The Burglar's Ball- Book Review

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.

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