CBR18 Book 42: "The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield" by Claudia Gray

Page count: 336

Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for this ARC. This book is on sale now.

Jonathan Darcy is getting tired of his parents nervously hovering around him and keeping him from doing anything more strenuous than sitting in front of a fire, reading. So when a letter arrives from his aunt Jane at Netherfield, who is feeling rather inundated with Bingley's sisters and their spouses, and his mother is unable to go, he eagerly volunteers to go in her stead. He has not stopped thinking about Juliet Tilney, but his parents think it is best that they have no further contact.

Poor Juliet Tilney hasn't really been able to leave her home for months, and now it seems unlikely that she'll ever find a husband, certainly not Jonathan Darcy. So when she is unexpectedly called to Netherfield to assist Jonathan in yet another unsolved murder, she knows it's unseemly, because someone (in this case, Bingley's brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst), but she's just so happy to be reunited with him and investigating once more. She refuses to consider her grandfather's suggestion that she entrap the young man to secure her future. She knows she can never be accepted as a suitable daughter-in-law by the Darcys after the scandalous events in London. 

The young investigators find an unexpected supporter in Jane Bingley, however, who sees how much they clearly love one another, and is deeply saddened that Juliet's life has been so negatively affected because of a cruel prank. Jane still remembers the months she was separated from Bingley because of the scheming of his sisters and Darcy, and doesn't want any young couple to ever have to face anything like that. While she may be rooting for the young couple, Mrs. Caroline Allerdyce, Charles Bingley's sister, is still determined that her daughter, Priscilla, will be the future mistress of Pemberley, and keeps trying to push them together at every available opportunity.

I had to catch up with the previous two books in the series before I read this one, and I'm glad I did, as it meant I hadn't forgotten any major details from the previous two books that might be relevant in this story. I would absolutely not recommend anyone start with this book; it is very much a fifth book in a series, and if you haven't read some of the others, especially book 4, The Rushworth Family Plot, there will be plot lines that don't make as much sense.

While the previous book focused on characters from Mansfield Park, here Claudia Grey shows us the lovely and kind-hearted Bingleys many years into their marriage. Their daughters have moved away and are married, and now they are playing host to two of Bingley's sisters, with their husbands. When Juliet comes to help with the investigation of the poisoning of Mr. Hurst, Jonathan is noble enough to surrender his room at Netherfield and goes to stay with his grandparents at Longbourn, a place he has never felt at home, and he's determined that Juliet never realises what a sacrifice he is making for her sake. Even though all her five daughters found husbands (three of them even very well-off ones), Mrs. Bennett is still displeased about all sorts of things in her old age, while Mr. Bennett cares for little other than his books. Neither of them has any understanding of what they see as Jonathan's peculiarities, and he can never be at ease in that house.

Ms. Gray's authorial voice really is very close to Austen's own, and while you are aware that you are basically reading fan fiction about the continued lives of all of these characters, she captures the essence of them so well, and it seems like such plausible lives for these characters to have. Charles and Jane Bingley have clearly had a very happy life together, and still bend over backwards to help all of their various family members, even at the cost of their own comfort. With so many characters early in the series having been disapproving of either Jonathan, Juliet or their relationship, it was a great comfort to have these two characters wholeheartedly supporting the young couple and refusing to judge or blame Juliet in any way for her unfortunate circumstances. 

Having checked Ms. Gray's website, because it was unclear to me how long she was planning on continuing this series, it does seem as if she's contracted for at least one more book about our young sleuths. Without wanting to spoil too much, there was at least SOME romantic development in this book, and while I was frustrated for a while, I am now very excited to see where the next book takes our characters (I'm guessing they may have to solve murders among the characters of Persuasion, that's pretty much the only book that hasn't been featured much). 

Judging a book by its cover: Dare I hope, based on the silhouettes on the cover, that this book will finally have some sort of forward momentum in the glacially slow romance between our protagonists? Or is it a cruel trick from the publishers to fool me into committing to another book? 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

 

CBR18 Books 38-39 : "The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh" and "The Rushworth Family Plot" by Claudia Gray

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Page count: 400 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Since Mr Jonathan Darcy, son of the esteemed Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Miss Juliet Tilney, daughter of Henry Tilney, have now solved not one, but two murders among their extended acquaintance, word has gotten around, and as a result, Lady Catherine DeBourgh has summoned the young Mr Darcy to come to Rosings Park to help her identify the person who is trying to kill her. He insists that Miss Tinley be invited as well. Both young persons are accompanied by their fathers, who, unfortunately, take an instant dislike of each other. Mr Tilney thinks Mr Darcy is a supercilious snob, while Mr Darcy thinks Mr Tilney takes things too lightly and jokes too much at inappropriate times, not at all a suitable manner of behaviour for a clergyman. 

