The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray- Blog tour/book review

I’m pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray- a murder mystery featuring your favourite Austen characters.

Genre : Historical Crime Fiction

Source : Austen Prose PR and Vintage Anchor

The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a party at their country estate, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances—characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broader array of enemies. As tempers flare and secrets are revealed, it’s clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet they’re all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered—except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst.
Nearly everyone at the house party is a suspect, so it falls to the party’s two youngest guests to solve the mystery: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry, eager for adventure beyond Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, the Darcys’ eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem almost relaxed.

Review

If you have ever wondered what an Agatha Christie mystery in the Regency period would look like then this is the book for you. 

I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased review.

Emma and Mr Knightley have also been happily married for years and decide to hold a house party for a range of Jane Austen characters. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy have been married for years but dealing with the loss of a loved one, Marriane and Colonel Brandon have been married a few months, but there is a distance between them. The Wentworths are dealing near financial ruin. Fanny Bertram is hiding a secret from her beloved Edmund and in the midst of all this regency angst, George Wickham turns up announced. Wickham has developed into a despicable man responsible for the financial and emotional ruin of many people at this house party, so it’s no surprise when he turns up murdered.

I loved the characters and the author has stayed true to the authors. The pace is slow to start with but I like this as it gave me enough time to get used to the characters’ lives and their complicated relationships with Wickham. 

The two amateur detectives are Miss Tilney (the daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney) and Jonathan Darcy (the son of Darcy and Elizabeth), two young people constrained by the strict social conventions of the time but who wouldn’t be too out of place in the 21 century. There were plenty of suspects and motives – I didn’t guess who the murderer was till just before the end. 

Content warning

References to death of a child and sexual harassment.

Perfect for Fans of

Jane Austen, cosy crime featuring literary characters or anyone who enjoys cosy crime.

ABOUT CLAUDIA GRAY

CLAUDIA GRAY is the pseudonym of Amy Vincent. She is the writer of multiple young adult novels, including the Evernight series, the Firebird trilogy, and the Constellation trilogy. In addition, she’s written several Star Wars novels, such as Lost Stars