ARC Review: Mr Darcy and Miss Tilney #3

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray

Publication Date: June 18, 20204

Summary from NetGalley:

The third book in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery series, which finds the amateur sleuths facing their most daunting challenge yet: preventing the murder of the imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Someone is trying to kill Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Esteemed aunt of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, generous patroness of Mr. William Collins, a woman of rank who rules over the estate of Rosings Park with an unimpeachable sense of propriety—who would dare? Lady Catherine summons her grand-nephew, Mr. Jonathan Darcy, and his investigative companion, Miss Juliet Tilney, to find out.

After a year apart, Jonathan and Juliet are thrilled to be reunited, even if the circumstances—finding whoever has thus far sabotaged Lady Catherine’s carriage, shot at her, and nearly pushed her down the stairs—are less than ideal. Also less than ideal: their respective fathers, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Henry Tilney, have accompanied the young detectives to Rosings, and the two men do not interact with the same felicity enjoyed by their children.

With attempts against Lady Catherine escalating, and no one among the list of prime suspects seemingly capable of committing all of the attacks, the pressure on Jonathan and Juliet mounts—even as more gentle feelings between the two of them begin to bloom. The race is now on to provoke two confessions: one from the attempted murderer before it is too late—and one, perhaps, of love.

ARC provided by Knopf/Vintage via NetGalley for an honest review.

This is the third book in the series, although it could be read out of order from the others if you so choose. I don’t recommend that, but if you do choose to read this before the others, you need to know that there are spoilers in this book for the second one. If you want to read my reviews of the first two books, please click on the titles below.

The Murder of Mr Wickham

The Late Mrs. Willoughby

Confession:

It was so much fun spending time in this world again. I just love the two main characters, Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney, the mysteries are always intriguing and I love visiting with the reimagined characters and world that Jane Austen originally created. This is a series that could be enjoyed by any Austen fan no matter their age.

We are back again with characters from the Pride and Prejudice world. Many of the characters that you loved and hated from the original make an appearance in this novel. I especially loved Anne and her growth in this novel. I remember her from the original source, and felt sorry for her, but here in this novel she is slowly reborn and I just loved it. I really enjoyed watching her develop a backbone and standing up to her mother, finally. I loved the relationship between her and her husband as well.

We also get to visit with the Collins, which was quite interesting. I still felt a bit sad for Charlotte, but she chose her lot in life and now must accept it. I loved her children though. Kate and Deb added a nice depth to the story and at times created doubt as to who the culprit might be. The Collins are keeping secrets, one of which was obvious (to me anyways), but the other was a nice twist to the story and an added layer to the machinations of Lady de Bourgh.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is just as you remember her from the original story, overbearing, opinionated and not afraid to tell people what she is thinking or how to run their lives. She is only a little troubled by all of these attempts on her life, until they start to feel real with one close call after another. I secretly wanted one of these attempts to succeed, but in the end I was glad they didn’t.

I also quite enjoyed watching Jonathan and Juliet stumble around each other and try to interpret each others actions and feelings. Is she/he interested in me or not? It was quite entertaining, but also a little frustrating that they just couldn’t say something to each other. Such is the restrictions of that society. I didn’t so much enjoy watching them fumble around trying to solve the mystery. I think because it was so obvious to me from pretty early on, that it was frustrating to see them look at all of the clues and not see it.

The pacing of this one was a little slow, there didn’t seem to be an urgency to solve the mystery even as the attempts started ramping up. That might just be because it was so hard to be interested in a mystery I had already solved. I am usually ok with my knowing way before the characters, especially when there are lots of red herrings to make me doubt my choice, but this was just to obvious. But I was so enjoying the characters and their stories, that it was still an enjoyable read.

If you like historical cozy mysteries, this is a series you should consider picking up. It is especially fun if you are a Jane Austen fan. I think Ms. Gray did a marvelous job of looking at the original characters and imagining what their lives might have looked like after their original stories ended. The mysteries are usually pretty good as well. I look forward to the next installment to this series, and to the possibility of Jonathan and Juliet getting their happily ever after.