Stephanie Barron. Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas. Narrated by Kate Reading, Blackstone, 2014. [Audiobook].

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas is one in a series of mysteries in which Ms. Barron imagines Jane Austen helping to solve crimes. Austen’s curiosity, powers of observation, and understanding of human nature have made her novels perennial favorites. Though not a fan of “chick lit,” this reviewer has enjoyed several of her novels more than once. These traits help Ms. Austen discover criminal intent in these imagined tales.

Here Jane is keeping her journal during the twelve days of Christmas in 1814. The Austen family—including her curate brother’s family, her widowed mother, and single older sister Cassandra—are spending the holidays at an historic country inn and estate named The Vyne.

There they meet up with the innkeeper Mr. Chute and his family. Mr. Chute is also the local member of Parliament. Along with them are some of the members of the Gambier family. One of Jane’s sailor brothers had served under Admiral Gambier, but Jane notes that the Admiral’s wife is not respected in British society. Admiral and Lady Gambier have no children, but their niece and nephew accompany Lady Gambier to The Vyne.

The Admiral himself is in Ghent, Belgium, among those hashing out the treaty to end the War of 1812, the war with the United States. Jane’s political observations would be considered historically significant and are based on the real Austen diaries. A Mr. L’Anglois, aide to Mr. Chute and former secretary to a royalist French nobleman, is also present.

Readers familiar with English or American history understand that due to the relatively slow communications of the era, the Treaty of Ghent was agreed upon in December of 1814, but it would take time for the news to reach London and Washington to have the treaty ratified. The English and Americans would fight the famous Battle of New Orleans at the same time the novel is taking place because neither side in Louisiana knew that the treaty had been signed.

Patrons at the inn excitedly share the news that Napoleon has been captured and exiled to Elba. Readers know that that was not the end of Napoleon. He would escape, regain control of the French army, and European allies would have to fight the him again in 1815 at Waterloo. That is all in the future.

One other person attending the festivities is Raphael West, son of the famous American painter Benjamin West and himself an artist. Both Jane and Cassandra find this widower cultured and attractive. His father Benjamin would settle in England and be patronized by the King, but he had supported both the American and French revolutions until Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. Whose side, if any, was son Raphael on?

Yes, the tale fiction, but from what we know of the historical figures, it could have happened this way.

A Lieutenant Gage from Admiral Gambier arrives at the inn. He has made it there in spite of a raging snowstorm. He is carrying news of Ghent to London, but has a message for the admiral’s wife to deliver en route. It is clear to Jane that the lieutenant and the admiral’s niece Mary find each other attractive.

The next morning the lieutenant leaves to continue his mission to London in the snow. About an hour later, the inn gets word that the lieutenant was thrown from his horse and broke his neck. Jane and Mr. West go to the scene of the accident. West sketches the scene, and Jane discovers a trip wire buried in the snow. Gage’s death was no accident, and the satchel of correspondence he was carrying is missing.

A day or two later Mary Gambier dies from an apparent drug overdose.

There is a lot going on here. Jane and Twelve Days of Christmas reminded us a little of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap with its snowed-in mansion with the addition of some fascinating historical and literary connections. Not only do we meet a member of the distinguished West family—who almost becomes a murder victim himself—but Jane is working on Emma.

There are overheard conversations, an ancient chapel, a secret passage, Christmas gifts for the children, espionage, and a Twelfth Night Lord of Misrule party. It all adds up to a delightful and entertaining mystery.

N.B. We listened to this on an audio recording. Kate Reading does a superb job of telling the story and imitating a variety of voices in several accents. We were surprised to learn she was an American. Her British accents are spot-on.