What an ingenious idea for a whodunit! Take most of the heroes and heroines from Jane Austen's books and force them together during a house party at Emma and Knightley's house. Next, add Wickham, make him as smarmy and slimy as ever, and have someone murder him. Add to this mystery, a romance plotline between next-gen Austen characters John Darcy and Juliet Tilney, and get ready for Austen fans to squee. I mean, any super-fan of Austen (like myself) should totally eat this up, right? I'm sad to say I didn't, and I'm still wondering why.

There are a ton of characters in this novel, and to see the "after" of the various Austen marriages is lovely, yet it's too overstuffed to truly make an impact. The plotting is a bit all over the place, too. Add to that the idea that any of my favorite characters would murder a person--even someone as odious as Wickham--and I didn't really want the mystery to be solved. I also think that with everyone together at once, the individual Austen characters and couples lost the charm they had in their own novels.

I will say, author Gray does a wonderful job getting their personalities in line with Austen's work. Yet, there are so many characters, each hero and heroine really doesn't get much time to shine. The resolution of the mystery was OK, yet I still expected more from this clever idea. I'm upset I didn't connect with the novel as much as I had hoped to.

A cozy mystery that definitely reminds me of Agatha Christie. A classic who done it set in the age of Jane Austen's novels with a twist of fate at the end.

I enjoyed the appearance of Jane Austen's characters, and the plot was exceptional. The author gives you just enough information to keep you guessing as you try to discover the identity of the killer.

The book did seem to drag some for me but overall, it was a great read.

I really enjoyed this book, although it made me realize I need to go back and re-read Austen's oeuvre...it's been so long since I read some of the books (especially _Mansfield Park_ and Northanger Abbey_) that I had a very hard time remembering which characters came from which book.

Gray very cleverly manages to put characters from across Austen's works together in a specific moment in time that actually fits the timeline of the original books--it's clear she's really thought about when and how all of them could meet up in the same place. However, if you're not familiar with the original books, you'll likely struggle to follow _The Murder of Mr. Wickham_. Not that it isn't enjoyable--it absolutely is--but much of the characterization and plot depends on the reader knowing the characters' backstories, as well as those of their partners and family members. If you're a Janeite, you won't have any trouble...though I'd guess that true Janeites are likely to be polarized by this novel, either loving or hating the way it brings the original characters together and sets them to play with each other. Still, who doesn't want to see Wickham get his just desserts?

There's also an interesting twist involving Lizzie and Darcy's eldest son, who becomes the primary detective figure in the novel. I won't say more so as not to spoil it, but suffice to say that his character might suggest an interesting and wholly anachronistic explanation for Darcy's emotional detachment.

while the premise was great, the book was only good.. It was well written and moved the characters of Austen in and out of the plot well. But Wickam was too...much. Austen's subtlety with his character was amazing and no one can duplicate that. But he was simply too malevolent for me.

I was doubtful of bringing together all of Jane Austen's characters into the same novel, but mad respect for Gray for how well she wove all their stories together in a way that it made perfect sense to see them all at the same house party. It is a bit of a cheat because the reader is already coming in with strong feelings for every character, but the fact that the plot is so well-paced and executed and viewed through the lens of new characters makes it a wholly original story that instantly pulls you in.
My favorite part was seeing all the old favorites dealing with more modern issues in the sensibilities of the era. It's an element that updates the classics for modern readers that's not necessary but appreciated.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Vintage for the very interesting read!

The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another murder mystery, but filled with all your favorite Jane Austen characters.

This one was enjoyable enough, but it wasn't as gripping as I was hoping. It just kind of plotted along without any real tension. Even though I've seen all the Austen movies, it was a hard time trying to figure out who was from what book and their connection to each other. I'm not sure if knowing all that would make the book better or if it would be best to not know any of the characters previously. What I did enjoy though, was seeing all these favorite characters many years after their marriages and one authors "what if".

Emma and George Knightly are hosting a house party. Some of the invitees are Elizabeth and Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) , Marianne and Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility), and Fanny and Edmund (Persuasion), just to name a few. When the villain, Mr. Wickham (Pride and Prejudice) shows up, the reader discovers that he holds the secrets of many of the guests and is willing to keep them for a price. It's no surprise that soon after arriving he is discovered murdered. But who did it?



Thank you to netgalley and penguinrandomhouse for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of "The Murder of Mr. Wickham" by Claudia Gray.

