In this piece of historical fiction, we have a fairly classic “whodunit” scenario, but with the fairly novel twist in that it is a young Jane Austen who is tracking the killer.

We meet Jane as an aspiring writer, waiting for her suitor Tom to propose while attending balls and enjoying life with her family. However, that all changes when the body of a woman is discovered at a ball, and a loved one of Jane’s is accused of the crime.

I enjoyed the concept of Jane Austen applying her wit to this kind of crime-solving, and also liked the relationship between her and some of the other characters in the story. However, I did feel as though Jane as a character was a little – well – silly, and didn’t act in a way that would be expected for someone as socially conscious as she was. I appreciate that some artistic license was taken, but I wanted to believe in Jane more as a character instead of finding her inconsistent.

Overall, though, this is a fun read, with plenty of Austen references thrown in throughout. 3.5 rounded up.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Hampshire 1795: while a young Jane Austen is canoodling in the greenhouse with Tom Lefroy during a ball, a woman is being brutally murdered. Jane recognises the victim as a milliner from a nearby town and, frustrated at the local magistrate's lack of interest in her testimony and lacklustre investigation, decides to makes her own enquiries. Her investigation becomes a lot more urgent, however, when her beloved non-verbal brother is found with incriminating evidence and accused of the murder.

This is not the wise and witty author of 'Persuasion' in her mature years, this is the young author of 'Lady Susan' - a heroine more similar to Catherine Morland than Elizabeth Bennett. She makes embarrassing blunders, accuses all the wrong people and is blindly naive about the motivations of others, and yet she is tenacious and steadfast in her determination to get to the bottom of the murder and clear her brother's name.

Like the experience of reading Northanger Abbey, Jane's non-subtle approach is a little cringey to start with, but you can't help but root for her, especially as she is dismissed and overlooked by the authorities and even the men in her own family. I loved all the inside jokes and Austen family references - like Jane's increasingly bizarre suggestions about what Cassandra can do with her letters once she has read them.

I really enjoyed this story - a delicious treat for Austen fans but also an engaging mystery in its own right.

Hampshire, 1795, a ball at the residence of the prominent Harcourt family.

Young Jane Austen is hoping that a man she’s been enjoying a flirtation with, will finally propose.

However, instead of a marriage proposal, Jane finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery.

A body of a young woman is found, whom Jane recognises as Madame Renault, a milliner. Jane bought one of her straw hats before.

Mr Craven, a magistrate for the county, is asking for people’s help in catching the murderer. He’s quick to dismiss Jane’s valid questions and concerns, because she’s a female.

But when Georgy, Jane’s brother with learning disabilities, is accused of Madame Renault’s murder, Jane is determined to reveal the true culprit.

What a wonderful story! As a huge fan of Jane Austen, I was so excited to read this book and I wasn’t disappointed.

I didn’t really know much about Jane’s life and her family, but this book has revealed some interesting facts for me, especially around her brother Georgy. He was born disabled, but the nature of his disability was unknown.

In the book, Bull explains that he was sent away to live with another family. After doing some extra reading around the topic, I discovered that it was customary for people of that era to sent away their disabled children, as they brought ‘shame’ to the family.

In the book, Georgy was such a gentle and naive character, and him and Jane shared a special bond. It was wonderful to see Jane wanting to clear her brother’s name.

Another powerful theme in the book is the treatment of women.

A woman’s place was in the home raising her children and nothing else. Jane was a rebel in that regard, as she was always busy writing and trying to finish her novel, but at the same time, she did want to conform to the societal norm of marriage and family. I am glad that she didn’t, otherwise there would be no Sense and Sensibility, Emma, or Pride and Prejudice.

In the book, Jane’s ideas were quickly dismissed. She did raise some serious concerns around the murder, but the magistrate wouldn’t listen to her. She had to take matters into her own hands, showing grit and determination.

I cannot wait for another book in the series.

