Being a Jane Austen Mystery Series: Book 15
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen’s health is in slow decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at the prestigious all-boys’ boarding school, has been found dead in a culvert near the schoolgrounds—and in the pocket of his drenched waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend Elizabeth. Winchester College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can Jane clear William’s name before her illness gets the better of her?
Over the course of fourteen previous novels in the critically acclaimed Being a Jane Austen Mystery series, Stephanie Barron has won the hearts of thousands of fans—crime fiction aficionados and Janeites alike—with her tricky plotting and breathtaking evocation of Austen’s voice. Now, she brings Jane’s final season—and final murder investigation—to brilliant, poignant life in this unforgettable conclusion.
After looking forward to the final installment of Stephanie Barron’s Being a Jane Austen Mystery, Jane and the Final Mystery, it far exceeded the anticipation. Powerful writing, strong research, and an uncanny skill for channeling the sound of Jane Austen, this mystery, while most enjoyable, tugs at the heartstrings, being the final mystery in the already-known but still sad loss of Jane Austen herself.
In spite of her continually failing health, Jane Austen finds herself caught up in the mysterious death of Arthur Prendergast, a classmate of William Heathcote, the son of Jane’s dear friend, Elizabeth Heathcoat. While young Prendergast is found dead in “the Pot,” a lock system in a river near Winchester College, a school rivalry between Prendergast and young William is revealed, putting William in a very bad light. When an inquest names him the most likely murderer, Elizabeth, as well as Jane’s nephew, Edward, begs Jane’s assistance in clearing William’s name and freeing him from gaol, where he has been confined.
Jane works through her ongoing pain, lightheadedness, and nausea to seek out and question those who might know more than they’re sharing while also talking to those who have shared more than they ought or possibly even know. With Jane’s attentive nephew, Edward, helping her every step of the way, they are certain of William’s innocence and follow every possible clue to discover who—shockingly—is the actual culprit.
The tale is Jane Austen to its very core. The descriptions of people and locations are spot on, while historical detail enriches every page. Knowing the inevitable outcome for dear Jane, the reader has a poignant behind-the-scenes vantage point to observe Jane’s devotion to her family and friends in her final days as her strength and health wane.
Stephanie Barron’s writing is intense, pointed, and stronger than ever before. Open to the first page, be utterly carried away, traversing the grounds of Winchester College with Jane and Edward as they seek the clues and determine those they can trust to prove William’s innocence. The only negative note is that this is the final book in the Being A Jane Austen Mystery series, which has provided much reading enjoyment through the years.
Absolutely riveting, Jane and the Final Mystery is thoroughly delightful and a completely immersive Jane Austen reading pleasure. 
Stephanie Barron is a graduate of Princeton and Stanford, where she received her Masters in History as an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow in the Humanities. Her novel, THAT CHURCHILL WOMAN (Ballantine, January 22, 2019) traces the turbulent career of Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill’s captivating American mother. Barron is perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Jane Austen Mystery Series, in which the intrepid and witty author of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE details her secret detective career in Regency England. A former intelligence analyst for the CIA, Stephanie—who also writes under the name Francine Mathews—drew on her experience in the field of espionage for such novels as JACK 1939, which The New Yorker described as “the most deliciously high-concept thriller imaginable.” She lives and works in Denver, CO.
