This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I have tried but just cannot make myself read this book. I think it more me than the book. Currently I just cankt seem to get into this cozy, even with the Jane Austen references.

It has been a while since I visited Josie and her friends in New Hampshire. I found this book quite interesting as it was discussing authenticating period letters. I also enjoyed insight into the way that a TV show would be producted.

It was an easy read and this was one that I hated to put down.

Josie Prescott owns an antiques business in New Hampshire. In this book, she gets involved in a murder mystery when a guest on the set of her tv show goes missing. In addition, a mysterious stranger shows up and hands Josie a box contains 2 letters signed by Jane Austen. I like the smart character of Josie and her relationships with her co-workers, friends, husband and others.
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC

I love this series and this installment was a great addition. It was fun visiting Josie and friends and following along on the investigation of the “Jane Austen” letters. The mystery was good and kept me engaged.
Many thanks to St. Martins Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Josie Prescott’s antique business has grown. She has her own television show and a studio on site where guests discuss antiques, how to know if they are real or fake, and debate the issue. The crew also films collections of items, like the thimble collection up for sale. Who would think a thimble would be exciting? Only someone who never saw a thimble covered in small diamonds.

When a woman shows up and hands Josie a green leather box says ‘I knew your father” and then disappears, Josie’s right to be suspicious. It’s when she opens the box and discovers two letters supposedly written by Jane Austen, bought in a resale shop, that things really get weird.

Josie’s father died in the Twin Towers on 9/11, something she’s never gotten over. Now a stranger claims to have known him but won’t talk to Josie. It leaves her shaken and angry.

When a dead body turns up on the property of the warehouse, it’s a shock and no one can figure out a motive. A second body, an attack on Josie, and an attempt on her life, has everyone in the company on edge. Josie hires guards for the business and protection for herself.

In addition, her husband Ty is up for a promotion. To take it would mean moving and running her business long distance. To refuse would put a halt to future promotions.

Josie is used to asking questions. Will she be able to follow the clues before the killer finds her?

This is book fourteen in the series. Cleland includes behind the scenes information on how antiques are valued, proven to be the real thing, priced, and sold. It’s seamlessly tucked into the storyline without distracting from the mystery. Josie is now happily married, her business has grown, and although she’s still not a big time antiques dealer, she’s well-known and respected. She doesn’t take risks, or at least not huge risks, but her job choice shows, she has an overwhelming need to know. There’s a nice twist at the end, too.

Readers who shop thrift stores and the like, in hopes of finding an unexpected treasure will enjoy this series.

Jane Cleland continues Josie Prescott' Antiques mysteries with Jane Austen's Lost Letters. Josie Prescott is filming a show for Josie's Antiques when one of the authenticators is found dead. What follows is chicanery, forgery and possible newly discovered letters from Jane Austen. Who is causing the mayhem? Josie tries to find out the history behind the bequest of the letters from her father and the mysterious lady who delivers them. In addition something rotten is going on in academia. Excellent fast moving cozy.

This is the fourteenth entry is Ms. Cleland’s series featuring antiques expert Josie Prescott. It can definitely be read as a standalone. Readers can then decide if they want to go back to the beginning with the first book, Consigned to Death, and move forward from there.

I had read some of the earlier novels but had not picked up any of them in recent years. I am glad to have gone back to spending time with Josie.

One of the interesting things about this series is the seeming insider knowledge that the author possesses on antiques. This story, which features some letters attributed to Jane Austen, describes what is involved in authentication. I found this to be quite interesting. There is also a TV show that Josie is presenting and there is a nice sense of all that is involved in filming.

The story involves murder, some interesting characters both as suspects and people in the town where Josie lives and works, and a case to be solved. Josie’s nice relationship with her husband is well done.

My one critique would be that the story stretches out for a bit too long. I think that a slightly shorter book would have pulled everything together more tightly. Overall though this was a good read that will be enjoyed by cozy lovers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I've been a fan of this series from the beginning with it's combination of characters, plot and interesting information about antiques and authentication processes. And this is my favorite of the series. Josie Prescott owns a thriving antiques business and a hosts television show. At the filming of the latest show, her two guests discuss their processes for the authentication of archival letters and copies. When one of the guests is murdered before the second day of shooting, Josie gets involved in the investigation, especially as an expert. Concurrently, a mysterious woman gives her a box containing mementos from her father who died on September 11. Twenty years later. Even after Josie finds two Jane Austen letters in the package, the woman refuses to give her any information on their provenance or of her relationship with Josie's father. Eventually the authentication of the letters and murder investigation coalesce. The personal threads in the story are interesting and impactful leading to new directions in future books. Highly recommended but you might enjoy it even more if you read a few earlier books for the story and characters growth.

I am a collector of multiple editions of Jane Austen's novels and am always interested when a new Austen-adjacent book is published. Couple that with a cozy mystery, and this book had me at hello. But would it live up to its promise? Yes! Cleland is a gifted writer, elevating the cozy genre with a compelling dual mystery and enough Austen to make this a must-read for fans of both. I also appreciated that, while this book is part of a series, it holds its own as a stand-alone story. Knowing this author's background as a former antiques and rare book dealer, I'm eagerly looking forward to catching up on other titles in the Josie Prescott series.

