The Murder of Mr. Wickham

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooray for an absolutely delightful historical mystery where the characters are all from Jane Austen's novels (or the children thereof), gathered at the Knightleys' estate for a house party crashed by the infamous Mr. Wickham of Pride & Prejudice fame! The second night he is there, young Juliet Tilney stumbles over his body on her way back from the privvy. He has caused most of the guests personal and financial losses, so absolutely no one mourns his death, but magistrate Frank Churchill still has to determine who killed him and why. Since Jonathan Darcy, eldest son of Elizabeth & Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Juliet are not under suspicion, they begin investigating, lest an innocent servant be falsely accused. Since seemingly no one was abed that fateful night, there are plenty of twists and turns in what is essentially a locked-room mystery. Everyone has secrets and is in need of courage and honesty if they are to heal their cracked relationships.

Claudia Gray has done an outstanding job of remaining true to Austen's characters even as she ages them forward in time according to the loose chronology of when the books were published. Jonathan's neurodivergence at a time before such traits were understood is sympathetically handled, making his growing relationship with Juliet both believable and endearing. Likewise, Fanny's conflict with Edmund over her brother's confession of love for his fellow sailor rings true for the era and indicates a possible path toward compassion and kindness for those today who still cling to the belief that homosexuality is a sin and not simply the way someone was born to be.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways are primary, setting secondary. No on-screen violence, no sex, and I cannot recall any profanity, though there may have been one or two mild historical epithets uttered in the heat of the moment. I forgot to check before my copy returned itself.

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His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel

His Good Opinion: A Mr. Darcy Novel by Nancy Kelley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Way to go, Nancy!! So many Austen spin-offs feel as though the author only glanced through the parent book once or twice, but this one really feels like Darcy is telling his side of the (same) story. The dialogue from scenes where Elizabeth is present is taken directly from Pride and Prejudice, and everything that happens when Elizabeth is offstage still feels like Austen herself might have written it (aside from the modern spellings).

Nancy answers so many of my questions, like, "So how DID the conversations between Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam go?" Or, "How on earth did Darcy locate Wickham in London?" Or, "What finally convinced Wickham to actually marry Lydia?" Or, "What was Darcy thinking?" (That one applies to many of his scenes in the original, either voiced with curiosity or while shaking head in bafflement.) And I hope someday she considers writing a sequel featuring Col. Fitzwilliam and Georgiana, who are much more three-dimensional characters in this book.

I bought a copy for my mother, and I will be buying one for myself and another for my cousin. To start with. I may hand them out to all my friends next Christmas, too. :)

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways primary, setting secondary



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