Jane and the Waterloo Map

Being a Jane Austen Mystery

By: Stephanie Barron

Narrated by: Kate Reading

The 13th installment in Stephanie Barron's fan favorite Being a Jane Austen Mystery series. Between novels, Victorian England's most beloved author doubles as a sleuth in often idyllic locales.

November 1815. The Battle of Waterloo has left the British economy in shreds; Henry Austen, Jane's favorite brother, is about to declare bankruptcy. The crisis destroys Henry's health, and Jane flies to his London bedside.

While she is there, the Reverend James Stanier Clarke, chaplain to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, invites Jane to Carlton House, the Prince's fabulous London home. Jane only accepts because many of Henry's bad loans were given by the Prince Regent's cronies. She hopes to intercede with the Regent on Henry's behalf, but before she can speak to him, she stumbles upon a dying man in the library - Colonel Ivor MacFarland, who, with a knife in his entrails, utters a single failing phrase: "the Waterloo map"...and Jane is on the hunt for a treasure of incalculable value and a killer of considerable cunning.

©2016 Stephanie Barron (P)2016 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"[A]n excellent period mystery for all historical fiction fans...Jane Austen devotees will especially appreciate immersing themselves in the many biographical details about Austen that accompany the fictional murder mystery." ( Library Journal)

"Vivid characters propel the subtle plot to its surprising conclusion. The first-person narration captures Austen's tone as revealed in her letters: candid, loving, and occasionally acerbic." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Barron has clearly done her homework in the language and manners of Austen's time.... [H]er latest venture edges out competing authors of Regency whodunits." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Love this series!!

I have read all of this series and adore it! Very enjoyable and entertaining. Love each one and this is no different.

Very historical

This book is just steeped in historical detail. The MacGuffin of the Waterloo Map was so interesting that I began to think it was a real thing, although a quick search online revealed nothing about it. The story is like a le Carre novel, although I suspected who the culprit was early on.

Awesome sauce!!!!!

I loved it! Witty, plot twists, romance, historical! I can’t wait to listen to another in this series. :)

Another great Jane Austen mystery

If you've enjoyed the first 12 of these wonderful Jane Austen mysteries (as I have), you'll enjoy this one too. Stephanie Barron (aka Francine Matthews) captures Ms Austen's voice so well, you'll think you're reading an actual lost manuscript from the 1800s. For those of us who have read and re-read (and listened to and re-listened) to all of Jane Austen's works and were left wanting MORE--this Stephanie Barron series is a real treat.

Kate Reading narration is excellent, as always.

I appreciate these books more and more

I began listening to this series years ago in the era of books on tape, and enjoyed each entry. At that point, I had read only one Austen novel, Pride & Prejudice. Even then I was always impressed and engaged by the cleverness of the premise, reimagining Jane Austen as a sleuth who left undiscovered journals behind. Stephanie Barron has done so much research on Austen that she has built these wonderful stories with many real historical facts and actual occurrences in Austen’s life, and they are never dull. The reader/listener is transported to another time.

As the years have passed, I have read all of Austen’s books except Northanger Abbey, and I regret that I am close to the last of this series. I find that having now read Austen’s novels has enriched my appreciation of these books so much that I plan to go back and listen to the earlier books again!

This book was an original story with a great twist, and Kate Reading’s narration was spot on. It was good to have Raphael West back as Jane’s sleuthing partner, and the addition of Jane’s niece, Fanny, was fun.