Jane Austen's Lost Letters
A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery
by Jane K. Cleland
Pub Date 14 Dec 2021
St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books
Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction


I am reviewing a copy of Jane Austen’s Lost Letters through St.Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley:



Josie Prescott is an antiques appraiser who 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 who is waiting to see her.




The older woman Veronica Sutton introduces herself as an old friend of her Fathers who had died twenty years ago. Veronica seems fidgety, and after only a few minutes, hands Josie a brown paper-wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, and leaves.





A mystified Josie opens the package Veronica handed her, gasping when she saw what was 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 soon sets off on the quest of her 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.




I give Jane Austen’s Lost Letters five out of five stars!




Happy Reading!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

While this one is the 14th in an established series it can easily be a stand alone. It’s a fast paced, easy read. I highly recommend this and the others in the series.

Jane Austen's Lost Letters is the first Jane Cleland novel that I have read. I had no idea that Jane Austen's Lost Letters was part of a series, but I found this novel is fine to read as a stand-alone mystery. However, judging by how much I enjoyed meeting these characters, I do plan on reading more Cleland novels. Jane Austen's Lost Letters is nicely written, with an interesting topic, and a nicely developed plot. I found it difficult to put down Jane Austen's Lost Letters once I got into it. I would definitely recommend this novel to other mystery readers. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley making this ARC available for me to read.

This is the 14th in the series and my favorite of the entire series. This can be read as a stand alone however I do recommend the entire series for your reading enjoyment. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the ARC.

This 14th in series has a fascinating multi layered mystery. Josie is filming her TV show when a friend of her dead Fathers appears with letters signed by Jane Austen. Josie wants to authentic the letters but before she can a murder occurs that draws her in by its very nature. The antique information as always is a wonderful part of this series. The sleuths were well crafted and pleasing to conclusion. This is a fun addition to this series and a must read for all cozy readers that love antiques.

Amazing! Definitely the best yet in this series. Josie must deal with her television show, Long lost letters, 2 murders and a mysterious woman bringing gifts from her deceased father.

I was excited to read this one, and it did not disappoint! Antique dealer and TV personality Josie Prescott receives a visit from a woman claiming to have known her long-deceased father and gives her a box and letter from him containing two previously unknown letters signed by THE Jane Austen. Are the letters authentic? What lengths would someone go to to get their hands on them? Add red herrings, a couple of twists, and a real shocker, and you get an outstanding mystery. I even felt like I learned a bit about the intricacies of antique document verification. I knew the Josie Prescott Mysteries were very popular, but I'd not read them for some reason, but no more. Jane Austen's Lost Letters is number 14 in the series, but it was no problem jumping right in; the only "problem" is that my tbr list just got the previous 13 books added to it, but that's a good problem to have. The characters were well fleshed out, and the mystery was well-plotted and exciting. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the opportunity to read this ARC. I loved it!

JANE AUSTEN"S LOST LETTERS is highly recommended for fans of cozy mysteries. The story is multi-layered with an intriguing and yet easy to follow primary mystery that kept me turning the pages, anxious to find out what would happen next. The setting is charming, as one would expect from a cozy.

I did not feel at a disadvantage having not read the earlier books in the series. However, since I enjoyed this one so much, I plan to go back and get caught up. That will be something to look forward to.

The only reason I'm not giving this one five stars is that the main character, Josie, can be a tiny bit obnoxious at times. I'm guessing the author meant to show her "spunk" and did not intend for her to come across this way. Because the story was so entertaining, I am more than happy to overlook this minor quibble.

I also enjoyed the antique aspects - establishing provenance, etc. Those readers who are uninterested in antiques might wish to look elsewhere. For me, it seems like just the right amount.

