New Jane Austen Mystery -- THE WATERLOO MAP, Stephanie Barron

Have you ever enjoyed a Sherlock Holmes appearance in a TV program or film? If so, you already know the most important part about Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries: This Jane can't be the same as the one you know from reading Austen's own writing in Pride and Prejudice and Emma. But the parallels are close enough for pleasure. And by unbinding the character into an amateur sleuth who's also an early feminist and eager author, Barron's created a lively protagonist for her thoroughly enjoyable British period mysteries.

There are already 12 others in this series, which is good news in two directions -- you have plenty of other titles to gather later on if (like me) you find you're delighted by THE WATERLOO MAP.  (I liked the title before this one, too. A lot.) And if you've been reading the series already, here's a delicious adventure to plunge into, keeping in mind Jane's trials and tribulations from the earlier books. Among those -- and deftly reviewed by the author to bring new readers up to speed -- are Jane's obnoxious and pompous brother who can't stand her writing or her independence, the women friends and relatives who admire and support what she's doing, and a guilty romantic attachment to the painter Raphael West (a real historic personage worth knowing about), who keeps crossing Jane's path.

This time, her journey takes her reluctantly into the London home of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, who keeps a full set of Jane's works, handsomely bound, in each of his residences. And the royal personage wants Jane to visit his library at Carleton House ... maybe even to write something while there! ... and add to his prestige. Jane's not a fan: "There are few people of whom I think less than the Prince Regent. His entire history is either foolish or despicable." But the invitation can't be declined, and with a sigh, Jane concedes her calendar to the Regent's pleasure. At least, for one day!

That visit turns out to plunge her into crime-solving, as a hero of the recently concluded battle at Waterloo dies in the library, at her feet. Thanks to her insight, the "natural" (if unexpected) death is quickly and quietly recognized as murder. One mustn't offend the Regent, of course! But Colonel MacFarland of the Scots Greys cavalry is also too important to have his death overlooked. Jane's evidence is crucial to the court doctor:

"I will be forced to anatomise MacFarland now," the doctor mused ... "if it is a matter of murder..."

There. He had uttered the word aloud.

"Suicide is not to be thought of?" Raphael West asked.

"I should have said the Colonel had everything to live for," Baillie replied simply. "He was a Hero, recollect."

I met West's eyes. How had he earned that honor?  And might one man's reputation, be another man's shame?

Jane's probing into the heroics of the battle that everyone in England admires is far from welcome, and the Hero's widow has every reason to be furious with any assault on her husband's career. Should Jane back away from it all? Friendship and honor pull her forward instead.

This well-spun, entertaining "traditional" mystery is costumed in an era of ritual, class, and significant moments. In Stephanie Barron's hands, the setting is an added delight, forcing Jane to tackle the social forces that prevent women from taking bold action. Secrets, revelations, and further crimes unfurl.

If February's a tough time for you, great news -- the book's release date is February 2, and it's much more fun than watching for that funny old groundhog! If you can't make time for a midwinter reading binge, you can still scoop up a first edition from Soho Crime and let the pleasure of reading it wait for the right moment. Barron's website doesn't give her tour dates, but there are plentiful resources on Jane Austen, and maybe the best part of the site is discovering how this former CIA intelligence analyst tumbled into, shall we say, channeling one of the wittiest women of the Regency period.

A bit more modern than a Georgette Heyer mystery, but very close in flavor to Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series, and to Laurie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes adventures, THE WATERLOO MAP makes it onto my shelf for "keep and re-read." We deserve to enjoy this much fun!

Really? A Very Good "Jane Austen Mystery"? Author Stephanie Barron - Former CIA Intelligence Analyst

No, I didn't realize Stephanie Barron's background before I read her new book (released today!), JANE AND THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS. To be blunt, I wouldn't have touched a "Jane Austen mystery" even if I were snowed in for a weekend, except ... well, gosh-darn it, I've learned to count on Soho Crime for tight, well-plotted crime fiction with unforgettable characters. So when an advance copy of this book arrived along with the new Stuart Neville "Belfast Noir" volume (also released today), I gritted my teeth and started the first chapter.

About fifteen chapters later, I was still reading.

Barron's actually written 15 books since her stint at the CIA, and this one is intelligent, entertaining, and a classic puzzle mystery in the best English tradition. Way back in my past are a couple of years spent re-reading Georgette Heyer's best English Regency fiction, and Barron has the same knack for a clever protagonist with an irrepressible sense of humor and conviction under her constrictive clothing. This may not be the Jane Eyre you've pictured, but why not -- a spunky author who's defied her conventional brother in order to write her sharp-tongued and observant social-criticism-disguised-as-fiction, with an eccentric mother, and a passle of neighbors determined to enjoy the holiday season in spite of a heavy snowstorm. In face, in the first chapter, Jane, her mother, her sister, and her niece are victims of a carriage-and-wagon accident in the snowy night, and hence meet the elegant Raphael West, son of the noted artist Benjamin West (I looked them up; they were as real as Jane).

Despite her sense of reserve and a well-learned lesson in not trusting, Jane is drawn to West as a partner investigator, as deaths accumulate around them at a snow-struck country country manor:

"The ice on the lake is not yet thick enough to cut and stack in blocks in this room," Raphael West observed, "or we should not have found space to enter."

"You were here when [XX] met his death?" I said stupidly. "Then you must have seen his murderer! Or --"

"--Or killed him myself." His gaze was satiric. "Pray believe, Miss Austen, that I did not." ...

I frowned in perplexity. "From the frank disclosures of your narrative, I am convinced you were sent here -- not solely by your father, but by the Admiralty. You were told to search The Vyne for a bolt-hole. What, then, is the object of your intrigues?"

Raphael West's response to Jane Austen begins a steady cascade of motives, to add to the means and opportunities she's analyzing. If her tiresome brother would just stop trying to clip her wings ... if society allowed her to wield her quick intelligence without female harness ... if her thoughts and creative work in her fiction could be applied to the situation at hand ...

In Barron's skilled storytelling, there's a way for all those possibilities to come to fruition, provided that Jane can protect herself and her family members, and of course her host, from further murders. And with a plot that dances briskly over the twelve days of traditional English celebration at year's end, both official and pagan, and a lively pace, this turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp of a mystery. I'm so glad I moved past my own initial reluctance, and discovered this author's strengths.

Of course, now I've got to go find some of Stephanie Barron's other mysteries! Who would have guessed a CIA analyst could turn English history into such a delightful adventure?!