (which is probably most people) it's a cinch to close your eyes and visualize the countryside.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but less than genius, February 9, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Jane and the Genius of the Place: Being the Fourth Jane Austen Mystery (Being A Jane Austen Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the fourth novel in Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mystery series. Having read the previous three, I already knew what to expect. Barron has a knack for imitating the style of Austen's day and shows a vast array of study into the lifestyles of Austen's time. The fourth novel in the series proves Jane to be as stalwart a detective as ever.

While Jane visits her brother's home of Godmersham, she is inevitably caught up in the tragic events that unfold in Kent. With the news of a possible French invasion looming on the horizon, a high-spirited French woman is found murdered at the horse races. Naturally, suspicion falls on the men who were entangled in her web, and her character and affairs with these men are called into question. But the detective side of Jane suspects that the foul play was due to political motives rather than jealous passions.

Barron introduces a wide cast of characters and suspects, and fully fleshes them out as Jane endeavors to solve another mystery. The novel moves quickly due to Jane's 'journaling' of events, even if at times the story is predictable. "Jane and the Genius of the Place" is a worthy addition and homage to Austen.