The Murder of Mr. Wickham

The Murder of Mr. Wickham

By Claudia Gray

Vintage Books, 2022. 386 pages. Mystery 

After many years of happy marriage, Emma Knightley and her husband are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances-not all of whom are well known to the Knightleys but are certainly beloved by every Jane Austen fan: Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, Marianne and Colonel Brandon, Anne and Captain Wentworth, and Fanny and Edmund Bertram. Very much not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him newfound wealth-and a broadening array of enemies. With his unexpected arrival, tempers flare and secrets are revealed, making it clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet the Knightleys and their guests are all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered-except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst. With everyone a suspect, it falls to the house party's two youngest guests to solve the mystery of who finally delivered to Wickham his just deserts: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney, eager for adventure outside Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, Elizabeth and Darcy's eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem relaxed.

This was a really fun novel throwing many of Jane Austen's characters together in very uncomfortable circumstances. The author did a good job of balancing the speech and customs of the day while also making it relatable to modern audiences. Several phrases were familiar from the Austen canon and it was interesting to 'hear' them in other character's mouths. The new characters: Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy were both very charming and endearing. 

If you like The Murder of Mr. Wickham, you might also like: 

Death Comes to Pemberley 

By P.D. James

Vintage Books, 2011. 291 pages. Mystery 

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.

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While attending a house party in the countryside, lady's companion to the wealthy widow Mrs. Matilda Frogerton, Lady Caroline Morton finds things not as they seem when an elderly family member is murdered and attempts to solve the crime with an unexpected ally.