“Jane and the Final Mystery,” by Stephanie Barron (Soho Crime)
In her last Jane Austen Mystery, “Jane and the Year Without a Summer,” Denver author Stephanie Barron revealed that Jane was suffering from an unknown illness (possibly Addison’s disease). It seemed the end was near for the Regency-era writer.
And so it was. The title of the just-published Jane Austen mystery, “Jane and the Final Mystery,” makes it clear that death will claim Austen — and end the popular series.
In this 15th mystery, Jane is plagued with headaches, stomach problems and has so little energy that she is exhausted after a few steps and must ride in a sedan chair. Still, that doesn’t stop her from going to the aid of a close friend, Elizabeth Heathcote, when her son, William, is in trouble.
William, 16, is suspected of murdering Arthur Prendergast, a fellow Winchester College student. The victim is found drowned, with a note from William in his pocket. William asserts that the note, asking for a meeting, was meant for someone else. At a preliminary hearing, William refuses to tell where he was at the time Prenders, as he was known to underclass students who hated his cruelty, was killed.
In part because William is a stutterer, he is charged with the murder. In those early days of 19th-century England, stuttering was considered a sign of stupidity and even depravity. Indeed, at the hearing, William is accused of “meddling with tradesmen’s daughters.” A fellow student testifies that William has “got a woman of the town with child,” and rather than doing the honorable thing, he intended to drown her. Prenders ended in the drink instead.
Despite her flagging energy, Jane is determined to find the killer. Aided by Edward Austen, her nephew and William’s close friend, Jane discovers the woman William is accused of dallying with. Not only is not pregnant, but she is an expert in “oral affliction.” She’s been helping the poor boy overcome his stutter. William is too much the gentleman to utter her name in a public hearing.
Manners are very much a part of Barron’s mysteries, just as they were in Austen’s writing. This was a time when women, with their frailty and lesser intelligence, were coddled by men. (That is, upper-class women. No such civility was directed at scrubwomen or other domestics.) Jane’s meddling is often dismissed for that reason — much to her advantage.
It is also a time when breeding was all important. Jane realizes Prenders might have been murdered because he was in line to inherit a title. The book is filled with so many counts and viscounts and other titled gentlemen that it’s hard to keep them straight.
I think you can assume without a spoiler alert that Jane solves the mystery before death overtakes her.
Jane Austen’s passing while still a young woman (she was 41 when she died) was a sad event, depriving the world of her witty, insightful novels. And it is a sad time, as well, for readers of the Jane Austen mysteries. Barron (aka Francine Mathews) has a scholar’s understanding of Regency times.
The Colorado author will continue writing her Merry Folger Nantucket series, but it is set in a different time, a different place. We mourn the end of the Jane Austen mysteries. RIP once more, Jane Austen.
Editor’s note: Stephanie Barron will be signing copies of “Jane and the Final Mystery” at the Tattered Cover Aspen Grove at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Go to tatteredcover.com for more information.
