Stevie‘s review of Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery (Jane Austen Investigates, Book 1) by Julia Golding
Children’s Historical Mystery Fiction published by Lion Fiction 23 Apr 21
I’m a massive Jane Austen fan, as I may have mentioned before, and back when I lived in Hampshire, I visited both Chawton House and Chawton Cottage on a number of occasions. Sadly, I’m yet to visit any of the other locations associated with Jane’s life, and little to nothing remains of Steventon Rectory, where this story begins, in any case. On the other hand, much of fictional Jane’s adventures in this book take place away from Steventon, at a property bearing some similarities to the equally fictional Northanger Abbey, about which the real Jane wrote as an adult. For the avoidance of any further confusion, this is the story of a bunch of semi-fictional characters sharing names and personal histories with Jane Austen and her family, about whom multiple researchers have written at length.
As with Gill Hornby’s Miss Austen, which I reviewed a while back, this book fills in some of the blanks of Jane’s life and offers us some intriguing new mysteries to solve along the way. This time, we meet Jane as a young teenager, slightly older than the book’s intended readership, and already entertaining her siblings with stories and puzzles, which are shared in the book in the form of letters inserted between the main chapters. Jane is shown as being adventurous, kindly and intelligent, but also somewhat socially inept. When her older sister is injured in a carriage accident, as a result of a local rich boy showing off his (lack of) skills to the two girls, Jane has to take over as companion to a titled Lady for the summer.
All is not as it at first seems at Southmoor Abbey, and Jane soon finds herself investigating a supposed haunting in the grounds and the theft of her host’s prized horses. Helped, and sometimes hindered, by her improbably large and unruly dog, Grandison, as well as by various of the Abbey’s servants, Jane uncovers guilty secrets harboured by her hosts and encounters characters bearing more than a passing resemblance to those penned by the real adult Jane. Her interest in those of other cultures and backgrounds, only occasionally hinted at in her novels, is also expanded upon in the story, as young Jane befriends an Indian girl and her father, who are desperate to be reunited with the rest of their family.
This book was a lot of fun, although I suspect I missed a few of the nods to Austen’s novels and wonder how many its intended readers are likely to pick up on. There’s a second one in the series for me to get my hands on right now and a third to look forward to later this year. I evidently need to make another trip to the Children’s Bookshop a couple of villages away from here.
Grade: B
Summary:
Jane Austen turns detective in this spooky historical adventure by award-winning author Julia Golding!
It’s 1789 and a young Jane Austen turns detective as she seeks to solve the mysterious happenings at Southmoor Abbey. When a carriage accident forces a change of plans, 13-year-old Jane is sent to be a companion to Lady Cromwell for a week as the household prepares to celebrate the eldest son’s coming-of-age party. While there, Jane vows to solve the mystery of the ghostly monk in the Abbey grounds – for she does not believe in such stories!
But this is not the only strange occurrence for the adventurous young Jane to investigate. There are shivery night-time investigations, an Indian girl with secret talents, a library fire, two prize horses in danger, and friends to save from false accusations.
With notebook in hand and her faithful dog Grandison by her side, will Jane overcome the continuous obstacles and find out the truth?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
