Claudia Gray, of Bloodline, here stretches her fandom writing chops to a different world long, long ago with many fervent fans: Austen!
The premise is simple: all the characters you know and love from Austen’s greatest hits also know one another. A sort of Extended Austen Universe, so to speak. Everyone has showed up to Donwell Abbey, the house of Emma and George Knightley, for a garden party that quickly sours when there are two unwelcome guests: a torrential rainstorm and Mr. George Wickham.
Everyone you love is here: Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, with their adult son Jonathan; Anne and Captain Frederick Wentworth, retired from his seafaring days; Fanny and Edmund Bertram, who continue to be a pious; newlyweds Marianne and Colonel Brandon, and Juliet Tilney, send by her parents to learn something of the world.
Everything they despise has shown up in the form of Mr. Wickham, who in this retelling has given everyone a reason to loathe him. The Darcys already have their reasons. Mr. Knightley’s brother has lost a fortune to Wickham’s latest scheme, a debt which he guaranteed (without telling Emma). The Wentworths have also lost the substantial portion of the prize money which Captain Wentworth had won over years. Wickham is the dastardly man who broke Eliza’s heart, and is also blackmailing Fanny after coming upon a very compromising letter.
And then–the murder, of the title. The only two guests with clear alibis are Jonathan Darcy, who was out of the house and getting soaked, and Juliet Tilney, who was with a maid (I think?) but also has no connection to Wickham whatsoever prior to the gathering. When Frank Churchill, magistrate, arrives and is on the verge of blaming a servant and calling it a day, Jonathan and Juliet realize they have to team up to catch the real criminal.
I’ll be honest–this isn’t a book you’re reading for the whodunit of it all. Mr. Wickham is a terrible character and we’re not really sad to see him go, per se. This is basically high end fanfiction, as Gray reveals her command of each of the characters and brings out little nuances that will make you chuckle. The Darcys share a private joke about practicing the pianoforte! Wink wink nudge nudge (“But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault — because I would not take the trouble of practicing”).
It’s not quite fanservice–characters have evolved over time and no happily ever after is fully without bumps in the road. Some of the relationships seem more fraught than others (Fanny and Edmund in particular I feel like need to really reevaluate their interactions) but you may rest assured that no one is cheating on each other. Bridge too far, methinks.
Some of the characterization does seem a bit hamfisted and JUST TALK ALREADY, but it’s always done out of a sense of reverence for the original characters. Juliet is definitely the delight for me, with Jonathan being a bit of a “take Darcy, but more.” He’s definitely written as autistic, in a time before that had a proper term, but Juliet takes it in stride in a realistic way that feels less anachronistic and more reasonable.
