The "genius" in the title has a fun, unexpected meaning in that it's a landscaping term. In this one, Jane is staying with her wealthy brother and his family at their country estate. Landscaping and architecture come up a lot. One of my favorite things about this series is that I learn a lot about the details of life in early Nineteenth Century England, but all while trying to figure out a murder mystery.
In this case, the victim is an infamous woman who may be a spy for Napoleon. Everyone suspects so, but was she killed to keep her from learning something or to prevent her from telling something that she already knew? And if she wasn't a spy, what then?
There's an important clue in the early chapters that's pretty obvious, but Jane and her fellow investigators (her brother is also the area magistrate) missed. That's annoying, but Genius of the Place is otherwise a great, twisty mystery is a picturesque setting.
And outside of that one clue, Barron's Jane Austen is as observant, insightful, and witty as I want her to be. Her adventures in this series are historical fact as far as I'm concerned.
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