Amazon Prime Free Trial
FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-46% $9.16$9.16
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
$8.01$8.01
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: ZBK Wholesale
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Audible sample
Death Comes to Pemberley Paperback – January 1, 2013
Purchase options and add-ons
“A glorious plum pudding of a whodunit.” —NPR, Fresh Air
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.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2013
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
- ISBN-100307950654
- ISBN-13978-0307950659
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A glorious plum pudding of a whodunit.” —NPR, Fresh Air
“The queen of mystery has taken on the queen of literature, [and] the combination sings. . . . [James’] elegance and sly wit are in top form.” —The Plain Dealer
“The greatest pleasure of this novel is its unforced, effortless, effective voice… Not infrequently . . . one succumbs to the impression that it is Austen herself at the keyboard.” —The New York Times Book Review
“[James] is the greatest living writer of British crime fiction, and probably that genre’s most talented practitioner ever.” —The New York Times
“A novel of manners par excellence.” —The Boston Globe
“A major treat for any fan of Jane Austen . . . [and] a solidly entertaining period mystery.” —The Washington Post
“A novel of dark intrigue. . . . [which] Ms. James presents with informed assurance and in fine period detail.” —The Wall Street Journal
“If you appreciate mysteries as well as the Mighty Jane, this pleasant entertainment will do nicely. . . . It is a universe of dark meanings [and] hidden relationships.” —Los Angeles Times
“James rises well above the ever-growing pack of Austen-inspired authors, not only for her intimate familiarity with Austen’s work, but for her faultless replication of time, place and, most notably, Austen’s trademark writing style.” —Newark Star-Ledger
“With well-laid clues, James weaves a credible tale with a satisfying conclusion. . . . She stamps this enticing blend of two authors’ minds with her formidable intelligence and the generosity of spirit that has marked all her work.” —Richmond Times Dispatch
“Dazzling . . . Meticulously plotted . . . In my view Death Comes to Pemberley is as good as anything P.D. James has written and that is very high praise indeed… Long may she continue to delight and surprise us.” —Simon Brett, Sunday Express
“Brimming with astute appreciation, inventiveness and narrative zest, Death Comes to Pemberley is an elegantly gauged homage to Austen and an exhilarating tribute to the inexhaustible vitality of James’s imagination.” —The Sunday Times (London)
“James takes Pride and Prejudice to places it never dreamed of, and does so with a charm that will beguile even the most demanding Janeite.” —London Evening Standard
“The final working-out shows all James’s customary ingenuity. . . . The stylistic pastiche is remarkably accomplished.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A pleasing and agreeable sequel… Historical mystery buffs and Jane Austen fans alike will welcome this homage… Attentive readers will eagerly seek out clues to the delightfully complex mystery, which involves many hidden motives and dark secrets.” —Publishers Weekly
“Satisfying. . . . [James is] an impeccable stylist and a psychological ins-and-outs maven.” —The Huffington Post
About the Author
P. D. James was the author of twenty books, many of which feature her detective hero Adam Dalgliesh and have been televised or filmed. She was the recipient of many honors, including the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and the National Arts Club Medal of Honor for Literature, and in 1991 was created Baroness James of Holland Park. She died in 2014.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
I owe an apology to the shade of Jane Austen for involving her beloved Elizabeth in the trauma of a murder investigation, especially as in the fi nal chapter of Mansfield Park Miss Austen made her views plain: “Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody not greatly in fault themselves to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.” No doubt she would have replied to my apology by saying that, had she wished to dwell on such odious subjects, she would have written this story herself, and done it better.
P. D. James, 2011
PROLOGUE
The Bennets of Longbourn
It was generally agreed by the female residents of Meryton that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet of Longbourn had been fortunate in the disposal in marriage of four of their fi ve daughters. Meryton, a small market town in Hertfordshire, is not on the route of any tours of pleasure, having neither beauty of setting nor a distinguished history, while its only great house, Netherfi eld Park, although impressive, is not mentioned in books about the county’s notable architecture. The town has an assembly room where dances are regularly held but no theatre, and the chief entertainment takes place in private houses where the boredom of dinner parties and whist tables, always with the same company, is relieved by gossip.
