Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price is an awesome historical fiction murder/mystery that takes my beloved Sense & Sensibility and gives it a new spin. It is the second book in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series.

I just adore this series! I truly loved Pride and Premeditation, so I was super excited to read this as well.

Ms. Price truly gives respect and justice to Jane Austen and all of her beloved characters in both of these books. All the traditional characters are here, their personalities, actions, and relationships are true to form and are appropriately used. Here we see sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in alternating points of view solve a complex-multi faceted murder/mystery plot involving their father’s suspicious death, several unsolved cases, and ensnaring the rest of the character cast.

It is entertaining, witty, fun, suspenseful, and yet has the traditional components still present. It kept me on edge from beginning to end and I cannot wait to read Manslaughter Park.

5/5 stars

This review includes the unfinished audiobook version that only had the synthetic voice. I cannot fully rate that aspect as it is not a finished product.

Thank you NG and Harper Audio for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 4/5/22.

Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie? Yes, please! I loved the authors "whodunit" take on Jane Austen's classic novel Sense and Sensibility. I liked how she added the mystery, while keeping the classic Jane Austen feel. The story kept me intrigued and guessing, which, I think, is the most important aspect of a good mystery.

This is not the audiobook narration, it's a synthesized voice-over. But, the content of the book is great and I look forward to listening to the actual audiobook when it is released.

If you are expecting Sense and Second-Degree Murder to be an extension of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, you will be disappointed. However, if you’re in the mood for a fun murder mystery set in the Regency era with forward thinking female characters who have the same names as the characters from Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, be prepared to be entertained.

Sense and Second-Degree Murder is a delightful mystery that gives small nods to Jane Austen’s original work. However, it mostly just follows its own agenda and thumbs it’s nose at historical accuracy. Entertaining the reader seems to be its main purpose….and it succeeds. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending it to readers who are fans of the Lady Jane series.

Thank you NetGalley for a digital voice galley version of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#SenseandSecondDegreeMurder #NetGalley

I enjoyed this book even more than Pride and Premeditation. It was a great adventure with engagibg characters and fun intertextual connections. I'd recommend this book to any fan of mystery novels or classics.

This was a fantastic mystery book that connected in real world issues. It told the story of sisters who were investigating their father's unexpected death. There father had been a private detective before he died. The story showed how girls were able to do things that were not expected of them at the time including science and being a detective. It also brought to light issue with opium and drug abuse. It was engaging and fun to read.

I can never say no to a retelling of Jane Austen. Some are more successful for me that others, but this one adds a bit of murder and a good mystery with little twists on the basics of the story that I believe were successful. Elinor, Marianne and Margaret work to solve their father’s murder, while trying to make their way in society without the money and influence that they previously enjoyed. Elinor desires to be a scientist, Marianne a detective and Margaret a novelist, and all their natural inclinations help solve the mystery in a lovely way that is very satisfying. I would definitely recommend Sense and Second –Degree Murder for lovers of cozy mysteries.

Caveat: I’m a major Jane Austen fan and will sample any books or video productions that use her books as a jumping off point in terms of reworkings, etc. However, I will not continue with such items unless they really have the feel of her writing or her characters. I also am a huge cozy mystery fan. I had not caught the first in this series by Tirzah Price, Pride and Premeditation, until after listening to this NetGalley audiobook version of Sense and Second-Degree Murder, but I did rush out to listen to the audiobook version of the previous book once I listened to Sense. As you can guess, I loved this book. And that was even with listening to the galley version of the audiobook, meaning it employed a computer-generated voice to read the book versus a proper voice actor/narrator. The idea was to get the audiobook out earlier to reviewers before the proper recording was done. The technology used was actually not bad and didn’t hinder me much from appreciating the book. And I did love the book. As noted, I’m picky about my Jane Austen remakes, remodels, and so on. This mystery was quite good as a cozy mystery and in the historical setting, even if you had no clue about the connection to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and its characters. It was fun to see how Price would incorporate the characters, with her own twists, and the storyline did not completely mirror the original storyline, but kept more or less to the feel or, dare I say, sensibility of the characters? This book is a standalone, just like Austen’s books are. That is, Sense and Second-Degree Murder’s character names match those of S&S by Austen. And the story line is complete in itself. Pride and Premeditation’s characters likewise match those in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but do not make an appearance in Price’s Sense. I didn’t mind this, actually. I’m looking forward to cozy mystery takes on other Austen novels, presuming that’s what Price will continue to do with this series. And I can’t wait to recommend these books, print or audio, to my high school library patrons and any like-minded Jane Austen/cozy mystery fans. If you’re a fan of either, you will eat these audiobook mysteries up.

I almost (and I did add the almost) love Jane Austen's novels a little bit more when they are infused with murder and mystery. I can't help it. Her novels lend themselves to having an element of mayhem to them and a bit of a twist. In this one, the Dashwoods find themselves in much the same social standings and situations of the original; however, their father's death was anything but normal and peaceful. Mr. Dashwood was murdered! The three Dashwood sisters (and at times even their bereaved mother) are on the case. They want to know what happened to Mr. Dashwood no matter the scandal and hit their reputations may take because of their investigations. Elinor is transformed into a budding chemist/alchemist with a desire to study science, Marianne wants to take up the family mantle and become a detective like their departed father, Marguerite is quite the spy mistress, but it's all in the name of research for her novels, she's an aspiring writer. Fanny is still pretty much the same stuck up sister-in-law and John is still pretty spineless. All the other key players are in town too, of course.

While I will admit that some of the scathing social commentary found in the original Sense and Sensibility is missing in this retelling, the twisted investigation into the illicit and bawdy word of opium more than makes up for it. I loved that Tirzah Price leaves us a footnote at the end of the novel with the historical accurateness portrayed in the novel and influence it played on her work. And for those who love Austen for the romance... you won't be disappointed. Love is in the air... as well as smoke bombs and bad perfume.