Jane and the Barque of Frailty

A light-hearted mystery… The most fun is that ‘Jane Austen’ is in the middle of it, witty and logical, a foil to some of the ladies who primp, faint and swoon.

If Jane Austen really did have the ‘nameless and dateless’ romance with a clergyman that some scholars claim, she couldn't have met her swain under more heart-throbbing circumstances than those described by Stephanie Barron.

For this diverting mystery of manners, the third entry in a genteelly jolly series by Stephanie Barron, the game heroine goes to elegant parties, frequents the theater and visits fashionable gathering spots — all in the discreet service of solving a murder.

The book cleverly blends scholarship with mystery and wit, weaving Jane Austen's correspondence and works of literature into a tale of death and deceit.

A chilling mystery with a solution that will leave you spellbound. Stephanie Barron does an excellent job of creating Jane Austen’s world. Details of early 19th-century country life of all cases ring true, while the story line is clear, yet full of surprises.

A skillfully told tale with a surprising ending. The narrative is true both to what's known about Jane's activities at the time and to her own private journalistic voice.

A wonderfully intricate plot full of espionage and intrigue. . The Austen voice, both humorous and fanciful, with shades of rings true as always.

Moving into Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen gets an unexpected and mysterious Bengal chest as a legacy. But before she has time to study its contents, a corpse is found…

Three years after news of her scandalous husband’s death, Adelaide Fiske is at the altar again, her groom a soldier on the Marquis of Wellington’s staff. The prospects seem bright for one of the most notorious women in Kent—until Jane Austen discovers a corpse on the ancient Pilgrim’s Way that runs through her brother Edward’s estate. As First Magistrate for Canterbury, Edward is forced to investigate, with Jane as his reluctant assistant. But she rises to the challenge and leaves no stone unturned, discovering mysteries deeper than she could have anticipated. It seems that Adelaide’s previous husband has returned for the new couple’s nuptials—only this time, genuinely, profoundly dead. But when a second corpse appears beside the ancient Pilgrim’s Way, Jane has no choice but to confront a murderer, lest the next corpse be her own.

The restorative power of the ocean brings Jane Austen and her beloved brother Henry, to Brighton after Henry's wife is lost to a long illness. But the crowded, glittering resort is far from peaceful, especially when the lifeless body of a beautiful young society miss is discovered in the bedchamber of none other than George Gordon - otherwise known as Lord Byron. As a poet and a seducer of women, Byron has carved out a shocking reputation for himself - but no one would ever accuse him of being capable of murder. Now it falls to Jane to pursue this puzzling investigation and discover just how 'mad, bad, and dangerous to know' Byron truly is. And she must do so without falling victim to the charming versifier's legendary charisma, lest she, too, become a cautionary example for the ages.

In March 1941, Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in England's River Ouse. Her body was found three weeks later. What seemed like a tragic ending at the time was, in fact, just the beginning of a mystery.

Six decades after Virginia Woolf's death, landscape designer Jo Bellamy has come to Sissinghurst Castle for two reasons: to study the celebrated White Garden created by Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West and to recover from the terrible wound of her grandfather's unexplained suicide. In the shadow of one of England's most famous castles, Jo makes a shocking find: Woolf's last diary, its first entry dated the day after she allegedly killed herself.

If authenticated, Jo's discovery could shatter everything historians believe about Woolf's final hours. But when the Woolf diary is suddenly stolen, Jo's quest to uncover the truth will lead her on a perilous journey into the tumultuous inner life of a literary icon whose connection to the White Garden ultimately proved devastating.

Rich with historical detail, is an enthralling novel of literary suspense that explores the many ways the past haunts the present — and the dark secrets that lurk beneath the surface of the most carefully tended garden.