A family of five unmarried daughters is sure of attracting the sympathetic concern of all their neighbours, particularly where other diversions are few, and the situation of the Bennets was especially unfortunate. In the absence of a male heir, Mr. Bennet’s estate was entailed on his nephew, the Reverend William Collins, who, as Mrs. Bennet was fond of loudly lamenting, could turn her and her daughters out of the house before her husband was cold in his grave. Admittedly, Mr. Collins had attempted to make such redress as lay in his power. At some inconvenience to himself, but with the approval of his formidable patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh, he had left his parish at Hunsford in Kent to visit the Bennets with the charitable intention of selecting a bride from the fi ve daughters. This intention was received by Mrs. Bennet with enthusiastic approval but she warned him that Miss Bennet, the eldest, was likely to be shortly engaged. His choice of Elizabeth, the second in seniority and beauty, had met with a resolute rejection and he had been obliged to seek a more sympathetic response to his pleading from Elizabeth’s friend Miss Charlotte Lucas. Miss Lucas had accepted his proposal with gratifying alacrity and the future which Mrs. Bennet and her daughters could expect was settled, not altogether to the general regret of their neighbours. On Mr. Bennet’s death, Mr. Collins would install them in one of the larger cottages on the estate where they would receive spiritual comfort from his administrations and bodily sustenance from the leftovers from Mrs. Collins’s kitchen augmented by the occasional gift of game or a side of bacon.
But from these benefi ts the Bennet family had a fortunate escape. By the end of 1799 Mrs. Bennet could congratulate herself on being the mother of four married daughters. Admittedly the marriage of Lydia, the youngest, aged only sixteen, was not propitious. She had eloped with Lieutenant George Wickham, an offi cer in the militia which had been stationed at Meryton, an escapade which was confidently expected to end, as all such adventures deserve, in her desertion by Wickham, banishment from her home, rejection from society and the fi nal degradation which decency forbade the ladies to mention. The marriage had, however, taken place, the first news being brought by a neighbour, William Goulding, when he rode past the Longbourn coach and the newly married Mrs. Wickham placed her hand on the open window so that he could see the ring. Mrs. Bennet’s sister, Mrs. Philips, was assiduous in circulating her version of the elopement, that the couple had been on their way to Gretna Green but had made a short stop in London to enable Wickham to inform a godmother of his forthcoming nuptials, and, on the arrival of Mr. Bennet in search of his daughter, the couple had accepted the family’s suggestion that the intended marriage could more conveniently take place in London. No one believed this fabrication, but it was acknowledged that Mrs. Philips’s ingenuity in devising it deserved at least a show of credulity. George Wickham, of course, could never be accepted in Meryton again to rob the female servants of their virtue and the shopkeepers of their profit, but it was agreed that, should his wife come among them, Mrs. Wickham should be afforded the tolerant forbearance previously accorded to Miss Lydia Bennet.
There was much speculation about how the belated marriage had been achieved. Mr. Bennet’s estate was hardly worth two thousand pounds a year, and it was commonly felt that Mr. Wickham would have held out for at least fi ve hundred and all his Meryton and other bills being paid before consenting to the marriage. Mrs. Bennet’s brother, Mr. Gardiner, must have come up with the money. He was known to be a warm man, but he had a family and no doubt would expect repayment from Mr. Bennet. There was considerable anxiety in Lucas Lodge that their son- in- law’s inheritance might be much diminished by this necessity, but when no trees were felled, no land sold, no servants put off and the butcher showed no disinclination to provide Mrs. Bennet with her customary weekly order, it was assumed that Mr. Collins and dear Charlotte had nothing to fear and that, as soon as Mr. Bennet was decently buried, Mr. Collins could take possession of the Longbourn estate with every confidence that it had remained intact.
But the engagement which followed shortly after Lydia’s marriage, that of Miss Bennet and Mr. Bingley of Netherfi eld Park, was received with approbation. It was hardly unexpected; Mr. Bingley’s admiration for Jane had been apparent from their fi rst meeting at an assembly ball. Miss Bennet’s beauty, gentleness and the naive optimism about human nature which inclined her never to speak ill of anyone made her a general favourite. But within days of the engagement of her eldest to Mr. Bingley being announced, an even greater triumph for Mrs. Bennet was noised abroad and was at first received with incredulity. Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter, was to marry Mr. Darcy, the owner of Pemberley, one of the greatest houses in Derbyshire and, it was rumoured, with an income of ten thousand pounds a year.
It was common knowledge in Meryton that Miss Lizzy hated Mr. Darcy, an emotion in general held by those ladies and gentlemen who had attended the first assembly ball at which Mr. Darcy had been present with Mr. Bingley and his two sisters, and at which he had given adequate evidence of his pride and arrogant disdain of the company, making it clear, despite the prompting of his friend
Mr. Bingley, that no woman present was worthy to be his partner. Indeed, when Sir William Lucas had introduced Elizabeth to him,
Mr. Darcy had declined to dance with her, later telling Mr. Bingley that she was not pretty enough to tempt him. It was taken for granted that no woman could be happy as Mrs. Darcy for, as Maria Lucas pointed out, “Who would want to have that disagreeable face opposite you at the breakfast table for the rest of your life?”
But there was no cause to blame Miss Elizabeth Bennet for taking a more prudent and optimistic view. One cannot have everything in life and any young lady in Meryton would have endured more than a disagreeable face at the breakfast table to marry ten thousand a year and to be mistress of Pemberley. The ladies of Meryton, as in duty bound, were happy to sympathise with the afflicted and to congratulate the fortunate but there should be moderation in all things, and Miss Elizabeth’s triumph was on much too grand a scale. Although they conceded that she was pretty enough and had fine eyes, she had nothing else to recommend her to a man with ten thousand a year and it was not long before a coterie of the most influential gossips concocted an explanation: Miss Lizzy had been determined to capture Mr. Darcy from the moment of their first meeting. And when the extent of her strategy had become apparent it was agreed that she had played her cards skilfully from the very beginning. Although Mr. Darcy had declined to dance with her at the assembly ball, his eyes had been frequently on her and her friend Charlotte who, after years of husband-seeking, was extremely adroit at identifying any sign of a possible attachment, and had warned Elizabeth against allowing her obvious partiality for the attractive and popular Lieutenant George Wickham to cause her to offend a man of ten times his consequence.
And then there was the incident of Miss Bennet’s dinner engagement at Netherfield when, due to her mother’s insistence on her riding rather than taking the family coach, Jane had caught a very convenient cold and, as Mrs. Bennet had planned, was forced to stay for several nights at Netherfi eld. Elizabeth, of course, had set out on foot to visit her, and Miss Bingley’s good manners had impelled her to offer hospitality to the unwelcome visitor until Miss Bennet recovered. Nearly a week spent in the company of Mr. Darcy must have enhanced Elizabeth’s hopes of success and she would have made the best of this enforced intimacy.
Subsequently, at the urging of the youngest Bennet girls, Mr. Bingley had himself held a ball at Netherfi eld, and on this occasion Mr. Darcy had indeed danced with Elizabeth. The chaperones, ranged in their chairs against the wall, had raised their lorgnettes and, like the rest of the company, studied the pair carefully as they made their way down the line. Certainly there had been little conversation between them but the very fact that Mr. Darcy had actually asked Miss Elizabeth to dance and had not been refused was a matter for interest and speculation.
The next stage in Elizabeth’s campaign was her visit, with Sir William Lucas and his daughter Maria, to Mr. and Mrs. Collins at Hunsford Parsonage. Normally this was surely an invitation which Miss Lizzy should have refused. What possible pleasure could any rational woman take in six weeks of Mr. Collins’s company? It was generally known that, before his acceptance by Miss Lucas, Miss Lizzy had been his fi rst choice of bride. Delicacy, apart from any other consideration, should have kept her away from Hunsford. But she had, of course, been aware that Lady Catherine de Bourgh was Mr. Collins’s neighbour and patroness, and that her nephew, Mr. Darcy, would almost certainly be at Rosings while the visitors were at the parsonage. Charlotte, who kept her mother informed of every detail of her married life, including the health of her cows, poultry and husband, had written subsequently to say that Mr. Darcy and his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was also visiting Rosings, had called at the parsonage frequently during Elizabeth’s stay and that Mr. Darcy on one occasion had visited without his cousin when Elizabeth had been on her own. Mrs. Collins was certain that this distinction must confirm that he was falling in love and wrote that, in her opinion, her friend would have taken either gentleman with alacrity had an offer been made; Miss Lizzy had however returned home with nothing settled.
