Having not completed the Being a Jane Austen Mystery Reading Challenge way back in 2011, I wish to make amends by reading Jane and the Man of the Cloth. Penned by Stephanie Barron, this is the second outing with Jane Austen as a sleuth after the exciting introduction in Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor.
The novel opens two years after the events in Scargrave where Jane and her family are travelling to Lyme for a sojourn in the early autumn of 1804. Unfortunately just before arriving town, their hired coach encountered stormy weather and overturned resulting in her elder sister, Cassandra, suffering a head injury. Unable to continue the short journey into town, Jane is forced to seek help from a nearby estate — High Down Grange — and was rudely greeted by the mysterious owner named Geoffrey Sidmouth. After briefly meeting his beautiful French cousin Mademoiselle Seraphine LeFevre, Jane's parents and sister safely arrived at the manor and they stayed there for two nights until Cassandra is well enough to travel to their rented cottage. However she suspects something strange is going on in the household but could not quite put her finger to.
Later Jane witnessed an unpleasant incident involving Sidmouth and Seraphine where a drunken man insulted both cousins on the streets of Lyme. Things take a sinister turn as it was discovered that the very same man was found hang on a makeshift gibbet at the end of the Cobb. It is rumoured that the deed was done by the notorious 'Reverend' who ply the trade smuggling contraband goods like brandy, silk and tea from the France at which time England is at war with. But who exactly is the 'Reverend'? Then a local resident, Captain Percival Fielding, is found shot to death and Sidmouth is accused of the crime because of his animosity towards that man. Could he really have murdered the retired captain and what is the source of his hatred? Or is someone else framing him so that the real murderer could get away with it? These lingering questions are what drives our female detective to solve the murders and get to the bottom of it.
Some Janeites might have heard of Cassandra's tale told to her niece many years after Jane's death about a possible romance she may have had with a nameless gentleman in a seaside resort who later died suddenly. Ms Barron certainly use this little known story and spin a plot of love, intrigue and deceit amidst the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars where all is not what it seems to be. Besides this I must commend Ms Barron for introducing some unforgettable characters such as Geoffrey Sidmouth and Captain Fielding. The interplay between two male leads remind me of Mr Darcy and George Wickham from Pride and Prejudice while Seraphine is cast in the role of Georgiana. But I am not so naive to believe everything that was said about Sidmouth from Fielding. This could be due to my bias thinking that Sidmouth could be the love of Jane's life if circumstances were changed.
Romantic allusions aside, Jane and the Man of the Cloth has everything a historical mystery fan could hope for with twists and turns right up to the final revelation. In addition it has a concise explanation of some of the terms used throughout the novel which I am not familiar with in the footnotes of the page where it appeared. With two books in Being a Jane Austen Mysteries series under my belt, I am longing to read Jane and the Wandering Eye for the next chapter of Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen version as a Regency sleuth.
This was one of my favorite books in the series. Glad you enjoyed it too. I had no clue who was up to what half the time. It was fun guessing.
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