Ummmm, I didn't know it was possible to enjoy Sense and Second-Degree Murder more than Pride and Premeditation, but this was straight-up delightful. Marianne is so much more well developed to match the time period in this bold, vibrant, determined version of herself. This book is at once an homage to beloved characters and plotlines and also a refreshing and refreshed update with so much intrigue, mystery, and joy. Also loved the clever and creative nod to the first book.

When their father is found dead in his study, the sisters Dashwood are both devastated and financially ruined. Mr. Dashwood may have made some enemies as an investigator, so his enterprising daughters Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, are out to catch his killer.

This was a fun Regency mystery. It was well done, if a bit heavy-handed at times, and I enjoyed the characters.

I’ll definitely read sequels or other books by the author if there are any!

Thank you to NetGalley and the the publisher for this ARC ebook!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the book covers of Tirzah Price ! I mean the way the embroidery looks real and that you can feel the texture. It looks too happy to be about murder.
Sense and Second-Degree Murder did not disappoint. I’m ashamed to admit that I have not read Sense and Sensibility. Nor have I seen the film. So it was nice going in kinda blind (I mean I knew the synopsis of it at least).
It was fun figuring out who done it along with the girls and feeling that kind of wow moments along with them. I think if my sister and I were to form a detective agency we would be similar to the Dashwood sisters. Protective, a bit clumsy, definitely get into some fights (both verbal and physical), and always loving no matter what.

I was worried that because I had never read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility or the first book in the series I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much as someone who has. I can safely say that's not the case. This was such a fun whodunnit! I think since I didn't read the original inspiration the mystery was even better for me since I had no bias about whom I should trust or suspect. While I loved trying to solve the mystery alongside the characters my favorite part was the sisters and their bond. All of the Dashwood sisters were headstrong, clever, and lovable. I have two sisters so I loved seeing the complex dynamics between them. Thank you for the arc!

This was a fun read from start to finish. Elinor was my favorite of the Dashwood sisters with Margaret as a close second. I did like Marianne I also found her grating at times and maybe enjoyed her learning her lesson the hard more than I should have. But after she learned her lesson I appreciated that she didn't lash out at her sisters but rallied with them instead.
Tirzah Price has managed to capture the essence of Jane Austen while also putting her own spin on the stories that makes them more accessible to today's teens. I hope she has another retelling in the works.

The Dashwood sisters have a big problem. Elinor finds their father dead in his study, and the circumstances are suspicious. Everything goes to their greedy brother and his wife, who basically kick the girls and their laudanum addicted mother out, and leaves them near broke. They move to a tiny, shabby apartment and begin investigating their father’s death.

If you enjoyed Pride and Premeditation or just like Jane Austen retellings, this one is a lot of fun! The author keeps the personalities of the sisters in tact, and they use their individual strengths to work together and help solve the case. There is of course some romance, but I found the murder mystery element and the twists more exciting.

Tirzah Price does it again! I adored her first book, Pride and Premeditation, and her second book did not disappoint! (I've actually never read Sense and Sensibility but after reading Price's story, it's on my TBR to see how it all matches up!)

All 3 of the Dashwood sisters are head-strong and passionate. Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret all grow as individuals and as sisters as they face hardships and turmoil throughout the book. I enjoyed watching the sister develop and grow throughout the story and was also pleasantly surprised when their mother becomes a bigger character than expected!

There were a lot of twists and turns which made the story a bit confusing to follow. The beginning starts off slow and then you're hit with many different problems and surprises that the Dashwood sisters have to solve and overcome. The romance is a bit sudden but doesn't distract from the mystery and intrigue of the storyline which I appreciated. The epilogue was sweet and I was happy for Elinor and Marianne. Although, I do hope Tirzah Price releases an epilogue for Margaret because she's a firecracker and I'd love to know more about her journey as novelist! What a fun read!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. This was a fantastic second entry in Price's Jane Austen mysteries. There is a true blend of contemporary language mixed with that of Austen's era, and the book was as thrilling as it was romantic! A very worthy read after Pride and Premeditation.