I reviewed this book for the winter issue of Mystery Scene Magazine which publishes `11-15-2021 please check there for my thoughts

To be honest, when I first sought out this book I was intrigued by the story description and was unaware that it was a series. After reading this, I am definitely going to have to find the other Josie Prescott Antique Mysteries books! However, even though I did not read the others, I still was able to follow along easily with the story, connect with the characters, and did not feel like I was confused at all along the way. This doesn't mean I won't go looking for the other books now though!

Continuing the story of Josie Prescott, she is starting to film an episode of her TV series Josie's antiques when she is presented with a mysterious package from a stranger. This stranger is claiming to be an old friend of her father's, and hands her a green leather box which contains two letters signed by Jane Austen. Conveniently, her show guests specialize in document authentication. But her luck ends there, as prior to taping she discovers the dead body of one of the experts. Josie has to then solve the mysteries of: are the letters real? and, if so, is that why Gloria (the expert) was killed? and who is the murderer, and will they strike again? Using her skills as a detective and knowledge of antiques, Josie sets to figure out the answers to this mystery in this intriguing, entertaining mystery.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I love a mystery that has layers and depth, particularly one that is well researched and has great attention to the details like this one. As I said, it was not a hinderance having not read the prior mysteries in the series, but I certainly intend to!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. I love Jane Austen-esque books and have read a lot of great ones, so I had high expectations going into reading this book and the book lived up to my expectations.

This book was gripping. I was sucked in and could not put it down! The concept was so unique, I loved this book.

This is the 14th outing of the Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries. I love this series and so enjoyed the opportunity to read and review this upcoming book. If you love antiques and collectible these books are for you. I always learn something from each and every book. In this outing, we learn about the art of authenticating letters. It also takes us into the behind the scenes workings of Josie's television show, a fictional version of The Antiques Road Show. As with the other books someone ends of dead and its up to Josie to use her knowledge to help figure out who did it and why. The recurring characters are old friends and I love how Cleland progresses their lives. A new layer to Josie's story is added with the additional mystery of her deceased father's personal life. My only criticism, and the reason why I didn't award it 5 stars, is I felt like the ending to her father's story wasn't fleshed out as well as it should have been. It was almost as if this was two books trying to be one.

Jane Cleland is one of my favourite authors, and her Josie Prescott series is the best! Lost Letters is book 14 in the series, but is a stand alone. You should probably read the previous books just to get the inside information on the continuously appearing characters though.
This book finds Josie, antiques expert and her husband, embroiled in discovering the mystery surrounding two letter from Jane Austen. A woman named Veronica, who professed to be a friend of Josie's recently passed father gave the letters to her, then disappeared.
This is a fun, entertaining book to read on a rainy day. As always, it's well written and well researched with little tidbits for those of us who are flea market and antique store mavens.
This copy was provided to me by NetGalley, in exchange for an unpaid, honest review.

Wow! This book is phenomenal! It is intriguing, interesting, oh so cozy mysterious, full of twists and turns, and so much more! Whenever I picked up "Jane Austen's Lost Letters", I put on my sleuthing hat to solve the many mysteries right along with the characters in this novel.

Firstly, what an absolutely incredible cover! I was immediately drawn to it, and love anything and everything related to Jane Austen, so, I just knew I needed to read this book!

This is the 14th book in Jane K. Cleland's "Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries" series! Ms. Cleland's writing style is gripping, enthralling, vivid, and truly hooks the reader from the first page to the last. Her passion for writing and the story she is telling is so clear, and, as the reader, I could not put this book down. I love the various aspects combined in this book: mystery, learning about antiques, research, etc. All of this makes for such an incredible read.

Josie Prescott is an "antiques appraiser", and has her own TV series, "Josie's Antiques", where other experts often come on to discuss various antiques. Soon, a lady named Veronica shows up, saying she is an old friend of Josie's father, who passed away. She hands Josie a box that contains two letters that seemingly are written by Jane Austen, in addition to a note from Josie's dad. Soon, while trying to figure out if the letters are authentic, Josie is pulled into more than one other mystery, including searching for Veronica, and murders. I do not want to spoil anything in this review, so, I will simply say, this book is a must-read! Who committed the murders? Who is Veronica? Are the letters really written by Jane Austen? Are these mysteries connected in any way? What does this have to do with Josie's father? You will just have to read to find out!