Some of the people surrounding the dowager suspect she may be exaggerating the danger she is in. She claims her carriage was sabotaged, then someone tried to shoot her, and when this failed, they nearly pushed her down the stairs. As the two young people start investigating, it becomes obvious that someone is indeed trying to do away with Lady Catherine, and that their attempts are becoming more aggressive. Because Lady Catherine rarely leaves Rosings Park, it also means the culprit is someone very close to her, a family member or loyal retainer. Can our young detectives figure out the identity of the would-be murderer before they actually succeed in doing away with the old lady?

The Rushworth Family Plot

Page count: 336 pages

Rating: 4 stars

While Mr Jonathan Darcy and Miss Juliet Tilney have been very clear with each other about their mutual fondness and hopes for a future match, their fathers developed a mutual dislike during their stay at Rosings Park. General Tilney, Miss Tilney's tyrannical grandfather, who normally isn't known for his generosity, is incensed enough by the perceived snub of his grandchild by the Darcys, so he is determined she will make a grander match during the London season. Juliet and her authoress mother is ordered to London to purchase a new wardrobe of clothes for her, and find her an appropriate suitor.

Jonathan, meanwhile, is also in London, staying with the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram, since his family had to return to Pemberley after his younger brother broke his arm. He knows his parents would like him to find some suitable young lady to court, but he has no intention of asking anyone but Juliet Tilney to marry him. However, the ambitious Mrs Allerdyce (who was Caroline Bingley before her marriage) is determined that if SHE couldn't be the mistress of Pemberley, then her daughter will instead. Jonathan may be a keen investigator of murders, but in social situations involving young ladies, he is far too clueless to realise he's being manipulated. 

Claudia Gray also reintroduces some of Austen's most scandalous characters (how can Mansfield Park be so painfully dull when it also has the dastardly Henry Crawford and the whole running off with Maria Rushworth, nee Bertram subplot). Maria Rushworth, now many years divorced, shows up in London with her aunt/companion in tow, along with a daughter who was clearly born out of wedlock. Maria swears that Rushworth is the father, but anyone with eyes can see the strong resemblance to Henry Crawford. Maria claims that she and Rushworth are going to reconcile and marry again soon, but lo and behold, it doesn't take long before Mr Rushworth is found brutally strangled in his townhouse. Jonathan and Juliet promise the Bertrams they will do their best to find the murderer before the scandal surrounding the whole thing further tarnishes the family.

I have long complained that Gray is being far too slow and dragging out the romance between Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney too much. I get that they are unlikely to surrender to the throes of passion while investigating murders (or attempted murder, in the case of Lady Catherine), but I would still have liked some stronger declarations from both parties. Gray keeps throwing obstacles in our young sleuths' way. In The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, both young people are accompanied to Rosings Park by their fathers, who are vastly different and dislike each other pretty much on sight. Their antipathy towards each other does not get better as the story goes on. 

In The Rushworth Family Plot both the elder Mr Darcy and Mr Tilney are safely away in their homes, and the only parental figure around is Juliet's mother, Catherine Tilney, now a famous author of Gothic novels.  She sees the warmth and attraction between the two and is very surprised by her husband's impression that Jonathan Darcy is cold and indifferent towards Juliet. She is very impressed with how he seems to genuinely listen and trade ideas with her daughter, never seeming dismissive or overbearing. She can see that they have a very good partnership while investigating and is convinced they would make a very good match. Unfortunately, because as soon as the parental disapproval may have been dealth with, there need to be other difficulties, Juliet is embroiled in a scandal of her own, through absolutely no fault of her own. Because of the careless and opportunistic acts of someone else, her reputation may be absolutely ruined. Jonathan Darcy, who is appalled by this turn of events, challenges the besmircher of Juliet's honour to a duel to prove her innocence. It all went a bit melodramatic, and I really hope Gray can let these two have a happy ending soon.

With Juliet falling victim to the Regency version of a manipulated photograph, which marks her as utterly unsuitable as a wife to anyone with taste, as well as Mrs. Caroline Allerdyce's scheming to get her daughter married to Jonathan, it just felt like too many things still muddying up the works.

