Jane Austen mysteries (Stephanie Barron)

In July 1809, novelist and occasional sleuth Jane Austen moves to Chawton Cottage in Hampshire, where she discovers a strangled corpse in the cellar and finds herself racing against time to catch a killer who will stop at nothing to secure a fortune.

"Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington,...

"May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript-about a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain-cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits...