Week 38 Review: Death Comes to Pemberley

From Goodreads:

A rare meeting of literary genius: P. D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen's beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

 

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth's sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy's sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

 

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

 

Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it.

My Review:
I enjoyed this book, but maybe I shouldn't have read it right after Unequal Affections. I loved that book. This one, not as much. Between the fact that it is written more like it would've been if it had been written around the time of the original, though maybe pared down a little. But also these familiar characters, but in situations that they wouldn't be in, acting in ways I'm not sure that they would. I just think it would've been better if it hadn't been with these characters, if it was just a historical mystery. It just didn't come together. 

Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, I did. It was an interesting mystery, that did rely on past knowledge of what happened to these characters. It was just very dense and required a lot more brain power, the normal amount to understand the language, but then there was also solving the mystery on top of that.

One thing that I wanted most of all, was to see these two together, alone, in their marriage, settled in. And I kept waiting. And then things got all complicated by this death, and the subsequent legal proceedings. 

Watching the case of Wickham's death unfold was interesting, because the capabilities and the procedures for law enforcement, and later in the courts, was just at its infancy, or just about to be born in some cases. So that was interesting to read.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I read it, but it's not going to be one of my favorites or need to be reread in the future. 

Author: P.D. James
Read: September 22nd, 2021
Source: Ebook.bike
Reason Why: It sounded really good, and it's a Historical Fiction 2021 Book and a SAC 2021 Book! 
Publisher: Alfred A.Knopf
Published: December 6th 2011

4/5 Hearts

1/5 Books

2/5 Stars