If you enjoy contemporary cozy mysteries, I highly recommend this book! It kept me turning the pages into the early hours of the morning to see what would happen next, and I look forward to reading what Jane K. Cleland writes next!

Thank you so much to Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book, it is amazing! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Entirely too much time going into the granular details of the "process" of authenticating and provenance of items .... found myself skipping pages which were "process" and did nothing to move story along. Cleland definately did her research on the subject; felt she needed to cram all of it into the book. Sad ...

I have read and love this series from the beginning. I so enjoyed Jane Austin's Lost Letters, number 13 in the series. Josie runs Prescott's Antiques and Auctions along with her staff.in the town of Rocky Point, NH. The addition of the new characters adds to the suspense. . Jane Austen's Lost Letters really has two parts to it. The first is the taping of her TV series Josie's Antiques where she brings prominent guests on with different subjects. This program is talking about the book Peter Rabbit. She brings in two consultants Oliver Crenshaw of Oliver Crenshaw's Rare Books, Prints and Autographs which he runs with his mother, Roxy. The other is Gloria Moreau, a Professor of Archival Studies at Hichens University and her graduate assistant. Ivan Filbert. The story picks up pace when Gloria is killed behind Josie's business and later when Ivan is murdered at the university. Josie and police chief, Ellis Hunter try to put together why they were murdered and by whom. The second part is when a woman, Victoria Sutton brings her a package saying she was a friend of her fathers and abruptly leaves. The package contains two letters from Jane Austin and a picture of her and her father when she was younger. Josie goes on an adventure to find this woman and to find out more about the relationship with her father. There are a lot of surprises for her along the way.

I am really looking forward to the next in the series with Josie, her staff at Prescott's and her husband, Ty. I am hoping that there is more of her relationship with her half brother, Ryan Sutton.

Thank you NetGalley, Minataur Books and St. Martin's Publishing Group for this ARC.

I remember the first time I discovered Jane K. Cleland and her Josie Prescott series. I was at my local library, 3 children in tow, and I happened to glance at the shelf, and I saw Deadly Appraisal sitting on the shelf.
I was so excited to find a new book to read, and I immediately connected to Josie Prescott.
Fast forward at least 10 years, and I'm still just as excited when I see another new book in this series.
In this book, there's a lot going on, and Josie is still struggling with the death of her father, so many years later.
A mysterious woman, a strange package, and and the possibility of an amazing antique find are just a few things Josie is dealing with, and somehow it all connects to her father.
Josie is determined to find out who the mysterious woman is, going to extreme lengths that actually made me question her mental health. I'm not sure I liked the portrayal of Josie in this book, she seemed to be rude and kind of stand-offish, which surprised me. It certainly won't stop me from reading any future books, Josie will forever be a character in my heart (and on my bookshelf).

I was so excited to see there was another book in this series. I have read all of them and this was a great entry to the series.

Another hit for Jane Cleland in the Josie Prescott series! This latest mystery is a bit more personal as Josie receives a package from her deceased father. Looking forward to the next book.

I love a good mystery and was expecting so much more from a long running series like this. Unfortunately this was not to be the case for me this time around. The author apparently loves antiques and spends an inordinate amount of time describing them. I get what it is, please move on. Then over the use of saying that my grandmother would have said also annoyed me. I had t wonder if this wouldn’t have been a far better read without all the fluff.

While the story was decent, I had a hard time getting past the two glaring issues I noted and am disappointed as I would have loved to have found a series with a bunch of books on which I could binge my way through to catch up. Such is not the case here. Don’t let my views deter you, this may be one you really enjoy if you aren’t bothered by the same things as I am.