If you like S&S, you’ll love this retelling with a murder mystery twist. This is the second book in the series of retellings and it is even better than the first. With plenty of twists and turns, this is a great page turned that has just enough original elements involved that’ll it’ll keep you on your toes.

I am obsessed with this series! I’m a huge Jane Austen fan so of course I was immediately drawn to a book with a similar title, and it was a mystery I couldn’t resist. Much like the first one this was a fun mystery with twists and turns I’m hoping Mansfield Park is next

I'm really sad this wasn't as fun and delightful as Pride and Premeditation :/ This one didn't feel as clever of a take on its source material and was honestly...kind of boring. 70% in and none of the pieces had started to connect together, it just felt like a random string of events. And then the villain was revealed super quickly and it didn't even fully make sense

Also, we didn't have any strong romance story, which was disappointing. Both Elinor/Mr. Farras and Marianne/Brandon were weak as romance plots, which was sad, because they were all compelling characters and I would have loved to see them interact more

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, just underwhelming. Especially after I adored Pride and Premeditation so much. The book had so much potential it just...fell flat top often for me

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC!*

If you know me, you know I love Jane Austen. The concept of this book was incredibly intriguing to me, and I’m happy to say that I feel it was done very well!

I really enjoyed that this was a retelling that was done during the same era as the original story. I feel like most Austen retellings I have read have been modernized, which I enjoy, but it was nice to see it done this way. I liked that the setting was changed slightly in that it was entirely set in London, rather than having the Dashwood ladies move off to the sea side, as was done in the original story. It made sense in the context of this story, so I was happy with the change.

I felt that Price did a great job keeping the spirit of the original characters intact. Elinor was still the sensible sister, and I felt that her working in the sciences made perfect sense for her as a character. I really enjoyed that Marianne was still the sister that made spur of the moment decisions and followed her feelings to a fault, while also trying to solve a murder mystery. Margaret was a wonderful, spunky little sister, just as she was in the original story. Making Brandon a surgeon and Edward a lawyer were also great choices based on their original characters.

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book. I will say, I figured out who did it fairly early on, but there were still some surprises along the way. I loved getting to see these characters that I love working in professions that were not typically held by females at the time. It was done so well, and made me smile to see the Dashwood sisters embracing ‘girl power’. 😉

I am now super pumped to read the other books in this series and see how Price does with retelling Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. I really enjoyed this book!

My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I gave Sense and Second-Degree Murder 4 Stars!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Tirzah Price for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this book was so heartfelt and perfect. I loved it.

The idea of two sisters working together was at first a bit meh for me as I generally don’t enjoy that kind of trope in a book. I don’t have a sister, so I just don’t generally connect with those kinds of stories. However, shame on me for forgetting Austen’s pure witticisms and character development and the fact that Tirzah Price captures them again so well.

One sister an investigator, one a scientist. It was the perfect duo and I loved how the story ended. I even really enjoyed Margaret’s role as a novelist and her exaggerated recounts of the story.

I am not as familiar with Sense and Sensibility, so I was genuinely not quite sure which way the story would go. In the end, I was very happy with it all. I love a good epilogue that gives everyone a HEA.

Rating: 4.5/5 Mysterious Substances in your tea

Format: e-book. I’d like to thank the author and TBRandBeyondTours for sending me a copy of this book to review!

To sum up:
This is the second book in a series of retellings of Jane Austen classics with a mystery/murder twist! This book focuses on the characters of Sense and Sensibility but makes a few notable changes to facilitate the reimagining. Elinor Dashwood is an aspiring scientist who finds her father dead in his study under mysterious circumstances. Elinor and her sister Marianne, who worked with their father in his private investigation firm, decide they will investigate his death to get to the truth. On their journey, they are faced with dashing men, dangerous opium dens, and lots of uncovered secrets!

