Stephanie Barron has added another volume to her mystery series featuring Jane Austen with Jane and the Year Without a Summer (#1,102). Things are not going well for the extended Austen family; Jane's brother Frank has been called before an Admiralty Board to account for the loss of his ship. It could mean the end of his career. In the meantime, another brother is facing financial ruin, taking the savings of the other Austen siblings with his own losses.
Faced with these calamities, Jane decides to treat herself and her sister Cassandra to several weeks taking the waters at Cheltenham on the profits from her latest novel. Alas, the physician whom she consults there on the best authority does not have good news for Jane.
She is somewhat distracted by the goings-on at the boarding house where she is staying. Among the other guests are an overbearing clergyman and his equally insufferable sister, a disabled Naval officer, and most intriguingly, a beautiful invalid confined to a wheelchair there with her companion. When a pug dog is poisoned at the house, it becomes clear that the real victim was intended to be one of the tenants of the boarding house. But who, and for what reason? Puzzling out the answer, plus an important face from Jane's past keep her from settling into despair. It's a bittersweet ending. I wonder if this could be the last outing for this enjoyable series? I certainly hope not.
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