One of the very fun things with these books is obviously how Gray takes the minor Austen characters from various novels and gives them more prominence. In The Perils of Lady Catherine DeBourgh, we see that Lady Catherine's sickly daughter in no way minded that Mr Darcy chose someone else. She has married his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam and seems mostly very happy with him. They are both very sad that their young son has been sent away to boarding school (because no heir of Lady Catherine is to be homeschooled), and there are certain communication difficulties leading to friction, but it all gets sorted out in the end. We also see how Charlotte and Mr. Collins are managing in their marriage. They now have two children, a son and a daughter, and there is something strange in the son's behaviour that neither Jonathan nor Juliet can figure out at first. 

In The Rushworth Family Plot, we meet Edmund and Fanny Bertram again (who were also supporting characters in The Murder of Mr Wickham), as well as Edmund's older brother, now the head of the family, his dog-obsessed mother, their vivacious non-scandalous sister, and, of course, Maria Rushworth and Henry Crawford. Fanny is deeply depressed after a failed pregnancy, and Edmund is unaware that she overheard the doctor say she is unlikely to ever bear children. Edmund's brother has been persuaded that selling their plantation in Barbados is the only humane thing to do because of the evils of slavery. He is also courting Caroline Allerdyce's eldest daughter. Gray does a good job of showing the readers that Caroline Bingley never really wanted Mr Darcy, only the wealth and prestige of being mistress of Pemberley. She has clearly been very happy in her marriage to Mr Allerdyce, but now that Jonathan Darcy is present and available in London, she can't help but scheme and manipulate to try to make her daughter mistress of Pemberley in the future instead. 

I have an ARC of the fifth book in the series that I need to read in the next couple of days (it's also why I finally needed to knuckle down and review these two books. I really hope that Gray is bringing the series to an end soon, I don't know how much longer I can wait for Jonathan and Juliet to get their happy ending. 

CBR16 Book 24: "The Late Mrs Willougby" by Claudia Gray

Page count: 390 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Miss Juliet Tilney goes to visit her friend Marianne Brandon in her charming home in Devonshire. They haven't seen one another since the rather unfortunate house party where Mr Wickham was murdered, and Miss Tilney and young Jonathan Darcy managed to discover who killed him. 

Jonathan Darcy finds himself the rather reluctant houseguest of a former school bully, Mr. Willoughby. He goes to see him so as to not make his parents constantly worry about his lack of friends, but is rather miserable until he discovers that Miss Juliet Tilney is also in the village, visiting the Brandons. 

During the dinner party meant to welcome her to the neighbourhood, Mrs. Willoughby drops dead, clearly poisoned. Malicious gossips seem convinced that Marianne Brandon, did the deed out of jealousy and some sort of misguided attempt to get back together with him. She was, after all, openly and passionately in love with Willoughby and nearly died from the heartbreak when he jilted her to marry his now-dead wife. Juliet and Jonathan, however, are convinced of her innocence and decide to once again investigate a murder, to ensure Mrs. Brandon isn't sent to the gallows because of malicious rumours. As their investigation progresses, there are other strange occurrences, that suggest the murderer may not be done yet - are Jonathan and Juliet also in danger?

The Austen fan fic continues, but this time Ms. Gray hasn't included characters from literally every single published Austen novel. This second Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney mystery focuses more on various characters faithful readers will remember from Sense and Sensibility. Elinor Ferrars is happily married to her Edward, and very close to giving birth to their first child. They are still estranged from his snobbish mother but hope that the arrival of the child might make the old matriarch soften her feelings towards him, even though she disapproves of his chosen wife. Colonel Brandon's ward (Jonathan Darcy's cousin, as she's the illegitimate child of Mr. Wickham) now also lives in the village, and may have her own reasons for wanting Willougby to be widowed. 

The book obviously invents a backstory where Jonathan Darcy and Willoughby went to school together, and it's not really a surprise to anyone that Willoughby would have been a merciless bully. Also invited are another couple of school friends, one of whom seems to have had a history with the now-deceased Mrs. Willoughby, and a charming young man with a solid grasp of chemistry who offers to aid Darcy and Miss Tilney in their investigation, once he discovers what they are about. Jonathan may be socially inept, but even he notices that his friend seems interested in Miss Tilney. Spending more time with her has made it pretty obvious to Jonathan that he likes Juliet as more than a friend, but as he is unsure whether she returns his feelings, he's far too reserved to confess his infatuation. 