But at last all had come right when Mrs. Gardiner and her husband, who was Mrs. Bennet’s brother, had invited Elizabeth to accompany them on a summer tour of pleasure. It was to have been as far as the Lakes, but Mr. Gardiner’s business responsibilities had apparently dictated a more limited scheme and they would go no further north than Derbyshire. It was Kitty, the fourth Bennet daughter, who had conveyed this news, but no one in Meryton believed the excuse. A wealthy family who could afford to travel from London to Derbyshire could clearly extend the tour to the Lakes had they wished. It was obvious that Mrs. Gardiner, a partner
in her favourite niece’s matrimonial scheme, had chosen Derbyshire because Mr. Darcy would be at Pemberley, and indeed the Gardiners and Elizabeth, who had no doubt enquired at the inn when the master of Pemberley would be at home, were actually visiting the house when Mr. Darcy returned. Naturally, as a matter of courtesy, the Gardiners were introduced and the party invited to dine at Pemberley, and if Miss Elizabeth had entertained any doubts about the wisdom of her scheme to secure Mr. Darcy, the first sight of Pemberley had confirmed her determination to fall in love with him at the first convenient moment. Subsequently he and his friend Mr. Bingley had returned to Netherfi eld Park and had lost no time in calling at Longbourn where the happiness of Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth was finally and triumphantly secured. The engagement, despite its brilliance, gave less pleasure than had Jane’s. Elizabeth had never been popular, indeed the more perceptive of the Meryton ladies occasionally suspected that Miss Lizzy was privately laughing at them. They also accused her of being sardonic, and although there was uncertainty about the meaning of the word, they knew that it was not a desirable quality in a woman, being one which gentlemen particularly disliked. Neighbours whose jealousy of such a triumph exceeded any satisfaction in the prospect of the union were able to console themselves by averring that Mr. Darcy’s pride and arrogance and his wife’s caustic wit would ensure that they lived together in the utmost misery for which even Pemberley and ten thousand a year could offer no consolation.
Allowing for such formalities without which grand nuptials could hardly be valid, the taking of likenesses, the busyness of lawyers, the buying of new carriages and wedding clothes, the marriage of Miss Bennet to Mr. Bingley and Miss Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy took place on the same day at Longbourn church with surprisingly little delay. It would have been the happiest day of Mrs. Bennet’s life had she not been seized with palpitations during the service, brought on by fear that Mr. Darcy’s formidable aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, might appear in the church door to forbid the marriage, and it was not until after the final blessing that she could feel secure in her triumph.
It is doubtful whether Mrs. Bennet missed the company of her second daughter, but her husband certainly did. Elizabeth had
always been his favourite child. She had inherited his intelligence, something of his sharp wit, and his pleasure in the foibles and inconsistencies of their neighbours, and Longbourn House was a lonelier and less rational place without her company. Mr. Bennet was a clever and reading man whose library was both a refuge and the source of his happiest hours. He and Darcy rapidly came to the conclusion that they liked each other and thereafter, as is common with friends, accepted their different quirks of character as evidence of the other’s superior intellect. Mr. Bennet’s visits to Pemberley, frequently made when he was least expected, were chiefly spent in the library, one of the fi nest in private hands, from which it was difficult to extract him, even for meals. He visited the Bingleys at Highmarten less frequently since, apart from Jane’s excessive preoccupation with the comfort and well- being of her husband and children, which occasionally Mr. Bennet found irksome, there were few new books and periodicals to tempt him. Mr. Bingley’s money had originally come from trade. He had inherited no family library and had only thought of setting one up after his purchase of Highmarten House. In this project both Darcy and Mr. Bennet were very ready to assist. There are few activities so agreeable as spending a friend’s money to your own satisfaction and his benefit, and if the buyers were periodically tempted to extravagance, they comforted themselves with the thought that Bingley could afford it. Although the library shelves, designed to Darcy’s specification and approved by Mr. Bennet, were as yet by no means full, Bingley was able to take pride in the elegant arrangement of the volumes and the gleaming leather of the bindings, and occasionally even opened a book and was seen reading it when the season or the weather was unpropitious for hunting, fishing or shooting.