It sounds like something I'd love - all Jane Austen's characters at a house party, solving a murder mystery. However, there's no "voice" to this story - it changes viewpoint to each character in turn, but they all sound remarkably similar. Even Jonathan, the son of Darcy and Lizzie, who should be a really good point-of-view, comes across as flat and boring. I could NOT remember, four chapters in, who everyone was and why they were present, and who hated or liked who, nor did I really care. So I flipped to the end and read the final three chapters. The resolution was just about what I suspected, but I didn't believe it! Anyway, if you just crave a mystery, go for it, but don't expect any Austenish wit and flavor, because it sadly isn't there. A competent but uninspiring rendition.

I did enjoy this mystery and Jane Austen retelling. I say Jane Austen retelling and not retelling of insert Jane Austen because characters from all of her books make an appearance. And it's the next generation who is tasked with solving the mystery. And you can tell based on the title is that it is one of the characters Jane Austen readers love to hate is the one who meets an untimely demise.

While I enjoyed the mystery aspect and seeing Mr. Knightly and Emma sort of get a retelling I did have some issues with a ethnic slur that is used in the book. There's author's note explaining why she used it. Because she included characters of that ethnic group in the story and that was the term used then, myself as a reader found that since they weren't really part of the mystery shouldn't have been added just to be a scapt goat. And just because the term was used in the 1800s didn't mean the author had to use in her writing nor did she have to spell the word completely out. The author's note at least adds context and allows readers to make the decsion for themselves. And hopefully in the finished copy it will be near the front. I don't know if it's how my e arc downloaded but I didn't see the author's note till I finished it. As I find that offensive and I don't use it haven't since I was 9 and was told the meaning behind it.

I tried so hard to like this. I've used up almost all of the days NetGalley so generously gives to read a book just trying to force myself to enjoy this. I even started reading it aloud to myself, accents and all, just in attempt tp keep myself entertained. But this story was not for me, and I did eventually DNF it midway and skip to the ending.


<b><u>CONS</u></b>
• Lack of a unique voice. This work felt very deriviative of Agatha Christie.
• Too many POVs. I think this ties into the author's influence, but the amount of POVs was too ambitious here. It was jarring and often boring to switch POVs every few paragraphs.
• Austen's characters fell extremely flat. I do not think they were done any great justice here. Wickham especially felt like a caricature, like his every waking breath was had only to scheme and be evil. It was over the top.
• It took slightly over a quarter of the novel for Wickham to even die. As the audience knows he will die just from the title of the book, it truly became a slog just to get to it. I was having a fine time for the first 15 percent but after that I was just begging for someone to kill the man and start the mystery already.

<b><u>PROS...?</u></b>
• The original characters were enjoyable. I liked their POVs far more than the other characters and think the story would have benefitted if told only from their POV (perhaps with the rare other character interspersed).
• The author did her best to create realistic depictions of things that could be troubling the Austen characters. Unfortunately for me, I don't care to have the HEA given to me in Austen's books taken away and replaced by rocky marriages, but I can respect the hustle.
• The writing is well done. Sometimes, stories set in other time periods can feel off or as if the author has not done any research.
• My initial theory for what happened to Wickham was wrong, and I usually dislike mysteries for figuring things out too quickly. Props.
• I don't think the book is terrible, but rather not for me. I am admittedly very picky, but I can see why people could enjoy this more than myself.


Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC. Wish I'd liked it more.

For Jane Austen fans, The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray is a must read. Not only because one of the most odious of all literary characters meets his end, but because Gray gives the reader a credible look at what might have happened to Austen’s main characters after the curtain is drawn on their stories. Gray explores the what-ifs of Darcy and Elizabeth, Fanny and Edmund, Emma and Knightley, Marianne and Colonel Brandon, Anne and Captain Wentworth, as well as two original characters in Juliet Tilney and Jonathan Darcy. While the murder mystery is interesting with sufficient twists, turns, and surprises, the beyond-the-wedding stuff is great. However, the most interesting character of all is Jonathan Darcy, eldest son of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. I won’t disclose too much, but he decidedly does not fit into the standards of Regency England. His characterization is fascinating, especially through a Regency lens. Gray keeps her writing style true to Austen’s too. You will feel you are right back in Highbury with all your favorites.

Clever imagining of the later lives of the Austen characters all with Mr. Wickham’s murder — what more could a Janeite want? 😉 The Murder of Mr. Wickham is a recommended read.

Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

The book and the writing were both enjoyable. There were so many characters, however, that it was difficult to keep everyone straight. I think if I had read all of Austen's books prior to reading this one it might have been easier, but that was not an option. I recommend for real Austen fans - casual admirers won't get all of the nuances. Having said all that, I think the writer should make a sequel with Jonathan and Juliet coming together to solve another murder. :)

No, the title is not a tease - this really is a story about Mr. Wickham’s murder, which should be reason alone for any Austen fan to pick it up. If you aren’t thrilled at the idea of the original Regency romance scoundrel being thrown from a tall building (not a spoiler), then we may have too many differences to continue this relationship.

Set around a house party hosted by Emma and Mr. Knightly, The Murder of Mr. Wickham takes a trip down memory lane by creating essentially an Austen multi-verse. With many of the major characters from Austen’s other books filling out the guest list, Claudia Gray has done a wonderful job connecting so many varied stories as well as giving almost all of them a very solid reason to throttle dear Wickham.

When said scoundrel shows up unannounced to the house party, with a doozy of a rainstorm hot on his heels and forcing him to stay, no one is particularly surprised when he turns up dead. Well, they are outwardly surprised because this is the land of manners, but you know every one of them was thinking “about damn time..”. Because almost everyone has been given a motive, the only two with legitimate alibis are the youngsters - the Darcy’s eldest son Jonathan and Juliet Tilney, daughter of Catherine and Henry visiting from Northanger Abbey. As an additional twist on the mystery, we also get the coming-of-age bit where Juliet gets to tackle drawing the epically rigid and awkward Jonathan further out into the real world.

The creativity that went into this novel is fantastic, and Gray does a good job with the characterization and language. Especially impressive is conveying the rift between the Darcy’s, that showed them as real people who have challenges but without sacrificing Elizabeth’s wit and Darcy’s super-secret emotions. Managing to weave Wickham into the lives of characters he had zero reason to be connected to in the canon was also done well, though some are a little threadbare - Fanny’s motive specifically is one of the characterization misses, as it is so unlikely for the time period that it can be tough to take seriously.

In addition to the handful of small details that are less believable, the overall plot structure also seems to suffer from the effort put into other areas. The plot is a bit slow in the middle, and the mystery doesn’t create much feeling of actual “whodunit”. There are some great clues thrown in, but too many red herrings, too few real clues that move anything forward, and too many suspects that never seem to get whittled down end up muddying the waters. You never get that “oh, maybe!” moment that you grasp for in a good mystery that keeps you both wondering and guessing. This one kept me wondering, but kind of knocked down the fun scale by never giving me enough to guess.

Ultimately, a great cozy read that Austen fans will appreciate, though the plot weakness may make it less appealing to others who aren’t anchored in by the character connection.

Now THIS is a multiverse I can get into! All of our favorite Jane Austen characters from her most famous novels gather for a weekend filled with mystery, murder and lots and lots of rain. I am a huge fan of crossovers in television and movies, and this was so satisfying for me as a Jane Austen lover. Even if you don't know all of the characters or haven't read all of the original novels they appear in, it's still a fun, Clue-like romp that is the perfect thing to read on a rainy summer day.

'The Murder of Mr. Wickham' is a delightful who-dun-it following Jane Austen's main characters. When a dinner party goes wrong, and an unwelcome guest ends up dead, which of our beloved characters is to blame? Can anyone be trusted?
We follow strongly with Juliet Tilney, the daughter of Catherine and Henry. and Jonathan Darcy, eldest son of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
I enjoyed the layers of this story but perhaps would've been aided by a refresh of Jane Austen's novels beforehand. I am deeply familiar with Pride and Prejudice, and relatively so with Emma but beyond that I don't have characters and plots of her stories memorized in a way that might have been helpful. Even without that I thought this was a very exciting story.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I think will satisfy fans of Jane Austen and/or murder mysteries. The way that the author weaved together all the characters from Austen’s six novels was really clever, and I loved watching these characters interact. I also think the author did an admirable job of portraying the language of the time, not an easy task to accomplish.

I found the mystery aspect of the story to be kind of boring, as it seemed as if the same two or three pieces of evidence were just theorized about over and over and over again. The ending was also a bit too “tied in a bow” perfect for me, but I can see how it would appease Austen fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Books for the advanced copy.

