Title: Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor (Jane Austen Mystery #1)

Author: Stephanie Barron

Publisher: Crimeline 1996

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 353

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Jane Austen; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading; 52 Books -- W47

How I Got It: iPad read

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband—a gentleman of mature years—is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune...as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery—and murder. Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords—a trail that may well place Jane's own person in the gravest jeopardy.

I picked this up in my exploration of Jane Austen adjacent books.  I thought it might be a fun mystery, but I was fairly disappointed.  Overall the book just didn't grab me at all.  It was a fairly dry mystery without any interesting characters or plot twists.  Everything was super predictable.  I didn't like the character of Jane Austen.  This series is just not for me.

Jane Austen Mystery (DNFed series)

• 1. Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor
• 2. Man of the Cloth
• 3. Wandering Eye
• 4. Genius of the Place
• 5. Stillroom Maid
• 6. Prisoner of Wool House
• 7. Ghosts of Netley
• 8. His Lordship's Legacy
• 9. Barque of Frailty
• 10. Madness of Lord Byron
• 11. Canterbury Tale