The final volume of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring
Jane Austen as amateur sleuth
March 1817: As winter turns to spring, Jane Austen's health is in slow
decline, and threatens to cease progress on her latest manuscript. But
when her nephew Edward brings chilling news of a death at his former
school, Winchester College, not even her debilitating ailment can keep
Jane from seeking out the truth. Arthur Prendergast, a senior pupil at
the prestigious all-boys' boarding school, has been found dead in a
culvert near the schoolgrounds--and in the pocket of his drenched
waistcoat is an incriminating note penned by the young William
Heathcote, the son of Jane's dear friend Elizabeth. Prendergast had been
widely reviled for his ruthless bullying. Has William exacted revenge on
his tormentor, or is there a larger conspiracy looming?
Jane takes up lodging near the idyllic college in order to untangle the
duplicitous testimonies surrounding the prefect's death. But Winchester
College is a world unto itself, with its own language and rites of
passage, cruel hazing and dangerous pranks. Can she clear William's name
before her illness gets the better of her?
