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JANE AND THE STILLROOM MAID
by Stephanie Barron
Bantam, August 2000
304 pages
$22.95
ISBN: 0553107348


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Jane Austin is enjoying a summer visit to Derbyshire's craggy peaks, sparkling streams, and cavernous gorges. But there, amid scenes of unsurpassed beauty, she stumbles upon the ugliest slaughter she has ever seen. High in the rocks near the town of Bakewell lies the body of a young gentlemen. With blond curls and delicate features, the vicim has the face of an angel-yet Jane can see that he had been shot in the forehead and savagely mutilated.

Even more shocking is the revelation gleaned from the surgeon's examination: the deceased is in fact a woman-a maidservant clad in the garb of her master, Mr. Charles Danforth of Penfolds Hall. Tess Arnold had been in charge of the Stillroom at Penfolds for many years and was known as an adept preserver of produce and compounder of home remedies-until, it seems, she was dismissed for a scandalous indiscretion.

Was Tess, Jane wonders, the gory prey of a madman loose in the hills? Or was she, perchance, the cast-off impediment to a young nobleman's marriage? Is there any merit to the claims of the ranting blacksmith, who speculates that Tess fell victim to a ritual execution-or dark side of the secret brotherhood of Freemasons?

This book is well written for its timeperiod. It is not a book to my liking only because I don't like the speech of this period. It was hard for me to get through. But for those who love the English mystery this is an A-1 book for them. I find it stays in period and goes along at a good pace for the English mystery lover.

Reviewed by Michelle Mitchell, August 2001

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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