Death Comes to Pemberly

This title has been in my stack since 2011.  Finally took the time to read it!  If you love Jane Austen, you'll enjoy this author's "sequel" to Pride and Prejudice although this story stands well on it's own.  I appreciated that James revisited P&P several times to refresh my memory as to certain conversations, events... and I LOVED that she included some of Austen's Emma as well.  

This author is well known for her mystery and crime novels.  Rightly so!  This is the first I'd read of hers and was pleasantly entertained throughout.  Never did figure out "who dunnit" or why!  Now, I have to warn you that it's very Austen-like.  Very high brow.  Very slow reading.  She does Darcy and Elizabeth justice with the continuation of their story and I believe Austen would be thrilled to know James' theory of what happened with Wickham and Lydia next...because readers of P&P knew they were gonna be nothing but trouble in the days to come.  Love this author's ability to bring back a classic in a refreshing way and with no zombies.  :)  Thank you. Thank you.  Thank you.  (I refuse to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies btw.  Just cannot do it!) 

And did I mention the author is 91 years young?  Oh yeah.  She's fierce.  

Here's a copy of an excerpt I located online through The Huffington Post.  Just in case you wanted a glimpse of the prose...

 
From the prologue:  "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 five 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."

This one is a keeper for me.  
Happy Reading!
RC