Miss Austen Investigates: The Hapless Milliner
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15
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A witty, engaging murder mystery featuring Jane Austen as an intrepid amateur sleuth--the first in a series. Jane Austen--sparkling, spirited, and incredibly clever--is suddenly thrust into a mystery when a milliner's dead body is found locked inside a cupboard in the middle of a ball. When Jane's brother Georgy is found with some jewelry belonging to the deceased, the local officials see it as an open-and-shut case: one which is likely to end with his death. Jane is certain that he is innocent, and there is more to the murder than meets the eye. Her investigations send her on a journey through local society, as Jane's suspect list keeps on growing-- and her keen observational skills of people will be put to the test to solve the crime and save her brother.
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The Hapless Milliner, the first book of the Miss Austen Investigates series, starts off strong with a murder of a mysterious merchant whom only our main character Jane recognizes.
The first 30% of the book was enjoyable and I thought this has the potential to being a 4 star read. However the joy flew out of the window the moment you realize Jane is not exactly clever... at all. It's definitely not going to bother everyone as it is a matter of preference, but I do expect the main character of a murder mystery novel to have at least a few working (little grey) brain cells. Jane does not need much evidence to come to conclusions and accuse (publicly!) every character she starts to suspect. She does not take her time to think it through, she just points fingers to the point where even her own family is telling her off. She did that to every main suspect, making the mystery... not really that much of a mystery.
That is also why I felt the conclusion to the mystery was anti-climactic and didn't make sense to me personally. You really want me to believe that someone who doesn't think much through and is guided by emotion rather than logic suddenly solved the murder and found an extremely unlikely murderer? I personally could not, leaving me very disappointed by the end.
There was also so many side characters and they mostly read the same, which isn't a big problem but I did find it a tad boring.
I think there is potential in this series but sadly this book just didn't do anything for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Featured Series
1 primary bookMiss Austen Investigates is a 1-book series first released in 2024 with contributions by Jessica Bull. The next book is scheduled for release on 3/25/2025.
