Good Morning Reader Friends!
I’m so happy to be today’s book tour stop for Jessica Bull’s newest release in her “Miss Austen Investigates” series: A Fortune Most Fatal. This is the second novel in the series and spoilers, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Huge thanks to Austen Prose, Union Square & Co., and Jessica Bull for the free digital copy AND physical copy in exchange for an honest review!
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that I am a fan of all things Jane Austen. I’m a complete sucker for Austen rereads, retellings, continuation stories…all of them. This year is especially exciting as December will mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Be prepared to hear a lot more about Austen’s works and retellings from me as the year goes on.
Okay, back to A Fortune Most Fatal. Reminiscent of Stephanie Barron’s “Being A Jane Austen Mystery” series, here we have our beloved Jane herself as the sleuth, and I absolutely love this. Bull clearly knows Austen and has done her research, but I also love how transparent she is about tweaking history and adding things to fit her story.
While I love reviewing mysteries, sometimes I find it difficult because I don’t want to give anything away. In this novel, Jane travels to Kent to stay with her brother Ned, sister-in-law Elizabeth, and their children. Ned has not yet received the fortune he expects from his adoptive mother Mrs. Knight…and here is where our mystery comes in.
I won’t say too much more plot-wise, but I will say that this was a great mystery read and I am looking forward to more in this series! Jessica Bull has done a marvelous job with Jane, and this series is a great entry in the long list of Austen-inspired novels. I think as readers of classic Austen now, we revere Jane as a witty, wise, and astute commentator of society in her time. Which, yes, she is all of those things. What Bull has done well though, is making our 20-21 year old Jane human. Throughout the first book in this series (The Hapless Milliner) and this one, Jane makes mistakes, works through trials and triumphs, and yes, solves some mysteries. This all helps bridge the 250 years between the modern reader and our beloved Jane.
If you are a fan of Jane Austen, cozy mysteries, or both, I definitely recommend this series. If you read it, let me know and we’ll chat!
The Bookish Bird 