Review: Death of a Dowager by Joanna Campbell Slan

Description (from cover):

‘In her classic tale, Charlotte Bronte introduced readers to the strong-willed and intelligent Jane Eyre. The Jane Eyre Chronicles pick up where Bronte left off, with Jane married to her beloved Edward Rochester and mother to a young son. But Jane soon finds herself having to protect those she loves…

While extensive repairs are being made to Ferndean, their rural home, Jane and Edward accept an invitation from their friend Lucy Brayton to stay with her in London. Jane is reluctant to abandon their peaceful life in the countryside, but Edward’s damaged vision has grown worse. She hopes that time in the capital will buoy his spirits and give him the chance to receive treatment from an ocular specialist.

Once in London, the Rochesters accompany Lucy to the Italian Opera House. But there is more drama in the audience than onstage–Jane not only unexpectedly finds herself in the presence of King George and his mistress, the Marchioness Conygham, she also encounters an old nemesis in the form of Lady Ingram (whose daughter Blanche once hoped to wed Edward herself). The aging Dowager deals both Jane and Lucy a very public snub. Hoping to mitigate the social damage caused by this, Lucy insists on visiting the Ingrams the next day. The visit goes poorly from the start–and ends with Lady Ingram dropping dead in the midst of taking tea. It soon becomes clear that the Dowager’s death was an unnatural one, and Jane must set her considerable intelligence to the problem of solving it–and why the throne appears to have an interest…’

My thoughts:

You can imagine my surprise when I opened this book and saw that part of my review for Death of a Schoolgirl was published in the review section located at the front of this book. I literally freaked out. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was to be in print for doing something I love, review books of course. Of course I had to take a picture to show you guys.

This was a pretty special moment for me and it really brought home why I love to read and review books. Not just so much for being published, but for someone to consider that my review was worthy enough to be considered as a highlight, it’s pretty awesome and encouraging.

Anyways, I’m done bragging now and on to my review of this one. I love Joanna Campbell-Slan’s writing style. Her close resemblance to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre will amaze you and leave you breathless. I am a perfectionist when it comes to sequels based on famous literature and Slan never lets me down. I enjoy sequels that stay true to the original story and voice, and this author nails it every single time. I know that when I pick up one of these books in this series, that I will be highly entertained and will enjoy every last page. Campbell-Slan makes it virtually impossible to put this book down. I devoured this one in record time, because it was just that captivating.

I highly encourage lovers of historical mysteries to pick up this series immediately. It will not disappoint. I enjoyed the first one immensely and this one was just as good, if not better than the first. I can’t wait for the next one to come out and I have to say that I am now a loyal reader of this series. When this one first came out, I had to rush out and buy it right away. Normally, I don’t do that, but I was so impressed with Death of a Schoolgirl and had such high expectations for this one, that I knew I had to fork over the money and buy this one. Do yourself a favor and read this book as soon as you can!

Overall Rating: 5+

Title:  Death of a Dowager
Author:  Joanna Campbell-Slan
Series:  Jane Eyre Chronicles #2
Publisher:  Berkley Trade
Publication Date:  April 2, 2013
Pages:  320
Genre:  Historical Mystery
Get It:  Amazon; Barnes & Noble

Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.