Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
Realizing that the trunk contains items that people would kill to own, she has it taken to the basement where they find a dead body. That same night while dining at the magistrate’s house, someone steals the trunk and a laborer is arrested for the crime. A new arrival Justin Thrace arouses gossip and suspicion because he claims to be the Earl of Holbrook’s heir. He and his half-sister Imogen are riding when she is thrown from her horse and dies because a thorn was placed beneath the saddle. Justin runs from the law after people accuse him of placing the thorn there. Jane learns that the corpse in the cellar was placed there by Mr. Hinton. As she makes inquiries she thinks the real killer has yet to surface.
Stephanie Barron gives a realistic portrayal of how impoverished genteel folks lived in Regency England. The investigation into the murders enables Jane to temporarily take her mind off the death of her beloved Harold. Though somewhat overly scattered with the motive coming late, the who-done-it is cleverly conceived inside of a fast-paced plot populated by eccentric likable characters making for a gem of a historical amateur sleuth tale.