Many thanks to Michael Joseph for approving my NetGalley request to read and review this title.

i’m not too sure how i feel about this - i think i’ll have to do a reread BUT having said that, i did very much enjoy the writing style itself.

What an intriguing and very different look at the daily life and developing character of one of our finest and most famous novelists. This Jane is still young and impetuous, yet her reasoning and her inquisitiveness is already in evidence as she determinedly weighs up the facts and the possibilities in order to pin down the murderer and clear her brother's name. There are little nods to her future as an author and appearances by people we know inhabited her world, yet this is fiction. Well researched Regency fiction that entertains, with a light touch, humour, and a satisfying conclusion. The teaser chapter at the end can't help but make the reader long for more! Roll on, book two.

I love reading cosy mysteries and this was enjoyable to read. Loved the thriller, humour and mystery! Perfect afternoon reading.

Miss Austen Investigates was a hugely enjoyable and light read and I loved the author’s portrayal of Regency England in 1795 and Jane Austen and her family.
When Jane is at a ball the body of a milliner is discovered and suspicion soon falls on Jane’s brother George. Jane is determined to investigate and discover the real killer.
This is a fairly slow paced novel but this allows the reader to immerse themselves in the language and period of the time. The author describes what it was like to be a woman of Jane’s class during this time and this is also reflected in how Jane is able to investigate the murder.
A fun read that I would recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every good mystery is in need of a brilliant sleuth...’ cover tagline.

My thanks to Penguin Random House Michael Joseph for granting my wish for ‘Miss Austen Investigates’ by Jessica Bull.

This is the first in the Miss Austen Mysteries and I certainly felt that it was a promising opening.

Hampshire, 1795. A young Jane Austen is attending a ball at Deane House where the engagement of Jonathan Harcourt, the most eligible bachelor in all of Hampshire, and the heiress Sophy Rivers is expected to be announced. Yet Jane is more interested in securing her own marriage proposal from the dashing Tom Lefroy.

Yet a shocking discovery ruins the evening as the body of a milliner is discovered in a linen closet. Jane soon finds herself embroiled in an unexpected murder mystery when her beloved brother, Gregory, is accused of the theft of a valuable necklace that had belonged to the victim. So Jane needs to use her sharp wits to solve the case.

This novel starts quite slowly establishing the Austen family and their milieu. While the pacing soon picks up, Jessica Bull retains the linguistic formality and etiquette of the Regency period. I was pleased by this as it quickly established a sense of the period setting.

While the idea of Jane engaging in a spot of amateur sleuthing might seem an unlikely prospect for a quiet rector’s daughter, Bull draws upon her extensive knowledge of the author and features a younger Jane, who was indulging a love of the popular Gothic novels of the period and writing her ‘Juvenilia’, including ‘Lady Susan’, featuring a wicked anti-heroine.

In addition, so little is known of Jane’s life due to her family’s destruction of her correspondence, that there was plenty of scope for artistic license.

Overall, I enjoyed ‘Miss Austen Investigates’ very much, especially how well it reflected its Regency setting. It was fresh and witty and proved quite an effective whodunnit. I was pleased by the closing ‘to be continued …’. I certainly will be looking forward to further adventures with the intrepid Miss Austen.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

I love a well written cosy crime book and I’m pleased to say this is an excellent debut novel mixing cosy crime with historical fiction.

Great writing, full of tension, humour and the Austen family.

Jane Austen and her two older brothers are attending a Ball at the Harcourt's when a body is found in a small room off the main hall. Jane identifies the body as Madame Renault.
The following day Jane tells the local magistrate that the victim usually wore a gold chain with seed pearls dotted along it. Later that day Jane's 'special needs' brother is found is possession of the necklace and arrested for the murder.
Jane must then find proof that her brother is innocent.
A very enjoyable read.

