“The Murder of Mr. Wickham” is a hard book to review and I really wish I could give it a higher rating because there were aspects of it that I loved. The beginning of the book is amazing and it is immediately evident that Lady Gray really gets these characters. There are plenty of moments throughout the book where a character will do/say/think something and it will feel like what that Austen character would do in that moment. I really wished that everything could be nice and that we could all enjoy the nice house party where our beloved characters all interacted. Alas, that was not to be because of the villainous Mr. Wickham.

There are lots of twists and turns and connections that I loved, but ultimately I did not care who killed Wickham. I was not invested in the investigation and I wasn’t invested in the investigators: Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy. I really just wanted a happy moment with characters that I loved to appear on the page! But that wasn’t possible because of plot. And the longer tensions raised amongst the characters, the less like the characters they seemed, but it’s fair to say we’ve never seen Austen’s characters in this type of situation and so it’s natural that they wouldn’t seem themselves. That being said, it was interesting to see each couple work through the problems that arose. Speaking of couples... I wouldn't recommend this to die-hard Fanny/Edmund shippers as they're not shown in a good light.

I normally avoid sequels like this because I worry that it will ruin my view of the characters, but in this case I mostly liked Gray’s version of the characters and it was the mystery I found to be lacking. If you’re a Janeite I do think “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” is worth reading because there are definitely some gems in this book for fans of Miss Jane Austen.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

George and Emma Knightley are hosting a house party at Donwell Abbey and have barely welcomed their guests when the insufferable Mr. Wickham crashes the party. The hosts and most of their guests have good reason to despise Wickham, so there is no shortage of suspects after he is murdered. The Darcys’ son Jonathan and Miss Juliet Tilney, the youngest guests, feel that the local magistrate is too quick to assume that the murderer must have been an intruder or a servant, and they secretly begin their own investigation to see that justice is done.

Jane Austen enthusiasts and fans of P.D. James’ <i>Death Comes to Pemberly</i> will find much to love in Claudia Gray’s homage to these earlier works. Gray does James one better — or actually five better — by bring together the main couples from five Austen novels rather than one, and adding the daughter of the main couple from a sixth (<i >Northanger Abbey</i>) as well. Lengthy house parties were common among the upper class of Austen’s time and thus provides a plausible means of bringing the disparate characters together. Interestingly, the young Mr. Darcy, Jonathan, is described as “peculiar,” displaying characteristics that most readers will recognize as attributes of Asberger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism, which was unidentified in that time. The tone and style ring true to Austen’s own, and readers will likely delight in the further adventures of the characters they came to love in <i>Emma</i>, <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, <i>Sense and Sensibility</i>, <i>Mansfield Park</i>, and <i>Persuasion</i>.

I received an advance readers copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I adored this novel!
As a casual Austen fan, reading this book encouraged me to research certain characters as a way to refamiliarize myself. This was not a task at all, more a delight. Perhaps Grey has even inspired a rereading of some of her well know works.

The Murder of Mr. Wickham is a wonderful who-dun it set in the early Nineteenth Century. Join a group of well know Austen characters as they accept invitations to the ill fated house party, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. George Knightly. An uninvited guest disrupts the happy festivities and drives one of societies' upstanding guests to commit the unthinkable.
A twisty plot with (mostly) lovable characters.
A definite recommendation!

Big thanks to NetGallery for allowing me to read and review the ARC.

This book wasn't for me. It had way too many characters in it. If you are familiar with Austen's work, you might enjoy seeing all your favorites in one place. For me, it made it hard to connect with any particular characters because there were so many coming in and out of each scene. I couldn't figure out who to focus on. There wasn't much depth in the two young people that were supposed to be the leads, but if you are looking for a cozy mystery with a lot of Austen's characters featured, then you might like this one.

This was a delightful treat for a cold winter. Jane Austen fans will love reuniting with some of their most beloved characters. Though still a gem, it didn't have as much emotional depth and complexity that we so loved from Austen's works. Recommend on a cold, rainy weekend. #themurderofmrwickham #claudiagray #netgalley #goodreads

What a delightful little gem - all Jane Austen’s heroines and their husbands together under one roof, meeting at a house party with Emma Knightly as the perfect hostess. Claudia Gray’s descriptions and perceived development of the different couples were gentle and non offensive. To me that part was more interesting than the closed door whodunnit part of the story.
And I was delighted to see that somebody else feel about the Bertrams as I do.
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

It's 1820, and Emma & George Knightley are throwing a house party for an eclectic mix of Regency society that just happens to include some of Jane Austen's most famous characters. On the guest list are Elizabeth & Fitzwilliam Darcy and their son Jonathan, Anne & Frederick Wentworth, Fanny & Edmund Bertram, Marianne & Colonel Brandon, and Catherine & Henry Tilney's daughter, Juliet. The gathering is barely underway before the dastardly George Wickham crashes the party, revealing secret, sordid ties to more than just the Darcys. By the time Wickham turns up dead soon after, none of our beloved characters are above suspicion. Amidst the turmoil, Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney form a next-generation alliance determined to uncover the truth.

3.75/5: The Murder of Mr. Wickham is a super fun fan-service mystery. I enjoyed the intricate effort behind bringing a bunch of Austen characters together -- even without suspending my disbelief, the story still felt believable. It was also DELIGHTFUL to read about Wickham getting his comeuppance! I think big Austenites will love this, and it has enough background information that casual Austen fans and those who are familiar with some or even none of her stories would still follow along and find something to like.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


I truly enjoyed this one. A cozy mystery with a vintage twist is just what I need.