*Top 5 Reasons to Read Sense and Second-Degree Murder*
(So it was difficult to only choose five reasons but these are my favorite!)
💕 A scientist Dashwood sister!
💕 A mystery-solving Dashwood sister!
💕 Breaking the law with sexy suspects!
💕 Opium den raids with an epic fight scene!
💕 Swoon-worthy romance with shy boys who care more than you'll ever know!

Review:
This book was so fun! I loved Price’s first novel, Pride and Premeditation, and this one was a wonderful follow-up! She blends action, romance, mystery and sass so well in these stories! I love also that she brings a little more independence to the women of Austen’s novels so that they have more agency in their story. In each book so far, it is the women that take charge of their destiny and usually save the day, and the men that do their best to help haha This book is just such a good time I highly recommend to fans of Jane Austen and murder mysteries!

Thank you, NetGalley, Tirzah Price and HarperTeen for the chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This novel continues the reimagining mystery series after Pride and Premeditation. It was a fun, cozy and charming whodunnit that captured the essence of the Dashwood sisters. In this YA story, the sisters must work together to investigate the death of their father, all while trying to adapt to a new life outside of high society. The author appropriately gives each of the sisters their own skillset based on the interests they had in the original book, but examines them in more of a progressive light. Each of their skills contributes to the case and the bonding that is intricate to their success. I would recommend this retelling to all that love mysteries, tales of sisterhood and Jane Austen.

Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price asks the question - what if Sense and Sensibility hinged on a murder? Set in the same time period and setting as the source material, the Dashwood sisters have a problem on their hands. While the untimely death of their father is personally devastating they also begin to suspect that not all was as it seemed the night of his passing. Using the skills of detective work and some help from new friends they look into it to find a world of drugs and seedy players more than they imagined. If you are looking for adaptions and new twists on old classics, this book is for you.

When eighteen-year-old Elinor Dashwood discovers her father’s body in his study, it’s only the beginning of their problems. Her father hadn’t updated his will since Elinor and her sisters were born, so everything he had was left to his son, John Dashwood, from his first marriage. John and his wife, Fanny, take their rightful inheritance and kick Elinor, Marianne, Margaret, and Mrs. Dashwood out of their house without their fortune. However, Elinor and Marianne aren’t comfortable with the way their father died. They search his study before they leave the house and discover evidence of murder. The sisters must investigate their father’s murder while also unravelling some other mysteries along the way.

I have read Sense and Sensibility a couple of times, but it isn’t one of my favourite books by Jane Austen. Despite that, I loved this adaptation. Mr. Dashwood had been a private investigator and his daughters took up that job once he was gone. This is completely different from Jane Austen’s story, yet this storyline fit into the plot of Sense and Sensibility perfectly. This book hit all the main plot points in a way that made sense to the original story.

I love adaptations of classics. I think they’re a great way to teach the younger generation about classical literature that can seem heavy at times. This book is the second in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series. It could be read as a stand-alone, but there were some fun mentions of the first book which readers of Pride and Premeditation will love. I hope more of Austen’s novels will be adapted in this way because I loved it!

Sense and Second-Degree Murder is a great adaptation of Sense and Sensibility!

Thank you HarperTeen and TBR and Beyond Tours for providing a copy of this book.

Cute and intriguing if a little dry and slow. I loved the Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes inspiration for the book and how well it emulated both texts. The mystery was well crafted and kept me hooked even when I felt like things were meandering a bit too much.

Not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the first book in this series but struggled to connect to the characters or the mystery in this one. Did not feel like a very true adaptation of Sense & Sensibility. I could find very few similarities.. For some reason the writing style didn’t work for me this time. Wanted to feel more about the sisters and their relationship. The mystery was not compelling enough to make me invested in the story. Many other readers enjoyed this,. I am clearly in the minority.

Readers who like Regency era books might enjoy this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and HaperCollins for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.
Super!

A great book and well written.