A brilliant storyline where we see a whole new side to Jane Austen. We learn about the Austen family and Jane's romance with Tom Lefroy. The author shows us how difficult it was for a woman to be listened to in the late 1700's, and this in turn hinders Jane's investigation.
A lady from Brussels is found murdered at a Ball and Jane's brother is accused. Jane is determined to find the murderer so that her brother can be released. There are so many suspects and Jane sometimes blunders straight in and accuses the wrong people.
I was hooked from the start. An intriguing read that kept me guessing.
I loved it and look forward to the next investigation.

I’m not a huge fan of the current trend for cosy crimes but as a massive Jane Austen fan, I was tempted to give this one a go and I’m pleased I did. I felt that the author did justice to the character of Jane Austen, in terms of her character’s wit, observational skills and insight, the biographical details were well-informed and well-researched and, ultimately and most importantly, the story was entertaining and enjoyable to read.

With thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

I enjoyed this immensely. I loved the way the main character investigated the clues and this was such a good cozy mystery. Gentle and easy, just perfect. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

As mentioned in a previous review for this year so far, crime is not my genre of choice (though you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise given that the first two books I've read in 2024 have been crime books). I have been tempted back into the genre by the premise of it being centred around Jane Austen as a lead character. I love Austen and read pretty much any book based on anything of hers when I find it; this is no exception.

I enjoyed the idea of Austen using her infallible wit and intelligence to solve a murder in her hometown. For the most part, that element of the story delivered - the cogs of her mind were whirring page on page, and she connected dots that characters around her either missed or ignored completely.

I also though the family members were well utilised. The author gave a good sense of family, while staying true to the influences that these real people would have had on some of Austen's characters. They didn't feel completely removed from a reality that gave us the Austen persona that we are all more familiar with.

However, that in my opinion, was the only connection that I was able to find. I felt a disconnection with the idea that the character in this book and my favourite author were the same person. While that is totally excusable, because the author has just based her character on the idea of a real person, I personally found it a little disappointing that more effort had not been made in this area.

I also found myself little emotional connection to the conclusion of the story. While I appreciated the efforts to keep things twisting and turning right up to the last few pages, it just didn't feel particularly shocking or exciting to me when I was reading it.

This was passable enough for me, but has further reinforced my sentiment that crime is just not the genre for me.

This was a very good read with great characters amongst an historical setting with so much attention to detail. A lovely easy to read cosy mystery with lots of twists and turns with a surprise ending. Looking forward to reading more of the same.

Miss Austen investigates is centred round the title’s eponymous heroine and famous 18th Century writer who, on a winter’s evening, attends with her family an engagement party only to discover the body of a local milliner who has been beaten to death in a cupboard. This shocking discovery is elevated to even more dramatic heights when Austen’s brother George is implicated in the crime and so begins the narrative journey of trying to vindicate his name and free him from the clutches of the law and a potential death sentence.

George Austen was one of the only Austen siblings who was cared for throughout his childhood and beyond by a local family in the village where the Austen family resided. It was known that he had some form of learning disability, and, for some reason, it was decided by Jane’s family that he should live away from the family home. Poignantly, within this fictional world, the writer creates a strong bond between Jane and George and her compulsion to solve the murder and free her brother is what drives her to push against social and gender barriers.

The novel itself was well researched and it felt that the author was knowledgeable regarding time era as repeated references to clothing and etiquette pervaded the text. Jane’s own limitations and frustrations with societal attitudes towards women was an issue that was always returned to, and no doubt real life Jane Austen would have felt something similar as we can see from her own works of fiction. It did feel a little bit frustrating that Jane’s writing endeavours took a bit of a back seat to the main plot focus of discovering the murderer’s identity. Personally, I wanted to spend more time with Jane’s character and her thinking about her writing and creative process. I found that I had my own sense of how Jane Austen might react in certain situations and slipped slightly into disbelief when she wildly accuses several characters of being the murderer along the way. Jane Austen is so well formed in our collective consciousness that it can feel problematic when a writer choses to utilise them for fictional narratives that are at odds with your own perceptions, although I recognise this is a fault that lies with me and not the writer.

