Book #24: Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James

Personally, I'm a little surprised I hadn't read this book yet. I feel vaguely like I'd heard of it, but never was all that interested in it. But I actually really enjoyed it, especially the mixing of Jane Austen with the mystery genre. To briefly summarize: the Darcys are getting ready for a ball to be held at Pemberley when they find out that there has been a murder committed on their property. The murder involves Wickham, who was coming to drop Lydia off to visit (unannounced and uninvited) at Pemberley and he is arrested as the main suspect, although none of the main characters believe it is him. The book follows the trial and decision of whodunit. Most of the book follows Mr. Darcy, as Elizabeth wasn't very involved in a lot of the legal stuff, but we do get a bit from her perspective too.

I loved the post-Pride and Prejudice timeline, so we got a look into Darcy and Elizabeth together and what their life is like (very happy, don't be worried). I loved getting a look into all our favorite characters and seeing how they are getting along six years into the future; even Mary has gotten married to a preacher! I had just read the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy so it was a little jarring to read these two alternate takes on the story. I especially liked some of the insights into the questions that P&P left hanging--like the fact that Elizabeth believes that Charlotte was jealous of her and was the one who leaked Darcy's interest in her to Lady Catherine (which spurred her visit to Elizabeth). Oh, and the fact that Mrs. Younge was Wickham's half-sister! I thought those were some of my favorite parts. I also liked how a few places tied the story to other Jane Austen books--like Wickham worked as a secretary to Sir Walter Elliot and a baby was sent to live with Robert and Harriet Martin (although sometimes it was done a little clumsily; it wouldn't be natural to give all that much detail about very random people in normal conversation).

There were a few things that seemed very unlikely and unbelievable. Like why did Darcy concern himself so much with Wickham's outcome? He was super invested in making sure he wasn't convicted of being the murderer. Why? What was his concern? He hated Wickham. It seemed to go far beyond what I would expect of him. Also, I kind of saw most of the plot twists coming (like who the actual murderer was, and whose baby it really was of the cottagers'), which never ever happens, which means either I am getting better at this whole mystery-reading thing, or this book was way too obvious. So the main enjoyment of this book was the P&P tie-ins more than the mystery itself.