Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery

I was a great fan of Julia Golding’s Cat Royal series and so opened this book with great anticipation. I was not disappointed! Intriguingly the author has taken the early life of Jane Austen, who is 13 in this story and made her into a detective but within suitably Austenish boundaries. Jane is sent in place of her sister Cassandra, to be a companion to Lady Cromwell as preparations are made for the celebrations of her son’s 21st coming of age. Forewarned by her brother Henry about the possible sighting of a ghost in the ruined abbey adjacent to the house Jane sets off determined to find said ghost and win the wager with Henry. But there is a bigger mystery to solve, and aided by Deept the Indian maid servant, Luke the stable boy and Fitzwilliam, companion to the son and heir Jane solves the mystery in an exciting denouement.
Julia Golding has taken great pains to make Jane’s voice quite authentic throughout the story and succeeds and hopefully will lead young people to Jane Austen’s novels. The hierarchy of the big house and the servants emerges very clearly, and also the nuances of the hereditary system on which so much depends. There is the interesting appearance of a steam engine the design of which is explained in detail, and the character of Annette, not a woman in the 18th century mould at all. There is also Jane’s dog, Grandison, who likes to chase the cricket ball – a real hard cricket ball is very hard for a dog to pick up!
All this is beautifully written in Jane’s own voice and words it seems, along with her letters to Cassandra, in shortish chapters, and makes for a greatly enjoyable read. Let us hope there are many more to come! It is also printed on lovely paper which makes it even more enjoyable.