4.5-STAR REVIEW: JANE AND THE YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER by Stephanie Barron

Being a Jane Austen Mystery: Book 14
Publication Date: February 8, 2022

May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript—about a baronet’s daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain—cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra.

Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged, however. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own—some of them deadly. But perhaps with Jane’s interference a terrible crime might be prevented. Set during the Year without a Summer, when the eruption of Mount Tambora in the South Pacific caused a volcanic winter that shrouded the entire planet for sixteen months, this fourteenth installment in Stephanie Barron’s critically acclaimed series brings a forgotten moment of Regency history to life.

Jane Austen is unwell and needs the restorative waters of Cheltenham Spa. She and her sister, Cassandra, set off for a month of rest, relaxation, and healing taking residency in the home turned boarding house of Mrs. Potter in Jane and the Year Without Summer, the 14th book in the Being a Jane Austen Mystery series by Stephanie Barron.

Jane and the Year Without Summer is the first book I’ve read by Stephanie Barren, and I was struck by her dedication to writing period-authentic prose. Coming in toward the end of the series, I’m sure I’ve missed a great deal of the overarching storyline, but I don’t feel that it impacted my enjoyment of this particular book one whit. 

While the book started off rather slowly, it set the mood quite nicely. England is beset with rain due to the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora, which cloaks the earth for sixteen months. 

Jane deliberately chose Cheltenham Spa instead of Bath to avoid a certain Mr. West, who just so happens to turn up in Cheltenham Spa to dash Miss Austen’s best-laid plans. But Mr. West ends up being a much-needed support and distraction as the Misses Austens’ fellow residents are a rather quirky lot. From a vicar who has lost his faith, his cantankerous spinster sister Mr. and Miss Garthwaite, along with Miss Garthwaite’s pet pug, the beautiful but petulant Miss Williams and her dutiful friend Miss Fox, the dashing Captain Pellew, and the mysterious Miss Smith, how can one hope to find rest within the walls of this home?

With the appearance of Lord Portreath, Miss Williams’ estranged husband, and Mrs. Williams, Miss Williams’ stepmother to Cheltenham Spa, the stage is set for murder most foul. 

Enter Thucydides, Miss Garthwaite’s pug. 

When Thucydides dies of apparent poisoning, suspicion points to Lord Portreath. And from there, the story takes the reader on a slow and steady expedition to find the killer before they kill their intended victim. But who is the intended victim? 

If you’re looking for a fast-paced murder/mystery, move along. But if you’re looking for a slow-building, character-driven, period-accurate Regency mystery, Jane and the Year Without Summer is the novel for you.

Ms. Barren weaves a fascinating tale of love, betrayal, heartbreak, and murder, keeping me engaged until the last page. I highly recommend Jane and the Year Without Summer to lovers of Jane Austen’s writing and of the Regency period in general.

Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written twenty-five books, including five novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, and Death on Nantucket) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the penname, Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.