Mrs. Bennet had only accompanied her husband to Pemberley on two occasions. She had been received by Mr. Darcy with kindness and forbearance but was too much in awe of her son by marriage to wish to repeat the experience. Indeed, Elizabeth suspected that her mother had greater pleasure in regaling her neighbours with the wonders of Pemberley, the size and beauty of the gardens, the grandeur of the house, the number of servants and the splendour of the dining table than she had in experiencing them. Neither Mr. Bennet nor his wife were frequent visitors of their grandchildren. Five daughters born in quick succession had left them with a lively memory of broken nights, screaming babies, a head nurse who complained constantly, and recalcitrant nursery maids. A preliminary inspection shortly after the birth of each grandchild confirmed the parents’ assertion that the child was remarkably handsome and already exhibiting a formidable intelligence, after which they were content to receive regular progress reports.
Mrs. Bennet, greatly to her two elder daughters’ discomfort, had loudly proclaimed at the Netherfield ball that she expected Jane’s
marriage to Mr. Bingley to throw her younger daughters in the way of other wealthy men, and to general surprise it was Mary who dutifully fulfilled this very natural maternal prophecy. No one expected Mary to marry. She was a compulsive reader but without discrimination or understanding, an assiduous practiser at the pianoforte but devoid of talent, and a frequent deliverer of platitudes which had neither wisdom nor wit. Certainly she never displayed any interest in the male sex. An assembly ball was a penance to be endured only because it offered an opportunity for her to take centre stage at the pianoforte and, by the judicious use of the sustaining pedal, to stun the audience into submission. But within two years of Jane’s marriage, Mary was the wife of the Reverend Theodore Hopkins, the rector of the parish adjacent to Highmarten.
The Highmarten vicar had been indisposed and Mr. Hopkins had for three Sundays taken the services. He was a thin, melancholy
bachelor, aged thirty-five, given to preaching sermons of inordinate length and complicated theology, and had therefore naturally acquired the reputation of being a very clever man, and although he could hardly be described as rich, he enjoyed a more than adequate private income in addition to his stipend. Mary, a guest at Highmarten on one of the Sundays on which he preached, was introduced to him by Jane at the church door after the service and immediately impressed him by her compliments on his discourse, her endorsement of the interpretation he had taken of the text, and such frequent references to the relevance of Fordyce’s sermons that Jane, anxious for her husband and herself to get away to their Sunday luncheon of cold meats and salad, invited him to dinner on the following day. Further invitations followed and within three months Mary became Mrs. Theodore Hopkins with as little public interest in the marriage as there had been display at the ceremony.
One advantage to the parish was that the food at the vicarage notably improved. Mrs. Bennet had brought up her daughters to appreciate the importance of a good table in promoting domestic harmony and attracting male guests. Congregations hoped that the vicar’s wish to return promptly to conjugal felicity might shorten the services, but although his girth increased, the length of his sermons remained the same. The two settled down in perfect accord, except initially for Mary’s demand that she should have a book room of her own in which she could read in peace. This was acquired by converting the one good spare bedroom for her sole use, with the advantage of promoting domestic amity while making it impossible for them to invite their relations to stay.
By the autumn of 1803, in which year Mrs. Bingley and Mrs. Darcy were celebrating six years of happy marriage, Mrs. Bennet had only one daughter, Kitty, for whom no husband had been found. Neither Mrs. Bennet nor Kitty was much concerned at the
matrimonial failure. Kitty enjoyed the prestige and indulgence of being the only daughter at home, and with her regular visits to Jane, where she was a great favourite with the children, was enjoying a life that had never before been so satisfactory. The visits of Wickham and Lydia were hardly an advertisement for matrimony. They would arrive in boisterous good humour to be welcomed effusively by Mrs. Bennet, who always rejoiced to see her favourite daughter. But this initial goodwill soon degenerated into quarrels, recriminations and peevish complaints on the part of the visitors about their poverty and the stinginess of Elizabeth’s and Jane’s fi nancial support, so that Mrs. Bennet was as glad to see them leave as she was to welcome them back on their next visit. But she needed a daughter at home and Kitty, much improved in amiability and usefulness since Lydia’s departure, did very well. By 1803, therefore, Mrs. Bennet could be regarded as a happy woman so far as her nature allowed and had even been known to sit through a four-course dinner in the presence of Sir William and Lady Lucas without once referring to the iniquity of the entail.
