Jane and the Canterbury Tale

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Jane and the Canterbury Tale, by Stephanie Barron

I've read some of these Jane Austen mysteries before, and they're kind of fun.  This one has Miss Austen visiting her brother Edward.  They attend the wedding reception of a local couple, the bride being a very young widow.  But the next morning, her first husband shows up newly murdered and Jane has a complicated mystery on her hands.

This was an OK book, but to be honest I probably wouldn't have bothered to read the whole thing if I hadn't happened to have a terrible sneezy allergy attack for half of yesterday (poor me, I couldn't taste the pie properly!).  I couldn't breathe and my head was completely stuffed up, so a brain-candy mystery was about all that I could handle. 

The Regency slang and everyday detail is fun (very much like Georgette Heyer), and Barron makes strenuous efforts to fit the murder into the spaces between the lines of Jane Austen's documented life.  So it won't drive you to drink or anything, it just wasn't that wonderful a mystery.

I did learn about mameluke sleeves, though, and what a hideous fashion they were.

Comments

  1. Bev HankinsNovember 24, 2012 at 2:53 PM

    Jean...in case you don't see my reply on the blog. YES! I will be hosting Mount TBR again. (Adam only asks for 12 books for his TBR challenge--I've got several Mount Everests lurking in my back room that need climbing.) Keep watching for the post...it's coming. I'm trying to decide if I want to offer any additional levels or not. Post coming soon, I promise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christine HardingNovember 25, 2012 at 6:24 AM

    I adore Jane Austen, but don't think I've read a Jane Austen prequel/sequel/spin-off... I'd be worried about it spoiling the books!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JeanNovember 25, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    Yeah, I'm not a fan of the Jane Austen industry and I don't read the spinoffs and such. But I've read some of these mysteries and they're kind of fun.

    ReplyDelete

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