Jane And His Lordship's Legacy (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
The Stephanie Barron series of mysteries casting Jane Austen herself as the crime-solving heroine continue in this the seventh installment.Here, Jane is mourning (secretly) the death of Lord Harold, with whom she has has a friendship and unrequited love over the earlier books. At the same time, she, her mother and sister Cassandra have moved to a small town where one of Jane's brothers has a house the women can live in, since their income is dependent on the kindness of their male relatives.Because Jane's relationship with Lord Harold was seen in a negative light by members of both their families, Jane is stunned to discover (literally moments after arriving in the new cottage in Chawton) that Lord Harold has bequeathed to Jane ALL his personal papers and letters. The solicitor who delivers the papers (contained in a huge and heavy trunk) further advises that it was Lord Harold's wish that Jane continue to write despite his death, and that she use his papers to write his memoirs. Although Lord Harold's family, and many other people with whom he had dealings in his shadowy past are incensed about the prospect of a poor and unknown person having access to the many secrets believed to be contained in the chest, Jane accepts it.At the same time, the people of the town aren't very welcoming, as a local man has put it about that HE, and not Jane's brother, is the rightful heir to the position held by Jane's brother. Plus, in order to make room in their house for Jane et al, a local widow who had lived in the house for years was displaced, generating even MORE hostility to the perceived usurpers.So, it shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that when Jane and a neighbour man take the trunk into the cellar to store, they discover the dead body of a local man. Further investigation confirms the cause of death to be drowning! What a puzzle! And if that isn't sufficient, hard on the heels of the murder, Lord Harold's chest is stolen from the cottage leaving Jane, in typical form, more angered than heart-broken, and determined to get it back!Much sleuthing and investigating follows in this rollicking story, which shows a Jane who is intelligent, feisty and determined to live her life on her own terms despite the strictures and rules her society would like to impose on her.I'm only sorry that there is just one more book left in the series, and hope that Barron has plans to write some more adventures for our beloved Jane!
I'm not sure how to discribe this book except that I felt like I was intimate with Jane Austen herself, while she was at Chawton. This mystery begins with Jane just ariving at Chawton Cottage. In the process of moving in she gets a visitor who is delivering a chest that she is to inherit from her deceased friend Lord Harold Trowbridge. In the chest is a lifetime of papers that Lord Harold wrote. Anyway this brings about a lot of problems to the Austen party and to top it off they find a dead body in the basement that was placed there before they arived. Jane is wonderful in the use of her wit and brains and we see how she unwavering she is in the persuit of finding the truth. Also the references to what is going on during Jane Austen's time makes this book just wonderfully historical. Just love it!! I'm going to go back and try reading the other books!! Definitely recomend this book
What do You think about Jane And His Lordship's Legacy (2005)?
This book was highly recommended on Audible, and it's narrated by my favorite, Kate Reading! Okay, I'd like to give this book a 2.5 stars but can't so I'm going with 2. I think my biggest problem with it was that so many of the reviews I read raved about how the author really "captured" Jane Austen's voice...but I really didn't feel that. While the language may feel period-appropriate, I felt that the book lacked the wit and wry humor that mark Austen's works. Also, I felt like some of the characters were too obviously set up as templates for characters in Austen's own novels (kind of like, "Oh - this is the guy who's supposed to be Mr. Collins"). The mystery aspect of the novel itself didn't really pick until toward the end, and then I felt it wrapped up too quickly after the long build-up.All in all, I didn't hate this book...but I wasn't sad to see it end, either.
—Jennifer
I was so confused when I started this book. One of the reasons was that when this library ebook became available to me, I had downloaded a Kindle freebie also revolving around Jane Austen. I couldn't remember which I should be reading. Once I figured it out, I was still confused by this book. I totally forgot the whole premise. I had to read a synopsis to figure out what I was reading. I was confusing reality with fiction.This is a fictional series involving Jane Austen. While it takes liberties with reality, I have read that many of the details (like where Jane is living in this book and how she wakes up and usually makes breakfast for her mother and sister) are correct. Once I got a handle on this being fiction, I started enjoying the book. Apparently this series revolves not so much about Jane the writer, but Jane the detective. In no way shape or form (thank God!) is Jane a cozy mystery heroine. Obviously the time she lives in reigns her in a bit, but Jane also has much more sense than most cozy heroines. I really enjoyed this book.
—Barbara
It was difficult to get into and dragged in parts, but it held up pretty well compared to the others. I expected to get a lot more insight into who Lord Harold was through his letters, but not that many were included, and weren't all that readable. By readable, I mean that the letters were hard to understand out of context, and only later do we realize their significance to the story that is being told at present. By that time, I've long since forgotten what they were about. It is also worth noting that when former characters return, they aren't given enough detail relating to where we last saw them. Mr. Sidmouth was mentioned but I can't think for the life of me who he is. I recognize the name. He is not referred to with any many story details attached to his, only the place Jane was when she met him. That helps me very little. It's not entirely Barron's fault--it's inevitable with any series--but a lot more of a memory jog is needed when it's the eighth book.
—Amanda