Gray is an imaginative and engaging writer, and her cast of characters actually feel like they have stepped out of the pages of an Austen novel. Both Jonathan and Juliet are engaging protagonists, and I understand that both for storyline reasons, and the conventions of the time, Gray needs to create obstacles to stand in the way of their eventual happy ending. But I'm not going to lie, I was ready to figuratively lock them in a room and scream "Just kiss already!" at the end of this. So if they don't get together at the end of the next one (which apparently involves them trying to figure out who wants to murder Lady Catherine de Bourgh), I will be extremely vexed. 

Judging a book by its cover: Not really sure what is going on with the perspective on this cover. The silhouettes are all well and good, but poor Mrs. Willoughby hasn't just been murdered, she looks as if she has been squashed flat by a steamroller. Such indignity in death. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR16 Book 23: "The Murder of Mr. Wickham" by Claudia Gray

Page count: 320 pages

Audio book length: 12 hrs 3 mins

Mr. Knightley and his wife, Emma (formerly Miss Woodhouse), have been happily married for several years. They are inviting a number of friends to a houseparty; Mr. and Mrs Darcy of Pemberley with their son Jonathan, Colonel and Mrs. Brandon (no children yet, as they are very newly married), Captain and Mrs. Wentworth,  Edmund and Fanny Bertram and Miss Juliet Tilney, daughter of  Henry and Catherine Tilney. Unfortunately, they also receive an unexpected and unwanted addition to the party, Mr Wickham, who has unfinished business with several of the members there. The Knightleys would love nothing more than to send him away, but stormy weather forces them to give him accommodation.

As well as a complicated family history with some of the guests, other members of the houseparty or their close family are now in debt to Mr Wickham, and there are tensions and a lot of awkwardness. Then the loathsome Mr Wickham turns up dead, clearly murdered. The officers investigating seem convinced the guilty party is one of the servants, but Jonathan Darcy and Miss Juliet Tilney, are convinced the real killer is one of the other guests. Miss Tinley is the only one who didn't have any prior connection to the murder victim and Jonathan Darcy is Mr. Wickham's nephew. They conclude that since they are likely the only ones who couldn't have killed him, they should investigate and try to figure out who actually murdered the avaricious and unpleasant Mr Wickham before some innocent servant is hanged for the crime. 

As their investigation progresses, it turns out that Mr. Wickham was possibly even more despicable than previously suspected, and would happily engage in blackmail as well as dodgy business practices that made others lose their savings. Pretty much everyone at the house party seems to have had a motive to kill the man. Jonathan Darcy is also pleased to discover that Miss Juliet doesn't seem worried about or affected by his rather unusual behaviour - he is somewhat lacking in traditional social graces.

This is high-level Jane Austen fan fiction, published as a historical murder mystery. Gray speculates what the lives of various popular Austen characters might be like after the romantic stories in each of their novels ended. To someone like me, who has read and greatly enjoyed, most of Austen's books (Not you, Mansfield Park, never you), it was fun to revisit these characters and see where Gray has imagined them ending up. Edmund Bertram is still rather boring and his wife Fanny is about as interesting as plain bread, but even their subplot ended up being interesting to me. 

Jonathan Darcy is clearly written as neurodivergent and struggles with social interactions. His family know him and make allowances for his sometimes odd behaviour, but in a new place with new people, especially one as tense and occasionally awkward as the aftermath of a murder, he struggles to conform. He manages to be open about his challenges to his new friend Juliet, who doesn't seem to be scared or put off by it and they become close friends over the course of the investigation, even when the case starts looking more complicated. 

I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Billie Fulford-Brown. She has a pleasant voice and manages to differentiate the various characters well. The only other book by Claudia Gray I've read was A Thousand Pieces of You, back in 2017. It was fine, but not very memorable, and I never got around to reading the second and third book in the trilogy. This book, on the other hand, was a fun and entertaining read, and I pretty much instantly wanted the sequel (see my next review) I am also very excited about the third book, where we are graced with the presence of the formidable Lady Catherine DeBourgh).

Judging a book by its cover: I like the simple, but evocative cover art style. The manor house, the various silhouettes in the window, and the lightning bolts. I question how there can be a fierce lightning storm and a visible crescent moon at the same time, though. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read