Book Review: 'Secrets In the Snow' by Michaela MacColl

✰✰✰½ Young Jane Austen is busy working on a draft of Elinor and Marianne when a family friend introduces her to a charming young man, Tom Lefroy. Jane is amused and annoyed at the prospect at the same time. Since the Austen family is poor, it is important for the daughters to be married off. However, clever Jane has a habit of turning every single suitor away.

Before she has a chance to get to know Mr. Lefroy, mystery arrives by way of her sophisticated cousin. It seems the War Office is keeping an eye of the vivacious, beautiful widow. With clandestine meetings and a gruesome murder, readers will get plenty of mystery and suspense in this well-researched novel.

The Bottom Line: This delightful imagining of a young Jane Austen is a fun, quick read sprinkled with romance and suspense. Recommended for teens and adults interested in historical fiction and Jane Austen.

Details: Secrets in the Snow: A Novel of Intrigue and Romance by Michaela MacColl. Hardcover published by Chronicle Books in 2016 288 p. ISBN: 978-1-4521-3358-4 NOTE: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This was made possible via the Early Reviewers program at LibraryThing.