jeannamichel
Written on May 10, 2019
In their six years of marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy have forged a peaceful, happy life for their family at Pemberley, Darcy’s impressive estate. Her father is a regular visitor; her sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; the marriage prospects for Darcy’s sister, Georgiana, are favorable. And preparations for their annual autumn ball are proceeding apace. But on the eve of the ball, chaos descends. Lydia Wickham, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister who, with her husband, has been barred from the estate, arrives in a hysterical state—shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. Plunged into frightening mystery and a lurid murder trial, the lives of Pemberley’s owners and servants alike may never be the same.
- ISBN10 0307950654
- ISBN13 9780307950659
- Publish Date 1 January 2013 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Random House USA Inc
- Imprint Vintage Books
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 304
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780307950659
Reviews
MurderByDeath
Written on Apr 7, 2016
“Heaven and earth — of what are you thinking? Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”
Austen had no way of knowing it, but it wasn't Elizabeth Bennett that would pollute the shades of Pemberley; it was P.D. James.
A couple of pages in, I thought "oh, this is looking good - 4 stars at least".
After a few chapters and the mindless, never ending digressions started piling up, I thought "blah, blah, blah. 3 stars."
Then the part where Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam and a lawyer start debating the merits of England adding an appeals court to their judicial system, with Darcy's monologue about how it would work, how many judges it would have, etc. and I thought "are you kidding me with this? 2 stars".
The ending of the "mystery" (there is no mystery, only a murdered man and the most ludicrously contrived plot I've ever read) was so sputteringly (made up word) ridiculous, and the epilogue a mind-numbing, insulting rehash of the ending to P&P that my last thought as I closed the book:
Stick a fork in me, I'm done. 1 Star. This was awful.
clairelm
Written on Jul 12, 2013
Having said that, I did enjoy P.D. James' book and thought it was very well written and a gripping story which I struggled to put down.
elvinagb
Written on Apr 4, 2012
Grace
Written on Jan 10, 2012
I gave this book two stars because it was just "meh." I felt like I was reading about entirely different characters who happened to have the same names and same stations in life. Elizabeth was no longer witty; she was just quiet and worrisome. The only characters who seemed accurately portrayed were Mr. Wickham and Lydia.
My biggest complaint was the number of times that the events preceding, during, and following the murder were rehashed throughout the novel -- I am not exaggerating when I say it must have been at least ten, and because the author (very effectively, to her credit) emulated Austen's prose style, each time was always extremely verbose. I found myself sighing loudly every time someone was asked to describe their version of the evening's events. I felt that the first 200 pages or so could have easily been condensed down to about 50 without losing any of the story's integrity.
One thing I did like, however, was the author's sneaky insertion of characters from Austen's other books -- Sir Walter Elliot from Persuasion and Harriet Martin from Emma. I have to admit that recognizing those characters made me smile!