Jane Austen's Lost Letters
A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery
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- ¥1,500
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- ¥1,500
発行者による作品情報
Jane K. Cleland returns with Jane Austen's Lost Letters, the fourteenth installment in the beloved Josie Prescott Antiques series, set on the rugged New Hampshire coast.
Antiques appraiser Josie Prescott is in the midst of filming a segment for her new television show, Josie’s Antiques, when the assistant director interrupts to let her know she has a visitor. Josie reluctantly pauses production and goes outside, where she finds an elegant older woman waiting to see her.
Veronica Sutton introduces herself as an old friend of Josie’s father, who had died twenty years earlier. Veronica seems fidgety, and after only a few minutes, hands Josie a brown paper-wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, and leaves.
Mystified, Josie opens the package, and gasps when she sees what’s inside: a notecard bearing her name—in her father’s handwriting—and a green leather box. Inside the box are two letters in transparent plastic sleeves. The first bears the salutation, “My dear Cassandra,” the latter, “Dearest Fanny.” Both are signed “Jane Austen.” Could her father have really accidentally found two previously unknown letters by one of the world’s most beloved authors—Jane Austen? Reeling, Josie tries to track down Veronica, but the woman has vanished without a trace.
Josie sets off on the quest of a lifetime to learn what Veronica knows about her father and to discover whether the Jane Austen letters are real. As she draws close to the truth, she finds herself in danger, and learns that some people will do anything to keep a secret—even kill.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in Cleland's beguiling 14th Josie Prescott Antiques mystery (after 2020's Hidden Treasures), Josie finds an older woman, Veronica Sutton, waiting for her outside her shop, Prescott's Antiques and Auctions, in Rocky Point, N.H. Veronica, who claims she was a good friend of Josie's late father, hands her a package, then abruptly drives away. Inside the package is a box containing a handwritten note to Josie from her father and two letters, one dated 1811, the other 1814, signed by Jane Austen. Between filming her TV show about antiques, running her business, and hiring consultants to authenticate the letters, Josie tries to learn what she can about Veronica, someone she never heard her father mention. The murder of a consultant during the filming of a show puts Josie's reputation and possibly her life in jeopardy. Newcomers may have trouble keeping track of the many series regulars, but their characters all ring true. Cleland maintains tension from the opening pages right up to the surprise conclusion. Miss Austen would approve.