Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House (Jane Austen Mystery #6) by Stephanie Barron

Title: Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House (Jane Austen Mystery #6)
Author: Stephanie Barron
Read by: Kate Reading
Publisher: Books on Tape
Length: 10 hours and 9 minutes
Source: MP3 Audio through Wisconsin Public Library Consortium – Overdrive on my Droid

In the winter of 1807, Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra, and her mother are living in Southampton with Jane’s brother Frank and his new bride Mary.  Mary is expecting and so Frank has agreed to stay ashore, although he wants to be out fighting the French.  Frank longs for his own ship, and he is about to get one, but at the peril of one of his friends.  Tom Seagrave is accused of murdering a French captain after he had already surrendered his ship. It looks likely that Tom will be hanged for this crime and that Frank will become Captain of Tom’s ship.  This is not how Frank would like to obtain a ship and he is sure his old friend is innocent.

Jane volunteers as a nurse at the infamous Wool House, a place where sick French soldiers are housed.  Once there, Jane hopes to uncover information that will help to free Tom Seagrave.  What she finds is a plot that goes to the heart of Tom Seagrave and his family.  

Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen Mysteries are perfection.  I love how she takes the real history of Jane Austen and her time period and blends it with an intriguing mystery to make a fascinating novel.  I first discovered Barron’s novels about 11 years ago.  I had just started working at Tetra Tech in downtown Milwaukee the year before.  One of the best parts of my new job is that it was across the street from the Milwaukee Public Library.  In the new book section, I picked up mystery #7, Jane and the Ghosts of Netley.  I was hooked and picked up the previous novels when I could.  Somehow I missed #6 along the way.

Kate Reading did a marvelous job narrating this audiobook.  I enjoyed listening to it immensely.  Reading has the perfect voice and embodies what I think Jane Austen should sound like.

Overall, Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House is a must read for all Jane Austen fans and any fan of a good historical mystery.  I have read the series as stand-alone novels and it has worked out fine for me.