Death at Pemberly by P.D. James

I really love P.D. James. I love British mystery writers and she's my favorite right after the good old reliable Agatha Christie. Every time this woman writes a book I scoop it up and devour it, and frankly I am going to be very, very sad when she is no longer a part of this world to keep putting out these devilish, complex mystery stories.

In Death at Pemberly, James decided to bring a murder mystery to the grounds of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy and brings along all of your favorite characters from Pride & Prejudice. Elizabeth and Darcy and happily married with children, Bingley and sister Jane live nearby. Lydia & Wickam are still causing havoc. Even more so as the big Lady Anne's ball in coming up at Pemberly and the Lydia shows up in a panic saying someone's been killed in the woods on the Pemberly grounds. Was it Darcy's worst nightmare - Wickam? Or was Wickam killed? What will Elizabeth & Darcy do now that Lydia is at Pemberly in hysterics? Will Darcy finally have to face Wickham and what he tried to do with Georgina? I won't say because I don't want to spoil the fun.

I'm not really sure she needed to write this. I mean I am just fine with Mr. Dagliesh in her usual works, but Death at Pemberly was an enjoyable little mystery nonetheless. Not quite up to her normal caliber, but I still couldn't put it down. Ms. James incorporates some of the history of the law and legal mores in that time period along with more of the usual etiquette and social expectations you find in an Austen book. Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite Jane Austen stories, so I enjoyed visiting those characters again, even though this is very much a P. D. James book not a Jane Austen book. There none of the wit of an Austen novel, but there is some of the plotting from a James novel. It's a nice mix all in all, but not one of my favorite P. D. James books. I'd say if you like Austen or you like a good historical mystery, you might enjoy this book. If you are looking for a place to start in the P. D. James canon, I wouldn't start here. I'd start with Cover Her Face or An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.

Rating: 4 Purrrs because I can't rate a P. D. James novel any lower. She's just too clever.