The Murder of Mr Wickham is a fun, intelligent, historically detailed novel that reunites us with all our Austin favorite characters. Murder, romance, intrigue and snappy dialogue entertain in this cozy locked room/house mystery.

**I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

A cozy murder mystery! I did feel that some of it drug on. The characters and the setting were good.

This book takes characters you know from many Jane Austen book, and centers them around a house party at the Knightley's home. When a certain Mr. Wickham shows up to wteak havock he is dispatched and the party must discover whodunnit and why! I couldn't put this one down, it was a treat to read, and I hope there are more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Books for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “The Murder of Mr. Wickham.” All opinions and comments are my own.

A Publisher’s and an Author’s Note sets the stage for us in this unusual history mystery by Claudia Gray, set in 1820 and featuring characters from the novels of Jane Austen. You’ll probably figure something like that is coming from the title, so if you haven’t boned up on all the Austen novels, get out your Cliff Notes, and do a bit of homework. It’ll probably come in handy as a key to all of these folks. And there are a bunch of ‘em, believe me.

Then again, perhaps all you need to know is that the amateur detectives (the local police are as usual, no help at all), the ones that are really going to give us the how and the why of the demise of our not so dearly departed, are not in the Austen books at all. Readers are going to meet two entirely new characters, curious and intelligent Juliet Tilney and very reserved and introspective Jonathan Darcy. These two young people are going to, by hook or by crook, find the person who conked the appalling Mr. Wickham over the head. Because although everyone at the House Party at Donwell Abbey wishes him dead, it’s sure that someone actually did the deed. And that someone needs to be brought to justice. Unfortunately.

As the book progresses the couples in our tale -- the Darcys, the Knightleys, the Bertrams, the Brandons, the Wentworths -- explain their part in the story, how the evil Mr. Wickham is oh so much a part of their lives. There are unhappy people here, unhappy even before Mr. W. gallops up the driveway of the Abbey and basically forces his way in.

Mr. Wickham wastes no time endearing himself to all and sundry (not). The bounder’s a cad; heavens, we’re even “shown” the armory! It won’t be long now. And soon, during a dark and stormy night, when everybody, it seems, is wandering the halls of Donwell Abbey, Mr. Wickham gets what’s coming to him. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I would have been fine with the words “The End” right then and there, but no, no, can’t have that. Justice demands, blah blah blah. Frank Churchill the magistrate (yes, “that” Frank Churchill) needs to find a culprit. Fine. Juliet and Jonathan set to work, making sure that they keep their involvement secret from all of the adults. There’s eventually a hiccup; this is Jane Austen’s time period after all, when such activity didn’t happen in polite society, but that doesn’t stop our intrepid two young people from continuing.

Readers discover the troubles, and unhappiness for so many, and secrets long hidden. Boy, that Mr. Wickham needed killin’. So, on and on we go, and the house party continues. We learn so much about everybody. One may find that enlightening. Or not. It does take a while.

We have our big finish, with everyone in attendance. Jonathan and Juliet present their evidence to Mr. Churchill. Someone confesses -- for love. Lots of healing takes place. The couples see each other in a new light.

And that confession? Jonathan doesn’t believe it for a minute. So, this being Jane Austen – sort of – there is “joy to be found in going forward.” Justice is served, in what we modern readers would consider a very modern fashion.

The house party is finally over. Jonathan and Juliet hope to meet again.

“The Murder of Mr. Wickham” presents excellent characterization as a homage to their original creator. And then there’s the central point of the plot; the mystery, truth be told, is giving what readers may have always wanted; an end to “that” character in keeping with his personality. Well, perhaps murder is a little too final, but hey! Who’s counting!

We do get two “detectives,” Juliet and Jonathan, who solve the case well within the confines of society of the time, and do it in excellent fashion. Claudia Gray has presented us an entertaining, delightful book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I didn't always enjoy Gray's characterization of some of the couples in the middle of the mystery, but I think the resolution helped bring the characters into better harmony with my understanding of them. My only other complaint would be that by bringing all of the principal characters together from all six novels, it felt very busy and difficult to keep up with all the characters at once. I did love the brief cameos from other characters in Highbury, such as the Churchills and the Eltons. I would also like to read it again with a better understanding of the timeline Gray used as to how long all of the characters had been married (it does not follow the novels' publication years). Ultimately, I would recommend this novel as a fun escape back into Austen's universe.