Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written twenty-five books, including five novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, and Death on Nantucket) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the penname Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
Praise for Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas
LibraryReads November 2014 Top Ten List
"Witty, immaculately researched . . . Reminiscent at moments
of Sense and Sensibility."
—USA Today
“Sings with not just a good plot but courtly language and an
engaging group of characters worthy of the famed novelist herself .
. . A first-rate mystery with so many twists and turns that you can
hardly blame a reader who doesn't figure it out until the end.”
—The Denver Post
"Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas is a complex murder
mystery with the same kind of rapier wit that Austen deployed. This
is great fun for readers who long ago ran out of Jane Austen
novels. Barron nails the period. She talks the talk and knows her
history. The story stands up as a mystery as well, festooning its
surprises in a tinsel of satire."
—The Boston Globe
“[A] charming holiday read. Barron re-creates the 1814 world
wonderfully, from the elaborate dinner parties and Twelfth Day
Children's Ball to the strict social rules and upstairs/downstairs
divide—all with a humor and edge that would make Jane herself
proud.”
—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Just add eggnog and a Yule log."
—Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
"Ingenious in plot—Barron plays fair with clues in this intriguing
whodunit—Jane’s latest adventure offers readers still more: a
glimpse of holiday celebrations of two centuries ago, a pleasant
excursion into the lives of Britons and a collection of well-drawn
characters. Add Barron’s deft imitation of her subject’s prose
style, and you have a novel that its subject may well have
admired."
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[I]nteresting and exciting… lets us sink into a mode of life and
lets us experience the mores ruling European society two hundred
years ago, while keeping us intrigued with the outcome of the
central mystery. Highly recommended.”
—I Love A Mystery
"[A]n excellent period mystery for all historical fiction fans . .
. Jane Austen devotees will especially appreciate immersing
themselves in the many biographical details about Austen that
accompany the fictional murder mystery."
—Library Journal, STARRED Review
"Vivid characters propel the subtle plot to its surprising
conclusion. The first-person narration captures Austen’s tone as
revealed in her letters: candid, loving, and occasionally
acerbic."
—Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review
"Barron has clearly done her homework in the language and manners
of Austen's time . . . Her latest venture edges out competing
authors of Regency whodunits."
—Kirkus Reviews
"A good double closed house mystery and an engaging historical
novel, with careful descriptions of Georgian Christmas
customs."
—Booklist
"[M]aintains Jane Austen as intelligent, witty, observant, kind,
quick witted, and logical. The historical details of the time are
carefully shown via the actions, dialogue, and setting descriptions
. . . Just as Jane is putting together the clues and trying to
decide who to trust, the readers can follow and come to their own
conclusions."
—Gumshoe Review
Praise for the Being A Jane Austen Mystery Series
"If you have a Jane Austen-would-have-been-my-best-friend complex,
look no further . . . [Barron] has painstakingly sifted through the
famed author's letters and writings, as well as extensive
biographical information, to create a finely detailed portrait of
Austen's life—with a dash of fictional murder . . . Some of the
most enjoyable, well-written fanfic ever created."
—O Magazine
"Wonderful . . . echoing the rhythms of the Austen novels with
uncanny ease."
—Entertainment Weekly
"A genteelly jolly series."
—The New York Times Book Review
"Splendid fun!"
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
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