Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery by Julia Golding
Series: Jane Austen Investigates Book 1 (Standalone)
3.7 Stars
Set in 1789, the book has Jane Austen as a young thirteen-year-old, playing detective at the Southmoor Abbey. Jane has to take her elder sister’s place as Lady Cromwell’s companion for a week during the celebration of her son’s coming-of-age birthday party.
Jane has a bet with (one of) her brother to solve the mystery of Abbey’s ghost. As a non-believer of ghosts, she is determined to unearth the truth.
However, Jane realizes there’s a lot more to solve as incidents happen one after another. The list of suspects is increasing. Luckily, she finds an ally in Luke, the stable boy, and Deepti, a young Indian laundress with several talents.
Can Jane solve the mysteries without risking her life in the process?
The book started rather well. Jane is portrayed as a cheerful, quirky, and witty teen. She carries a notebook to write down her observations. She is smart, not really sensible, but clever enough to solve a mystery despite the obstacles.
The tone is lighthearted, and you can hear Jane muttering at times. The actual mystery starts almost halfway through the story. It’s not much of a mystery either. However, it should suit the target audience, middle graders. The writing is consistent and a little juvenile. That’s a plus. Jane is 13 years old. That’s how she is supposed to be. Her family is considered rather eccentric and reminds us of the Bennet family.
There were times when Jane seemed more like a mix of her heroines in the book. This could go either way with fans. But yeah, it’s rather hard to imagine Jane Austen playing an amateur detective, resembling a historical version of Nancy Drew.
The author did her best to show a positive portrayal of Indian characters, Deepti and her father, Arjun. I’m glad to see that. However, I do wonder how a girl from Maratha, belonging to the warrior/ bodyguard community can call Jahangir the great Mughal emperor. Her loyalties will be with the Maratha kingdom, not the invaders.
I understand where it comes from. The internet is full of portraying invaders as noblemen and whitewashing the killings of millions of natives.
That’s a minor point that stayed with me because I belong to the country.
Going back to the story, it did fall a little flat in terms of the ‘ghost' part, which was supposed to be the central theme. The other incidents take more prominence, and the ghost is more or less reduced to being used as a prop. Though it’s a decent mystery for middle graders, it could have been better.
Overall, the book shows promise. I feel that the next one would be even better. Looking forward to reading book two in the series. Pick this one as a light and casual read for kids.
I received an ARC from NetGalley, Lion Hudson Ltd, and Lion Fiction.
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