Stephanie Barron (1) (1963–)

Jane is poised to take up residence in Southhampton with her brother, Frank, and his new & expectant bride Mary. One of Frank’s naval colleagues and friends, Captain Tom Seagrave, is suddenly accused by a subordinate of ignobly slaughtering an enemy ship’s unarmed captain after a heated battle. Before too long, the chief witness against Captain Seagrave is himself killed, and Captain Seagrave is arrested as the primary suspect in that murder, as well. With his heroic friend in danger of losing both his illustrious career and his life, Frank enlists Jane’s help in clearing Tom’s name and uncovering the duplicitous person behind the plot to destroy Tom and his reputation. Jane soon finds herself immersed in the brutal side of naval life and in the seedier side of seafaring communities as she tries to discover the relentless treachery lurking behind Tom Seagrave’s unjust prosecution.

This entry in the Jane Austen Mystery series is a reasonably mediocre book, although far from engrossing.

Stephanie Barron is a good writer and does a fairly decent job of capturing Jane Austen’s voice and the tone and sensibilities of the time period. However, the military-themed storyline in this installment is not terribly compelling.

Worst of all, apart from Jane herself, none of the characters are particularly memorable or interesting. The character of Etienne LaForge, the ailing prisoner of war, is clearly intended to fill the enormous void left by Lord Harold Trowbridge’s absence, but that attempt falls seriously flat. Combine that with Frank’s tendency to verbally abuse his sister, as well as his wife’s tendency to lapse into swooning hysterics at every little thing that occurs, and what the reader ends up with is a largely tedious and lackluster reading experience.… (más)