There were moments in the novel that I really enjoyed, such as the presentation of the relationship between Jane’s brother Henry and her first cousin Eliza. In time they would come to marry, but at this point in the story we are left to perceive their relationship through the eyes of Jane and so left outside of their burgeoning romance. Jane’s friendship and admiration of her cousin is also well done. Eliza de Feuillide, is an interesting character in her own right and is the subject of much historical debate. A single mother who had to flee from the French revolution, she raised her son, Hastings on her own. Eliza’s son seemed son seemed to share a disability with his uncle George and it is interesting to consider the different representations and treatment of both.

Overall, this felt like an enjoyable read that had all the typical aspects of a cosy crime tale and it was great to be in the company of the fictional Austen family.

This book was so up my street.

As a huge fan of Jane Austen, I must admit I was hesitant as to whether her voice would come through as I imagined, but I needn't have worried! Austen is in the most capable hands of Jessica Bull and this book is an absolute triumph. It has all the components that you love from Austen's work, with a tone that echoes Bridgerton, and finished off with a sprinkling of Agatha Christie mystery.

Miss Austen Investigates could not be a more perfect formula for success. I will be recommending this book for a long time!

Firstly thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this early copy. As soon as i saw this was coming I knew I had to read it as I love anything Jane Austen/period and cosy crimes and this totally fit the bill. I thoroughly enjoyed the story the whole way through, did have to stop myself from reading the preview chapter of the next book though! But so glad there is another one coming. While there are mentions of Janes writing at this stage I didn’t necessarily feel like I was reading about the world famous author but that also really didn’t make a difference to my enjoyment of the book. As a character I loved Jane, she was feisty and wouldn’t stand for rubbish yet was also fiercely loyal to her family and her Georgy. I really enjoyed the mixture of personalities within the Austen family as well as the additional characters. The story had a lovely flow making it hard to put down at any given stage and I enjoyed how there was a chapter from the victims perspective near the end tying the story together nicely. The plot itself isn’t overly complicated (although I still didn’t predict the ending) but this worked perfectly in allowing to develop the characters while still having an interesting plot and I look forward to hopefully lots more adventures of miss Austen investigates.

Jane Austen is attending a society ball in her neighbourhood when a young girl is found murdered and stuffed in the linen cupboard. When her brother George is accused of stealing her necklace, ripped from her throat, it's up to Jane to find the real culprit, and clear his name.

I went into this with some trepidation, but had read some good reviews so I decided to give it a go. The author clearly knows her stuff and was keen to impart that knowledge, so there is a lot of biographical detail, and a large cast of characters which could perhaps be a bit daunting for someone who doesn't know much about the authors life, but for anyone who has read at least one biography, there is a lot of detail that is recognisable, and the characters will be familiar. I found once I'd settled into the story, it moved along quite easily, I just had to get past the absurdity of Jane Austen as a detective, (of sorts). I will look forward to the next instalment.

*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*

Hampshire, 1795 where the Austen family reside at the local rectory, sister Cassandra is engaged to be married, & where Jane is in the midst of a romance with Tom Lefroy. At tonight's dance, Jane is sure that Tom is about to pop the question when their tryst is interrupted by the discovery of a dead body. A young milliner (hatmaker) has been killed, her body hidden in a linen closet. There are plenty of suspects including local bigwig Sir John, but when one of her brothers is accused of having something to do with the crime, Jane finds herself investigating a murder.

I rather enjoyed reading this one. The author weaves together fiction & real people & events from Jane's life into an engaging historical mystery. I found myself looking up some of her family members especially glamourous cousin, Eliza Capot, Comtesse de Feuillide, widow of Captain de Feuillide who lost his life in the French Revolution. I thought that the character of Jane was a little too immature here & her noted intelligence didn't really have chance to shine. - solving the case seemed to be a matter of accusing almost everyone involved one by one rather than actually deducing anything. I enjoyed it enough though that I would be interested in reading another. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Penguin Random House/Michael Joseph, for the opportunity to read an ARC.