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; Reprint edition (January 1, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0307950654
- ISBN-13 : 978-0307950659
- Item Weight : 9.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.8 x 7.9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #97,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #679 in Science Fiction Crime & Mystery
- #1,837 in Regency Romances
- #5,689 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
P. D. James is the author of twenty previous books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Departments of Great Britain's Home Office. She has served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BBC. In 2000 she celebrated her eightieth birthday and published her autobiography, Time to Be in Earnest. The recipient of many prizes and honors, she was created Baroness James of Holland Park in 1991 and was inducted into the International Crime Writing Hall of Fame in 2008. She lives in London and Oxford.
Photo credit Ulla Montan
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers praise the author's talent and consider her work excellent. However, some find the book boring, repetitive, and pointless. They describe it as devoid of wit and magic like Jane Austen novels. Opinions differ on readability, storyline, and writing quality. Some readers find it an enjoyable read with a predictable mystery, while others find it disappointing and poorly executed.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers praise the author's talent and creativity. They find the book excellent and brilliant. The clever writing and plot capture the spirit and intrigue of Pride and Prejudice.
"...While it was neatly and professionally done, as you might expect from an author of this calibre, it lacked much of the charm, humour and lightness..." Read more
"...This book is a courageous but unsuccessful attempt to take known characters from one world view and let them play out a story in a very different one..." Read more
"...the only one I've found to be fun, smart, elegantly written, and true to the spirit of Austen.I only wished it was longer." Read more
"...James, as always, writes well and does a very credible job of expanding on Austen's book using a distinctly Austen style...." Read more
Customers find the storyline enjoyable and suspenseful. However, some readers feel the plot could have been more engaging.
"...a novel that is both high quality literature and a suspenseful and engrossing murder mystery, has succeeded with this volume in capturing all of the..." Read more
"...Also, the murder mystery did not make much sense...." Read more
"I found this book quite entertaining...." Read more
"...In the hands of a professional detective writer, the plot jogged along nicely and I followed a couple of red herrings before being pleased to find I..." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the book. Some find it enjoyable and engaging, saying it's a satisfying read. Others find it disappointing, boring, and poorly executed. The plot has weaknesses and lacks warmth, charm, humor, or insight into human nature that the author is known for.
"...an author who is able to write a novel that is both high quality literature and a suspenseful and engrossing murder mystery, has succeeded with..." Read more
"...of us who have (and those who have read all Austen's works), this was great fun...." Read more
"...I found this book highly disappointing and dare I say, boring...." Read more
"...being considerably better written than most sequels and is perfect for a rainy afternoon with a box of chocolates to hand.[..." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality. Some find it well-written and full of Jane-like writing and turns of phrase, while others say the prose lacks wit, subtlety, and evocative understatement found in other works. The language is fine and doesn't call attention to itself. However, some readers feel the pace is slow and the descriptions are overly descriptive.
"...us see Mary and her marriage and how it came about, which was very believable...." Read more
"...The language occasionally grated. Jane Austen's language was immensely complicated at times but all to good purpose and never unnecessarily so...." Read more
"...James alternates between dignified narration and a delicately wry tone, without overdoing the Austen cadence...." Read more
"...This however is not Ten Little Indians. This is a well written, high minded, reasoned and consistently portrayed tale told in alternate (character)..." Read more
Customers have different views on the character development. Some find the characters wonderful and fun to see evolve, with excellent casting and acting all around. Others feel the characters lack charm and depth, feeling flat and stilted. The characterizations of Elizabeth and Darcy are also weak.
