The Burglar's Ball by Julia Golding
Series: Jane Austen Investigates, Book #2, Standalone
Publication Date: 22nd Oct 2021
Genre: Historical cozy mystery, Middle Grade
4 Stars
Jane Austen is back at sleuthing, and this time it’s
at the school’s ball. When the headmistress invites Cassandra, Jane’s elder
sister, to join the ball at the end of the term, Jane has no option but to go
along. Cassandra is excited, and why not? She’s the headmistress's favorite and
can dance like a graceful swan.
Jane, well, she is more content being at home and stealing
sugar plums, reading, and writing. Of course, a mystery or two wouldn’t hurt.
Luckily for Jane, though unlucky for a few others, the diamond necklace of a
wealthy would-be pupil gets stolen during the ball.
When the girl’s father, a collector who returned
from India, blames Brandon (the dance master’s employee and an African boy),
Jane takes up the task of finding the actual thief. What she unearths could
cause a problem to a lot of people. When did that stop Jane, though?
I’ve recently read the first book in the series, so
picking this up was inevitable. The story moves better in this one. There is
enough focus on the mystery, and everything around more or less is connected to
the case in some way.
Arjun and Deepti from book one are seen again and
have a role to play in helping Jane. What I like the most is the author’s way
of showing the other side of the story. Many historical works use the British
version where India is nothing more than an ‘exotic’ land with people who need
to be ruled.
The author uses Jane’s character to question and
think about how the Indians feel about being ruled by a foreign company that
was only supposed to do business with the locals. African slavery has been
touched in this book. Not much, but enough to push the young readers to do
their research and find out more.
That said, the book also reminds of me a post I read
on Instagram. It was about the white-savorism theme in books. I wouldn't
classify this one entirely in that genre, but there's no denying that Jane is
the one who solves the crimes and saves the innocent. Even when the accused do
their bit to help Jane, they still end up being thankful to Jane.
This isn't a criticism per se, but something the
author could think about when plotting the next book in the series. I'm
starting to have high expectations from her.
Jane’s creative letters are another plus point of
the book. Though I confess that when Jane is busy solving the mysteries, I end
up imagining a younger version of Agatha Christie. Can’t help it. They are both
my favorite authors.
The mystery isn’t complex or confusing. Most readers
will figure it out before Jane. That should be fun for middle graders who like
to sleuth.
To sum up, The Burglar’s Ball is better than book
one in the series and can be read as a standalone (for the mystery). It’s cute,
light, and engaging.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Lion Hudson Ltd.
#JaneAustenInvestigatesTheBurglarsBall #NetGalley
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