The Written Word

My First Book Review

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

I have recently finished reading the book above, a murder mystery by P.D. James that begins where Jane Austen's famous 'Pride and Prejudice' novel finished. I have taken a liking, recently, to Agatha Christie type murder mysteries and this book was recommended to me by my mother; who couldn't put the book down. Without giving too much away, the story tells the tale of Mr and Mrs Darcy as they become involved in the solving of a murder that takes place on the Pemberly estate. The mystery is woven all over the place, keeping the reader guessing until the very end. P.D. James does well to interweave all our favourite (and not so favourite) characters from P&P into this mystery with some interesting stories and insights into their lives and characteristics. I myself struggled to put the book down and continued guessing along the way with the many clues strewn along throughout the plot. There are nods throughout to many other works by Austen and whilst reading I often thought that I was reading another book by the classic author. There are some interesting sub-plots both related and unrelated to the original P&P characters and plot that added to the interest and enjoyment of the book.

The Bennett sisters as portrayed in the 1995 mini TV series.

I found the story to be an enjoyable read; however, I felt the ending to be a little rushed and dissatisfying. Perhaps this was due to my expectations of a Poirot-like gathering all the suspects.

I would recommend this story to anyone particularly interested in Pride and Prejudice, as mentioned before, the P&P characters are woven effectively into a suspense filled murder mystery. If you have not read P&P (or at least seen an adaptation) you will need to before reading this highly enjoyable, tense book.