"...As other reviewers have commented, the characters felt very flat and stilted, perhaps because I have expectations of how they should behave, speak..." Read more
"...After all the book is only 300 pages. Despite this, character development is complete, if perhaps subliminal, and the juggling of preexisting..." Read more
"...but no plot development, no story arch, no character growth, no twists, and no payoff at the end...." Read more
"...It was fun seeing how characters had evolved as well as how they hadn't: Initially, Lydia's attitude and expressions surprised me, but after..." Read more
Customers have different views on the pacing of the book. Some find it quick and enjoyable, with a proper tempo that keeps time moving quickly. Others feel the first part of the novel is a bit slow, and the narrative feels rushed at times.
"...almost in the same words and with lots of quotes, are unnecessary and turgid...." Read more
"...This book is very enjoyable, properly paced and would be ideal for committed book clubs. 3.25* GIBO" Read more
"...very little happened throughout the majority of the chapters, the pace was slow and overly descriptive - and then, finally, much of the resolution..." Read more
"...itself, and the story moved quickly.I would have liked more descriptions of the beauty of Pemberley andmore wit from Elizabeth." Read more
Customers find the book boring and unengaging. They describe it as a pointless excursion with lack of passion and insight. The quotes are unnecessary and turgid, and the resolution lacks suspense.
"...plot, almost in the same words and with lots of quotes, are unnecessary and turgid...." Read more
"...As other reviewers have commented, the characters felt very flat and stilted, perhaps because I have expectations of how they should behave, speak..." Read more
"...Lots and lots of exposition, endless repetition that should have been edited out, a great deal of hand-wringing, and a few frankly lame discursions..." Read more
"...For that, I thank James. The mystery was viable, albeit not particularly thrilling...." Read more
Customers find the book lacks the wit and magic of Jane Austen's novels. They describe it as repetitive, frustrating, and silly. The murder mystery lacks drama and the resolution doesn't make much sense. Readers also mention that the writing is anachronistic and amateurish. Overall, they feel the book is not a faithful adaptation of the author's work.
"...It was too modern and an editor should have been onto that very sharply...." Read more
"...Although I am not sure that an editor could have saved this silly piece of something, I would have felt better if they had tried...." Read more
"...The premise (murder mystery at Pemberley) is incompatible with original Austen, and James clearly feels the constraint and never gets comfortable..." Read more
"...The worst is, that it never once made me laugh." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2012P. D. James, considered by many to be the queen of murder mysteries, an author who is able to write a novel that is both high quality literature and a suspenseful and engrossing murder mystery, has succeeded with this volume in capturing all of the literary qualities of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice and more. She continues the story of Elizabeth after her marriage to Darcy, as the two are living together with their children at their estate in Pemberley, and she uses the same language, turn of phrases, and sometimes antiquated terms, as Jane Austen. The characters from Pride and Prejudice reappear in this novel and we read how their and their family's life continued. However, James introduces a murder committed on the Pemberley grounds and we read how one of the people we know well from Pride and Prejudice is charged with and tried in court for the murder.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2012I found this book quite entertaining. For those reviewers who do not feel that James captured Austen's prose, I disagree, and I have read all of Austen's texts and Pride and Prejudice several times (and many of its sequels, some good and some bad), so I feel I speak from an Austen background. I felt that she created a strong background for her characters' lives from when we left them on Jane and Elizabeth's wedding day. I loved the way that James used her opening chapter to provide a background for those who may not have read "Pride and Prejudice" (I cannot imagine that these readers exist!). She did an especially good job of letting us see Mary and her marriage and how it came about, which was very believable. However, I thought that Colonel Fitzwilliam came off to a disadvantage, for I remember him as a much nicer character in the original. For those reviewersw who did not feel that James did a strong enough character building novel, remember that the murder is the primary focus.
I also loved the way James dropped in moments from "Persuasion," Sense and Sensibility," and "Emma" without hitting her readers over the head. If some readers (again, I cannot imagine whom these are!) have not read P & P, this would not spoil their enjoyment, but for those of us who have (and those who have read all Austen's works), this was great fun. I give this book a 4 1/2 for I felt that at the trial, Darcy acted in a way that I would not imagine him acting. His sense of decorum slips a little and he becomes agitated. I did not feel he would do this.