I received a digital pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review - and enjoyed it so much that I purchased a hard copy edition for my permanent collection.

The plot of the book was such a great page turner. The plot of the book was very well written. I truly cannot wait to read another wonderful book from this author. This was a truly great book.

The writing style is very descriptive and there's so much exposition. I just couldn't get into it. Way too much tell, very little show.

Jane Austen's Lost Letters is a fun sweet twisting story that starts with the discovery of lost letters written by Jane Austen and one antique dealer's journey to not only authenticate the letters but keep them safe. It's full of heart and it's obvious how much Austen's writing meant to the author. I enjoyed the mystery and twists of the story along the way. It's a perfect fall or winter read to escape into on a rainy a snowy day. I will be looking to read more of Cleland's writing in the future. Even though I jumped into this book without reading any previous Josie Prescott books, I was able to get a feel for the characters and their history and dynamics fairly quickly.

So many secrets! I can’t share them all without spoilers, but I never saw some of them coming. I did figure out the murderer before Josie, but I was totally wrong about why.
I love visiting the coast of New Hampshire again. There wasn’t much of Rocky Point to see, but we did get a meeting at the dunes and some time to sit and listen to the ocean.
There were some decisions that Ty needs to make and it was great to see how he and Josie were managing that.
But really the best part of this book is the mystery around Veronica. It will bring some changes to Josie’s life and that makes this book feel like an important one in the series.

Josie returns filming a show using two experts to judge a document. She’s interrupted by a strange woman who drops off a box and disappears. And oh, the strange woman is an old friend of Josie’s father. The book takes off from there with the murder of one of the experts. I have enjoyed this series from the beginning and I think this is one of the best.

I have not read the other books in this series, but I really enjoyed this one! Josie Prescott owns an antiques business in New Hampshire. In this book, she gets involved in a murder mystery when a guest on the set of her tv show goes missing. In addition, a mysterious stranger shows up and hands Josie a box contains 2 letters signed by Jane Austen. I like the smart character of Josie and her relationships with her co-workers, friends, husband and the town police chief and journalist.

If you like books about antiques and you are a fan of Jane Austen then this latest mystery from Jane K. Cleland is the perfect reading escape for you. Josie Prescott is a well respected antiques appraiser running a large auction house and hosting a popular tv series - think Antiques Road Show - from her home base in New Hampshire.
She is filming her current tv segment in the newly built studio, specially created for not only the tv show but also for live streaming her auction house events. This time the theme is authenticating books and papers. The book is a first edition of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Two experts face off and each has brought a plus one to the filming. Before the program is in the can one of those experts is found dead behind the event tent attached to the studio. Then a second murder occurs connected to the first one.
Josie is also faced with another mystery and it's connected to her late father who died on 9/11. A woman urgently wants to give Josie a box with contents full of questions. How did this woman know her father but even more than that? Are the letters in the box really from the pen of Jane
Austen? I wanted to read this latest for both reasons and I wasn't disappointed. The mystery was a great puzzle and the characters, as usual, were people I enjoyed spending time with.
My thanks to the publisher Minotaur Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book of the Josie Prescott Series and I enjoyed it! I did not realize there was more books in the series, until I was about halfway through the book. But it works as a stand alone book as well.

Josie is an antique dealer in New Hampshire. She deals in everything from thimbles to letters. She has a TV show as well, that she showcases antiques and how those antiques may be authentic or fake. She is in the middle of filming one of her shows when a woman, Veronica Sutton, shows up and delivers a box. Veronica tells Josie that she was a friend of her fathers and leaves. Inside the box was two letters that are supposedly by Jane Austen.

In the midst of Josie trying to figure out who this woman was, how she knows her dad, and authenticating the letters, there are a couple of murders, and at least one attempted murder.

All in all, this is a somewhat fast paced book and there were surprises all the way too the end. 3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books and Jane K. Cleland for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the book. The mysteries kept me guessing and didn't see the revelations coming at all. I like the characters and the setting. I am really glad this is such a long running series. It is like visiting old friends.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jane Austin's Lost Letters by Jane K Cleland is another Josie Prescott Antiques mystery. Josie runs an auction house with the capability of appraisals and holding a regular tag sale. There is also a television studio as part of the complex where Josie films her television program. It is something one would expect to find in Manhattan rather than rural New Hampshire. In this episode, Josie is finishing the appraisal of a fist edition, The Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. He two experts are Oliver Crenshaw and Dr. Gloria Moreau. All is going well until the final morning when Dr. Moreau fails to appear. Later, he body is found near the edge of the woods bordering Josie's property. That find plus the strange man, who had been stalking the TV studio, were enough to make Josie wary. After a second death and someone taking shots at Josie, herself, she and the police and her husband Ty, decided the safest place for her was inside their house. Things went downhill from there.

Josie is a fun character. A big plus is the miscellany learned about antiques and the business while reading an engrossing murder mystery. There are other surprises in this books as well as the discovery of the murderer. Josie and Ty are a good couple. He gives her full rein over her safety until it becomes too much and then he steps in. Being ex-police she trusts him and pretty much does as he asks. The whole situation brings surprise after surprise for Josie and for the read. A book not to be missed!

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Jane Austin's Lost Letters by Minotaur Books, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #minotaurbooks #janekcleland #janeaustinslostletters