jeannamichel
Written on May 10, 2019
The year is 1803, and Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband Bingley live nearby and the orderly world of Pemberley seems unassailable. But all this is threatened when, on the eve of the annual autumn ball, the guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland. As it pulls up, Lydia Wickham - Elizabeth's younger, unreliable sister - stumbles out screaming that her husband has been murdered. Inspired by a lifelong passion for the work of Jane Austen, PD James masterfully recreates the world of Pride and Prejudice, and combines it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly-crafted crime story. Death Comes to Pemberley is a distinguished work of fiction, from one of the best-loved, most- read writers of our time.
- ISBN13 9780571283576
- Publish Date 3 November 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Transferred
- Out of Print 26 July 2016
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English
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!