What better treat than to have one of my very favorite mystery writers, P. D. James, write a mystery with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice at it’s heart? Jane Austen is considered sacred territory for many readers and it takes an author with the skill and nerve of James to not only introduce a crime at Pemberley (the Darcy estate), but to also embellish the storyline created by Austen. Are you curious about the marriage of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy? Or Jane and Mr. Bingley? James provides wonderfully satisfying storylines for many of the characters from the original novel. The only problem with Death Comes to Pemberley was who was murdered. Aren’t you hoping it was Wickham? Or Lady Catherine?

It is six years after the marriage of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and they are preparing Pemberley for the annual Lady Anne’s ball when Elizabeth’s youngest sister, Lydia (Wickham) arrives at the door weeping hysterically and shouting for help. She screams that her husband has been shot on the Pemberley estate and someone needs to help him. Darcy soon discovers Wickham, bloodied and drunk, over another man’s body. Darcy, being an honorable man, assists Wickham through the inquest, while he is imprisoned, and at his trial.

I loved once again visiting with the familiar characters of Pride and Prejudice, however I am not one of those people who read and reread the novel every year or even every decade, so, before beginning James’s novel, I went into Wikipedia to once again familiarize myself with the storyline and characters from the original book. I don’t think it is cheating and it was all I needed to thoroughly enjoy Death Comes to Pemberley. A great gift for both fans of Austen and James. ~Patti