At the start of Barron's outstanding 14th Jane Austen mystery (after 2016's Jane and the Waterloo Map), Jane uses some of the profits from her novel Emma to treat herself and her sister, Cassandra, to two weeks at Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire in May 1816. Jane hopes that taking the waters there will alleviate her lassitude, back pain, and "want of spirits." The new acquaintances the sisters meet include a beautiful invalid in her 20s, a heroic naval captain, and an evangelical clergyman ("Repent, Miss Austen--Prepare. The end of all things is upon us"), who's accompanied by his impertinent sister ("You do not appear to suffer. You cannot claim ill health," she tells Jane). When one of these sharply defined characters dies of poisoning, Jane once again turns sleuth. The Austen family's financial constraints and Jane's own failing health add verisimilitude to this taut, sometimes perplexing tale of lost opportunity and unfulfilled aspirations. Barron fans will hope Jane, who died in 1817, will be back for one more mystery. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, ICM Partners/Sagalyn. (Feb.)

1816 was known as the Year without a Summer due to a cloud of ash encircling the planet. In Barron's latest mystery starring Jane Austen, the celebrated author finds herself "not having been very stout of late." The seemingly endless rain is not helping. Jane seeks revitalization (with a bit of her Emma income) at Cheltenham Spa, in the company of her devoted sister Cassandra. Unfortunately, Jane finds herself surrounded by a most unpleasant group of fellow boarders, one of whom may be a poisoner. The artist Raphael West, with whom Jane had an encounter in one of her earlier adventures, appears again here. Together, they look among several brilliantly detailed characters for a murderer, after an exotic costume ball ends in disaster. Written in the form of Jane's diaries, Barron's series offers the reader an easy intimacy with the beloved author. This is the fourteenth installment (after Jane and the Waterloo Map, 2016), and it offers another delightful adventure. Perfect for historical mystery fans and a must for ardent Janeites.

In this latest in a popular series, Jane Austen is feeling queasy and feverish, so she heads to the Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire with sister Cassandra. Alas, all is not relaxing; the boarders at the guest house where they stay are a restless, troubled bunch, and we just know something bad is about to happen.

Troubled by ill health, Jane Austen repairs with her sister, Cassandra, to Cheltenham Spa for the waters and finds the place anything but restorative. The volcanic ash from an Indonesian volcano is blanketing Europe, making 1816 the year without a summer. Things are equally bleak for the Austen family, still recovering from recent financial losses. Having lost his ship, the Phoenix, which his navigators ran aground, Jane's brother Charles faces a ruling from the Admiralty Board about his personal responsibility. When Jane complains of weakness, her apothecary sends her to Cheltenham with orders to take the waters, which she finds vile--but no more disagreeable than her fellow lodger Miss Garthwaite; Miss Garthwaite's ailing brother, Richard, a clergyman who's quick to condemn everyone around him; or Viscount Granville Portreath, who descends on their rooming house in search of his wife, invalid poet Rose Williams. Thucydides, the Garthwaite pug, is poisoned. So are several rats who turn up in inconvenient places. But the worst arrives at a costume ball celebrating mad King George III's Natal Day, when rescuers searching the Cheltenham Assembly after a fire breaks out find one of the guests stabbed to death. It's not clear whether the victim was indeed the murderer's target, but it's clear that Jane will have to extricate herself from the attentions of Raphael West, a painter's son who'd like to be more than her friend, long enough to follow the clues to the killer. Full marks for background, plotting, and voice--though fans should know that this 13th case is darker than Jane's first 12. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.