Altogether, I was not disappointed in this novel, and I found it refreshing coming from James, whose books are deeper, darker, and sometimes just a little long winded--and here, too, I have a background, for I have read all of P.D. James and have watched all her novels that have been televised, mourning when the character of Dalgleish was taken over by a new actor in the last two productions. I so missed Roy Marsden and his Dalgleish. I cannot even remember the name of the other actor!
- Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2011I have read many sequels to Jane Austen novels - most of them dreadful - and was very much looking forward to this one because it is by an author I respect and enjoy. I do however suspect that she had more fun writing this book than I did reading it. While it was neatly and professionally done, as you might expect from an author of this calibre, it lacked much of the charm, humour and lightness of touch of the original. Indeed, in stating categorically that Elizabeth Bennett was not imaginative, I was left wondering if the author had read the same original novel that I had.
The language occasionally grated. Jane Austen's language was immensely complicated at times but all to good purpose and never unnecessarily so. Too many writers of fan fiction seem to feel they must emulate the complexity simply for the sake of it and that was a little the case here at times. Also, freely using contractions such as 'I'm and it's' for the dialogue so constantly, grated on me. It was too modern and an editor should have been onto that very sharply.
There was far, far too much retelling of the original story. If the reader has not read the original, they are highly unlikely to be buying this sequel. Whole chapters devoted to slavish retelling of the original plot, almost in the same words and with lots of quotes, are unnecessary and turgid. I also understand the clever thinking behind using some of the characters from other Jane Austen books as a crossover, but it simply doesn't work in this book. It has the effect of making those sections slightly cartoonish.
We needed far more of Jane and Bingley. They are not exciting characters in their own right but it would have been interesting to know what had happened to them in the intervening years and for them to have gained some colour during that time. They scarcely figure in this book and detail about their lives would have been far more welcome than a humourless and hysterical Lydia and the deeply uninteresting Wickham. Even his heroic reinvention is uncompelling and seems motiveless. He was far more interesting as a roue and blackguard than as a petulant and half-reconstructed irrelevance.
Elizabeth and Darcy have lost their original spark, perhaps natural after years of marriage and two children, but disappointing to readers who admired her wit, wisdom and wonderful sense of humour, the last of which is entirely missing in this book. Elizabeth has sunk into a life as a pattern wife, subsumed into a bland and subservient character, put on earth only to serve and admire her husband and show him love. She is indistinguishable from Jane in this respect.
And yet to a large extent I enjoyed, although would not re-read this book. In the hands of a professional detective writer, the plot jogged along nicely and I followed a couple of red herrings before being pleased to find I had been neatly fooled. I wanted very much to find out how the plot ended. But the ends were too neatly tied and no one left suffering so it was in no sense a very challenging plot. However, it was reasonably satisfying and I would never say to any Jane Austen fan that it was not worth a read. It has the merit of being considerably better written than most sequels and is perfect for a rainy afternoon with a box of chocolates to hand.
The Cinnamon Snail
Top reviews from other countries
-
Katrin WartenhorstReviewed in Germany on May 12, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Toller Text, großer Lesepaß
Schnelle Zusendung, inhaltlich hervorragender Roman Bin sehr źufrieden
- Mª del Carmen Echevarría SantamaríaReviewed in Spain on May 27, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars It could be made from a more gothic Jane Austen.
P.D. James was a great writer so nothing she wrote could be a bad book. Here she described an unusual situation in a family as the Darcys, she expresed the worries, the anguish, the doubts, the fears, in fact you live those situations with the family.
- SAIRAM MURTHYReviewed in India on July 12, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
good sellere
-
Jacques PaturleReviewed in France on November 26, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! I loved it.
One could never have imagined the add-up story made by PD James to Jane Austen's best book. I totally enjoy that brilliant combination . Thank you PD James! As you can see, I am not an English. May be this is why I can accept Mrs James's trial so well.
-
M. AguilarReviewed in Mexico on July 29, 2015
5.0 out of 5 stars Jane?!
Es Jane Austen con la perfecta dosis de misterio. Está escrito de una manera tan Jane que por momentos se me olvidaba que este libro es solamente la imaginación de una Austeniana más y no las propias palabras de Jane. Tiene una dosis perfecta de misterio con todo lo que puedes esperar de Jane Austen.