The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The premise of the book is clever–the author has taken many of the characters from Jane Austen novels, thrown them together, and murdered one of them (no spoilers, but based on the title, it’s clear which character it is). Then, two children of 2 couples from the novels are thrown together to solve the murder.
Like I said, the premise of the book is quite clever, and I applaud the author on her imaginative rendering of the story. The mystery is cleverly plotted, and as a fan of Jane Austen novels, it is fun to see the characters after their stories were told, as it were.
The issue is if you are going to borrow characters from Jane Austen’s novels, it would help to be as satirical and insightful and perceptive as she was. And while the author is a very good writer, the tone of her book falls flat, especially when compared against the original author.
This is, of course, not entirely the author’s fault. There are few writers as gifted with light-hearted satire and irony as Jane Austen. But if you are going to extend Jane Austen’s characters, then you should not be surprised to be compared to her (which is probably not to your benefit).
That being said, the book is creative and clever. It’s just that the characters don’t quite ring true to the originals. I enjoyed reading the book but will probably not read its sequel, at least not while my TBR pile is so long.



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Jane and the Man of the Cloth by Stephanie Barron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I had read the first of this series a long time ago because it’s Jane Austen and a mystery, what is there not to like? But as I recall, the debut novel didn’t grab me, and as my TBR list grows daily, I set this series aside. But the author also writes the Merry Folger mysteries set in Nantucket (as Francine Mathews), which I’ve really enjoyed, and I thought I’d give this series a second chance.
My impression of this book is more positive than my memory of the first novel in this series. The author incorporates phrases from Jane Austen’s works into the books, which is fun for Jane Austen devotees. In addition, this book has an interesting plot and while I don’t think the culprit was difficult to pick out, I like the indirect tribute to “Pride and Prejudice.”
It’s a nicely themed series and this book, at any rate, is a quick and engaging read.




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