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Jul. 31st, 2010 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaJANE AND THE WANDERING EYE, by Stephanie Barron.
Cover copy: As Christmas of 1804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself "insupportably bored with Bath, and the littlenesses of a town," despite the seasonal gaiety, the elegant Assemblies, and the appearance of a celebrated pair of actors at the Theatre Royal. It is with something like relief, then, that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge -- to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the arrogant and unsavoury Earl of Swithin.
But at a masquerade thronged with the fashionable and the notorious, Jane's idle diversion suddenly turns deadly. Even as the actor Hugh Conyngham transfixes the guests with his declamation of Macbeth's murderous soliloquy, his theatre manager is discovered stabbed to death in an anteroom. Weeping on his breath is Hugh's sister, the spirited tragedienne Maria Conyngham. And standing by the body, knife in hand, is Desdemona's brother, Simon, Lord Kinsfell. In vain does Simon protest his innocence: he is arrested and charged with murder.
Jane, however, knows that there is more to this fatal drama than meets the eye. And what is one to surmise from the stormy portrait of an eye left lying on the corpse? As Yuletide revels progress, Jane's delicate inquiries expose a bewildering array of suspects and an endlessly shifting pattern of flirtations, amours, and sinister entanglements. And as Jane's fascination with mystery and her fondness for the dramatic arts lead her deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that she will not uncover the truth without some playacting of her own.
Yet Jane's bravura performance could do more than unmask a killer...it could lead to the ruin of her reputation, or even the loss of her life.
Fiendishly clever and breathlessly diverting, JANE AND THE WANDERING EYE weaves manner, mayhem and murder into a dazzling spectacle of intrigue and suspense.
Gender of detective: female
Right, then, Ms Barron - put down your copy of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, back away slowly, and nobody will get hurt...
Fair's fair: the only reason I recognize the frequent references is because it's my favorite Austen novel, and while I don't know it by heart, I certainly know it well enough to recognize when it's being quoted. Likewise, while the amount of research put in is impressive, I do in fact know someone* who was driven up a wall and back down again by not merely the number, but the relative pointlessness of her footnotes. (For my own part, I'm not sure if it's better or worse to shift one's info-dumps into footnote form as opposed to in-text. Easier to skip, I suppose.)
The mystery itself depends heavily on Actual Regency Historical Persons, which doesn't help, and throws Jane still more into a really questionable situation re: Lord Trowbridge. Jane's actual biography says she was disappointed in love, and so the second book in the series duly had her so disappointed. Unfortunately, as the series progresses, she gets steadily closer and closer to Lord Trowbridge, until one is not merely left wondering why Random Dude From Second Book is supposed to have been her great disappointment, but also how the hell she still has a reputation left, given some of the things Lord Trowbridge has pulled. (No, not that sort of thing. It's not that kind of series.)
In any case. The murderer is caught, and nothing is resolved with Lord Trowbridge because this is a series after all. It's not a bad book -- certainly better than some of the earlier ones I remember reading -- but I'm not sure it's a series I would recommend. Definitely not one I would recommend marathoning. The footnotes might stick somewhere painful.
*For values of 'know' that equal 'have been on each other's f-lists/access lists for several years now, exchange comments, but never met in person or anything'.
*
Garlic has been roasted, and the goulash is being heated, I think. Mmm, goulash. :is part hobbit:
Cover copy: As Christmas of 1804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself "insupportably bored with Bath, and the littlenesses of a town," despite the seasonal gaiety, the elegant Assemblies, and the appearance of a celebrated pair of actors at the Theatre Royal. It is with something like relief, then, that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge -- to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the arrogant and unsavoury Earl of Swithin.
But at a masquerade thronged with the fashionable and the notorious, Jane's idle diversion suddenly turns deadly. Even as the actor Hugh Conyngham transfixes the guests with his declamation of Macbeth's murderous soliloquy, his theatre manager is discovered stabbed to death in an anteroom. Weeping on his breath is Hugh's sister, the spirited tragedienne Maria Conyngham. And standing by the body, knife in hand, is Desdemona's brother, Simon, Lord Kinsfell. In vain does Simon protest his innocence: he is arrested and charged with murder.
Jane, however, knows that there is more to this fatal drama than meets the eye. And what is one to surmise from the stormy portrait of an eye left lying on the corpse? As Yuletide revels progress, Jane's delicate inquiries expose a bewildering array of suspects and an endlessly shifting pattern of flirtations, amours, and sinister entanglements. And as Jane's fascination with mystery and her fondness for the dramatic arts lead her deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that she will not uncover the truth without some playacting of her own.
Yet Jane's bravura performance could do more than unmask a killer...it could lead to the ruin of her reputation, or even the loss of her life.
Fiendishly clever and breathlessly diverting, JANE AND THE WANDERING EYE weaves manner, mayhem and murder into a dazzling spectacle of intrigue and suspense.
Gender of detective: female
Right, then, Ms Barron - put down your copy of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, back away slowly, and nobody will get hurt...
Fair's fair: the only reason I recognize the frequent references is because it's my favorite Austen novel, and while I don't know it by heart, I certainly know it well enough to recognize when it's being quoted. Likewise, while the amount of research put in is impressive, I do in fact know someone* who was driven up a wall and back down again by not merely the number, but the relative pointlessness of her footnotes. (For my own part, I'm not sure if it's better or worse to shift one's info-dumps into footnote form as opposed to in-text. Easier to skip, I suppose.)
The mystery itself depends heavily on Actual Regency Historical Persons, which doesn't help, and throws Jane still more into a really questionable situation re: Lord Trowbridge. Jane's actual biography says she was disappointed in love, and so the second book in the series duly had her so disappointed. Unfortunately, as the series progresses, she gets steadily closer and closer to Lord Trowbridge, until one is not merely left wondering why Random Dude From Second Book is supposed to have been her great disappointment, but also how the hell she still has a reputation left, given some of the things Lord Trowbridge has pulled. (No, not that sort of thing. It's not that kind of series.)
In any case. The murderer is caught, and nothing is resolved with Lord Trowbridge because this is a series after all. It's not a bad book -- certainly better than some of the earlier ones I remember reading -- but I'm not sure it's a series I would recommend. Definitely not one I would recommend marathoning. The footnotes might stick somewhere painful.
*For values of 'know' that equal 'have been on each other's f-lists/access lists for several years now, exchange comments, but never met in person or anything'.
*
Garlic has been roasted, and the goulash is being heated, I think. Mmm, goulash. :is part hobbit: