I thought I would be the ideal audience for this book-- a trapped in the house mystery featuring only Jane Austen characters! Sign me up! But I found the plot cumbersome and slow. Gray is too interested in writing Austen's characters and not interested enough in telling her story. She should have made the only two POV characters Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney, the next generation characters trying to solve the crime. Also I thought I didn't like Mansfield Park, but I sure don't hate it as much as Ms. Gray seems to. One interesting note is that Jonathan Darcy is autistic (of course undiagnosed because of the time period).

I love all things Austen. Especially Pride and Prejudice. So of course the title caught my attention. Someone murdering one of the most deceitful men in literature. I have to read it.

Then when I read the description was a six way crossover between all Jane Austen novels I was sold. I couldn't wait to read it. I was not disappointed.

The Murder of Mr. Wickham starts off with an explanation of the creative license Claudia Gray took when making this book. Mostly revolving around the timeline of the six Austen books. This sets up how all these characers can be in the same place at the same time. If you are a historical scholar I suggest you read it so you are not distracted by inconsistencies.

Now the book starts with Emma and Mr. Knightley - who have been maried for some time now - wanting to host a month long dinner party. Emma has invited her friends Mr. and Mrs. Brandon and the daugher of the Tilney's. Mr. Knightley invites schoolmate Fitzwilliam Darcy and his family as well as his cousin Edmund Bertram and his bride. In addition, Captain and Mrs. Wentworth will be in attendance after some trouble at their home.

Everyone knows it will start off rocky but after some time they are sure everyone will warm up to one another. That is until an uninvited guest by the name of George Wickham shows up. Everyone present has had some dealing with Wickham. And no one is better from the relation. All parties present - save MIss Tilney - have a reason or more to dislike the man.

So when Geoge Wickham dies in the night everyone is a suspect in the murder. Everyone has a motive, most do not have an alibi, and no one else could have done it. When it is believed an innocent person may be blamed for the murder Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy - the eldest son of the Darcy's - decide to investigate to find the guilty party.

Claudia Gray does an outstanding job of giving each character a voice without the reader becoming overwhelmed. Gray even hints at storylines from the original books that makes anyone familiar with Austen novels smile. Additionally, Gray keeps readers on the edge of their seat. I was questioning who it was until the last second.

A beautiful, fun, and suspenseful page turner that you will not want to put down.

I was quite excited for this book, but overall it fell a little flat.

I think the main issue was the reader was pulled in so many directions that the plot moved so slow. It would have been better, in my opinion, if we just had the POVs of Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy.

Also, this might be a bit spoiler-y, but there was not nearly enough romance in this book!! I definitely wanted more than we got.

I know Claudia Gray is a big Jane Austen fan and I definitely appreciate the love she has for these characters, but I think I would have preferred it if she would have stayed out of their heads and taken a greater focus on the new generation. I think that would have made for a stronger and more interesting plot.

Good juicy fun. A Clue-style murder mystery with Jane Austen's best characters. What's not to love?

The author's attempt at mimicking Jane Austen's style was a bit heavy-handed (I don't recall Austen mentioning etiquette quite so often or directly), but she did a good job of recreating the character's voices and infusing the story with modern sensibilities. Having the two main characters new and unique but mixing among old beloved ones worked really well. A bit predictable at the end, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

A house party that was supposed to be a a fun time during the summer season, turns into a house of horrors so to speak involving a murder. The murder of Mr. Wickham a man with many enemies. Enemies that were all at this wonderful house party. Enemies that were all tied to our beloved Jane Austen. Which one of these beloved characters would want this retched Mr. Wickham dead.
Could it be the the The Knightley's who are the loving couple throwing this house party. Or was it one of the number of guests that were in attendance who finally found a way of disposing that horrible horrible man. There were two young people who decided to team up and find out who the killer really was. They were Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney. Their investigation into Mr. Wickham's death had its ups and downs. Since they were young and of the opposite sex it became harder and harder to meet and discuss their findings in the case. They had to avoid causing a scandal of two young people being together unchaperoned . Plus Jonathan would have to bear the brunt of his father Mr. Darcy's disappointment plus the fact his farther was a suspect.
Ms. Gray had many characters to display in this novel. I loved how she intertwined each character to Mr. Wickham. Everyone was joined through him which wasn't always pretty. She really made him a horrible horrible person. I wouldn't have blamed anyone of these characters to have wanted him dead.
The only real problem I had with this book was that it took a real long time to get to the end and find out who did the dirty deed so to speak. A few times it dragged and it was hard for me to finish. Then the next chapters would roll along and I couldn't put it down.I really did like how Ms. Gray tied up the story. The little bonus at the end. This was an interesting who done it especially because of the wonderful Austen characters. Maybe Mr. Wickham should have thought twice before crashing this house party. Yet I myself wasn't upset that he ended up the way he did.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for the ARC copy. Totally enjoyed it.

In The Murder of Mr. Wickham, characters from Jane Austen's best known novels come together for a house party, crashed by the dastardly George Wickham, who ends up murdered. The cross-over of known characters was enjoyable. Claudia Gray sets up a timeline that puts Pride and Prejudice about 20 years in the past, and Sense and Sensibility only a year or so ago. It is interesting to see her take on how characters have grown and matured (or not). The murder mystery was satisfying enough, with the young investigators by far the most interesting characters. The writing was good, though phrasing was often belabored. If the word "sensibility" was used once with regard to Marianne Brandon, it was used a dozen times. Overall a well done pastiche that will be enjoyed by Austen fans.

I don't normally rate books this low (unless there are some truly harmful ideas presented in them), because I don't normally keep reading books that I am not enjoying. Life's too short to read books that aren't for you. However, I'm such a fan of Jane Austen, and the premise of this book was so juicy, I just really, really wanted to like this and it just fell pretty flat for me.

First and foremost, I can't help but feel that the author turned Wickham into a caricature of a villain, a stereotype of historic toxic masculinity without any true substance or depth. While I will be the first to say I would get no small amount of schadenfreude from seeing Wickham finally get what's coming to him, there's very little satisfaction in this plot. Oh sure, he gets offed, but the twists and turns that the author includes, paired with far too many couples/characters to be able to do any of them true justice, makes the plot feel disjointed and wandering.

There were a number of choices that the author of this work made that I don't think were in line or keeping with the characters that she used from Austen's writing, though this is (of course) a difference of opinion. I actually really enjoyed the new characters that were presented (Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney) and their rapport, but again they suffered from having far too many characters to be able to really develop. Those two couldn't save the way the plot lagged in the middle, sending the reader after what felt like fairly obvious false lead after false lead, and getting mired down in it's own overly busy character list.

I won't say there weren't enjoyable plots, but overall, it was a dinner-party sort of murder mystery that fell flat.

And, as a side note, I was not pleased with the author's content warning, where she basically excused her use of certain terms as being true to the time in history. None of these characters existed. None of these things have ever happened. Choosing to use derogatory or biased insults (or even slurs) is a choice the author makes; they are not beholden to being true to the "times" if they are making everything else up.

This book was just such a slog to get through. I mean, I was so excited for this book as it sounded so interesting and I have previously really enjoyed books written by Claudia Gray. However, this book ended up letting me down pretty quickly. I considered DNF'ing it a couple of times but I was just so hopeful it would get better, but it didn't really. I was so bored throughout this book. I think the main reason was the endless amount of perspectives. We really didn't need perspectives from every single character in this book. I feel like it just really slowed down the progression of this book. Every character also came with their own drama, which was just way too much going on. None of these little elements got their time to really develop and I still have a difficult time telling you which sideplot belongs to which character. It was all just way too much and it just made me really bored while reading. I did like Juliet and Jonathan though. I think this book could have been so much better if it just had the perspectives of those two. It would have allowed for those characters to be much more developed, which would have made me more attached to what is happening in this book. There's also a romance hinted at between these two and I just feel like I could have cared about it more if we had just their perspectives. So yeah, I was quite bored throughout this book but there were still some small elements to it that I quite liked.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I read the P D James, Death Comes to Pemberly and thought, “Wow, almost like reading Austen.” This book will make you feel the same. The Darcys and their 20 year old son are at a house party when Mr. Wickham is murdered. Of course, the author gives us stormy weather so that all the guests must stay put. Our unlikely sleuth is Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tinley, a young woman just enjoying her first house party. The book is great. The murder interesting. The plot intriguing. Use this book for your next book club.

What a fun book. Love that the Author brought all the Jane Austen characters together to a house party that ends with the murder of Mr. Wickham. What a delicious Reed and one that I would highly recommend to anyone especially those that love and adore Ms Austen’s books.

Such a clever premise for a story, utilizing both history and characters from Jane Austen novels to make this mystery come to life. And with he murder of one of the most villainous characters in her novels!

I will start by saying that this is a review from the perspective of someone who has NOT read Jane Austen novels. Don't shun me! But I know others will ask if this is relatable or understandable without the knowledge of Austen's prior characters, and I will say that it is! Although I definitely missed some nuances of the characters, their relationships', and the sentiments I should have had when reading their names,. It did not distract from the mystery though. And Claudia Gray did an excellent job in the beginning as well as a couple of times throughout to break down the characters, their relationships' and the timeframes so it was understandable!

Locked room mysteries will always be my favorite,, and truly enjoyed the whodunit aspect of the story. Making the way through characters and breaking down who could be guilty and who is likely innocent was fun, and definitely well done. Wickham seems like such a despicable man, and it was hard to be sad he was the victim at times! It was definitely an interesting mystery that I breezed through pretty quick. However, there were definitely times that I felt the story was progressing a little slow, and that there were parts that were either too long or unnecessary for the point of the story.

For lovers of locked room mysteries and/or Jane Austen novels, this is a good choice to add to your TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was intrigued by the idea - much of the casts from Jane Austen's novels in one, with a murder to be solved of the dastardly Mr. Wickham. While I am more familiar with some of the characters than others, I found myself wishing to get a better sense of them in this novel. Explanation is given for their backgrounds and emotional reactions, but I never felt I knew them. Perhaps it's because Mr. Wickham shows up early in the book. It would have been nice to see them relaxed and getting to know each other before jumping straight to the murder and investigation.

No spoilers on whodunit here, but I'm not quite sold on the resulting actions and reactions of the killer. One subplot the author did well in handling delicately had to do with a revelation between siblings (though the method of revelation I found slightly implausible) and the resulting soul searching it caused.

Overall a solid mystery with a well-known cast. Family friendly, though murder might be a bit much for younger readers.

I am a Jane Austen super fan and usually hate any sort of sequel or retake on her work. I was hesitant to read this one for that reason but I am so glad I did!

This one is like Jane Austen meeting Agatha Christie and I found it to be such a fun read. The mystery unfolded really well and the characters all seemed just like I remembered them.

It will probably only appeal to Austen fans, but I hope other "Janites" enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this title! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

To be honest, I have not read any, but Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, JA novels. I know, I know. You're probably thinking "Why request a book based on a whole slew of Jane Austen characters?" Well, Claudia Gray is my reasoning. I absolutely love her books and wanted to give this one a shot.

Claudia Gray's writing has a good amount of humor and thrilling moments to keep me entertained in this murder mystery but not enough to enjoy the book overall. I don't think it's because of my lack of knowledge when it comes to JA novels because I do know most of the lore and the stories written. I just couldn't wrap my head around some of the characters decisions and their personalities were a little grating to read. The writing style was good and flowed well with the time period it's based on. I was consistently reminded of the movie Clue with Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon. I think this was a lesson learned for me: just because one of your favorite authors wrote the book, doesn't mean your instantly going to fall in love with the story.

3 stars

What a fun and unique read! It was a very quick read filled with characters you kind of already know and love (or dislike). This is definitely a fun, new take on Austen’s work and I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone who loves Jane Austen.

The Murder of Mr. Wickham was an incredibly fun and intriguing atmospheric whodunnit novel. I enjoyed the characters, and it was a quick read. I found the writing to be engaging and entertaining; I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

This is such a perfect book in so many ways. It is mash up of Jane Austen's most famous characters along with the entirely enjoyable mystery format of Agatha Christie. I didn't really care who murdered Mr. Wickham, I just wanted to keep reading this book. Claudia Gray has replicated the feel of Jane Austen's writing in such a way that you get carried away with details that in less capable hands would have been tedious. I can only say this is a must read for anyone who loves a well written story with a fabulous cast of characters - so basically every reader!

This charming book combines two elements sure to please any Anglophile: the characters and manners of Jane Austen with the mystery of Agatha Christie. In the Author's Note at the beginning of the book, we are told that the events take place in 1820. While I'd never given any thoughts to precisely dating Jane Austen's novels, here dates are assigned in order to make the events in the novel fit together. Main characters from all of Austen's novels come together for a house party at the estate of Emma and George Knightley. Based in the dates assigned earlier, when the story takes place Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice have been married for over two decades, while Marianne and Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility are still newlyweds of only five months. The Darcy's twenty-something son Jonathan accompanies them, so he must of course have a female counterpart in the person of Miss Juliet Tilney, daughter of a female novelist Emma befriended. All of the assembled guests are experiencing problems, both financial and personal, so it doesn't help matters at all when the odious Mr. Wickham makes an appearance. Mr. Wickham was forced to marry Elizabeth Darcy's sister Lydia in order to save the family from scandal, but marriage did not improve his character. A violent storm means that no one can leave, and this includes Wickham. He's reluctantly put in the servants' quarters but is soon discovered murdered. When it turns out that pretty much every guest at the house party had a reason to want him dead, Jonathan and Juliet team up to try to figure out the culprit before an innocent servant is blamed. I quite enjoyed re-visiting all of Austen's characters and seeing their imagined futures. While no one was sad to see Mr. Wickham meet his demise, the resolution of the issues facing all the characters was satisfying. I do feel that door was left open for further installments, so I hope we will be stepping back into Austen's world soon for new adventures.

What an excellent book!
As soon as I read the description I had high hopes, and Claudia Gray exceeded all of my expectations!

It was incredibly fun to see all of the characters from Jane Austen's novels getting together and of course, murder!

The book ended satisfyingly, and is a perfect standalone, but I certainty hope that we shall be seeing more!

CW:
Homophobia in keeping with the general beliefs of the time.

I saw the title of this book and immediately thought “YES. I need this.” And “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” by Claudia Gray did not disappoint.

It had everything I wanted it to have:
-My fave characters from each of Jane Austen’s six main novels
-New characters introduced who were well thought out and felt like they absolutely belonged in that world
-A “where are they now?” look into the Darcys (and getting to know their eldest son!), the Knightleys, the Wentworths, and the Bertrams, plus newly wed couple Marianne and Colonel Brandon, and an introduction to the teen daughter of the Tilneys
-Social comedy very in keeping with Austen’s works
-THE ACTUAL MURDER OF WICKHAM

This book is an imagined “sequel” of sorts. Because Austen’s works take place at different times, the timeline of when this takes place is spread out after the other books. For example, Colonel Brandon and Marianne are within the first year of married life, but the Tilneys, Knightleys, and Darcys have all been married long enough to have teenage children.

The Knightleys decide to throw a month long house party, and these are all their guests, all known to the Knightleys in various ways. Wickham crashes the party, and as we discover, he has deeply wronged everyone in attendance in some way or other (excepting young Miss Tilney). Then… he is found dead, and virtually everyone is a suspect because everyone had motive. Miss Juliet Tilney and Mr. Jonathan Darcy (eldest son of our beloved Darcys) commit themselves to solving the murder.

This book is somewhat niche in its audience- the people who will most enjoy this book are those that are familiar with all six of Austen’s main novels, not just P&P, S&S, or Emma, and additionally are very open to a non-Austen writer imagining what happened next to them all, plus enjoy what is basically a cozy murder mystery. (It’s me, I am that reader.) If you haven’t read all of Austen’s works you will still enjoy this book, but knowing the full and detailed history of all the main characters certainly takes it to another level.

I loved evening about this book. Not only did the author, in my opinion, stay true to Austen canon, she developed everyone in ways that felt very true and fitting to who they were originally written to be. Adding to that, the author has managed quite successfully to introduce topics that Austen herself could not have, but in a way that the responses from the characters felt very authentic to who Austen wrote them to be.

Example- we can tell from the way Jonathan Darcy’s character is written that he is neuro-diverse, and while Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy could not have had the terminology or understanding of what we understand now as being on the spectrum, they approach their son exactly as we would expect them to- with love and support and encouragement in helping him navigate social etiquette and propriety where we know that would be extremely difficult for him.

Five stars to this book, I will absolutely read it again, and recommend it to all of the Austen fans in my life.


I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review.