Claudia Gray was already a favorite of mine, having written kick-ass Star Wars novels. Finding her a fellow Austen fan as well delighted me immensely. That delight has been compounded with interest after reading this pageturner of a murder mystery that doesn't shy away from the conventions of Austen's work and time period yet still manages to incorporate modern sensitivity. Specifically, the multiple heroines of Austen's novels being cooped up in one house while the wretched Wickham is justly murdered is great fun and I fully plan to buy this novel upon its release. Everybody else should too.

This was such a fun cozy historical whodunit in the style of Clue featuring literary characters from Jane Austen's works. I enjoyed every minute of this book and loved how original it was. Pure fun and highly recommended especially for Austen fans! I'm excited to read more by this new to me author. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!!

An Austen fan’s dream tbh

Such a good concept with interesting personal touches including our favorite characters’ offspring!! Johnathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney were the highlight of this lengthy murder mystery. I was totally along for the ride, dying to know whodunnit. The reveal was slightly underwhelming (but not predictable) and the novel was a bit long for me.

"A summer house party turns into a thrilling whodunit when Jane Austen's Mr. Wickham - one of literature’s most notorious villains - meets a sudden and suspicious end in this brilliantly imagined mystery featuring Austen’s leading literary characters.

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. In this tantalizing fusion of Austen and Christie, from New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray, the unlikely pair must put aside their own poor first impressions and uncover the guilty party - before an innocent person is sentenced to hang."

I'm here for any story the bumps off Mr. Wickham!

This reads like extremely accomplished fan fiction and is exactly what it says on the tin: Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie. I'm not the biggest fan of cozy mysteries in general, but this one was really fun and the original characters are great--I think a lot of readers will love it and I'd recommend as a good selection for extra credit book reports, book clubs, etc.

A house party. A Murder. A study in character development that does justice to both Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, but for the modern reader. Imagine that the couples from Jane Austen's novels were all connected, and all gathered at Emma and Mr. Knightly's house for a month-long party. Now imagine that the odious Mr. Wickham showed up...and turns out to have wronged almost everyone present! Now imagine that he turns up dead and it's up to the new generation to find the murderer and save the rest from suspicion. If that sounds delightful, then this is the book for you!

This book starts with the characters created by Austen, and supposes what happens to each couple after their happily-ever-after story ending, then brings them together to interact. The result is magical entertainment. I was drawn to it immediately, with so many observations about the characters paralleling my own (for example: was Fanny Price really happy with the tepid love as her husband's second choice?) And it provided answers to intriguing questions I never thought to ask (What would Elizabeth and Darcy's children be like?). In reading Austen's books, we could all see that the protagonists had plenty of flaws, and this explores what they *could* have evolved into over time.

I especially like how Gray deftly connects them all to Mr. Wickham--the man we all love to hate--and gives them all a motive to have murdered him. I was intrigued by the two young people who take it upon themselves to be sleuths, and who have very modern ideas and provide a lens for us as modern readers. One point of warning--for those who are not familiar with Austen's protagonists it will be easy to get lost and not understand all the references. Also, I had to note down all the women's married names so I wouldn't forget who the women were when referred to by Mrs. [insert married name here]. As a fan of both Austen and Christie, I was hooked--and it did not disappoint, even going so far as to provide Austen-like quips and observations about the human condition. It is a book that I will absolutely recommend to other fans.

Are you a fan of Jane Austen? Read on, my friend.

Don't like Jane Austen but love a good mystery? Read on, my friend!

It's definitely not a quick read, but it is a good one. In The Murder of Mr. Wickham, author Claudia Gray (Amy Vincent) tells a fantastic whodunit story of a murder that includes several of Austen's classically popular characters, and I absolutely adore it. It's hard to delve too much into some the details that I loved to avoid spoilers, but I will say that I enjoyed the way that Gray presents the characters and the mystery aspects of the book.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review!

The Murder of Mr Wickham is an excellent sequel of sorts to all your Jane Austen favorites - we revisit the lives of beloved couples from Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Mansfield Park, and more. Honestly the breadth of the cast blew me away and I felt a bit in the weeds instantly. The writing is excellent and it keeps the tone of both a good Austen homage as well as a cozy house party mystery. I’ve loved and hated (!) books by Claudia Gray in the past, and she’s really great at making a setting come alive and feel so real that you feel involved in the story as you read.
Overall, I think going into this story I thought I was more of an Austen fan than I was, because at times I felt a bit lost with the large cast of characters. It probably seems silly to more of an Austen connoisseur, but I would have actually appreciated a character list at the front to keep everyone straight, which always worked well with Agatha Christie’s large cast mysteries.

I would recommend this for:
Jane Austen addicts
Fans of Agatha Christie
Cozy mystery buffs
Historical fiction fans
People who own all the BBC miniseries
Anyone who wants to see Wickham dead

This is a mashup of several of the Jane Austen books. The Knightleys host a house party at their home, Donwell Abbey, and have many activities planned, but it rains and rains and rains. The despicable Mr. Wickham crashes the party, forcing everyone to confront their disliks of Wickham. It also forces the hostess to re-arrange the seating at meals as well as the overnight accommodations. He dies in the night, and everyone has an alibi. Jonathan and Fanny, the young man and woman who are being "forced" together to start courting - after all, they are such a likely couple, resolve to work together to solve the crime. As the detective and his team work through the clues, so, too, do all the house guests.

There were a lot of characters to keep straight and it might have helped if there had been a list of characters in the book, to refer back to while reading.

The Knightleys (Emma) are hosting a house party and have invited all of Jane Austen's favorite couples: the Brandons (Sense and Sensibility), the Wentworths (Persuasion), the Bertrams (Mansfield Park), and of course the Darcys (Pride and Prejudice) who have brought skinny their 19 year old son Jonathan. Catherine Tilney's (Northanger Abbey) daughter Juliet had also been invited to provide company for Jonathan, and George Wickham, surely the most despised villain of all Jane Austen's characters, arrives unexpectedly. He has swindled the Wentworths and the Knightleys, seduced and ruined Colonel Brandon's first love, injured the Darcy family in many ways, and attempts to blackmail Fanny Bertram, so there is no shortage of motives when his body is found in the gallery on a dark and stormy night.

Frank Churchill is the local magistrate and an inept investigator who wants to blame the servants or local gypsies, so Jonathan and Juliet who are both above suspicion decide to investigate to prevent an innocent person from going to the gallows.

This is a delightful imagining of Jane Austen's favorite characters years later combined with an Agatha Christie plot and two new and unusual characters added to the mix. Jane Austen fans will enjoy seeing their favorite characters again and the threads of the mystery twine together in a satisfying ending.

I am the worst at mysteries. Every red herring I will fall for every time. When Mr. Wickham is murdered everyone has a motive and everyone is a suspect. When characters from previous Austen novels get together for a house party that gets crashed by Mr. Wickham then he's murdered everyone has a motive. I enjoyed seeing the characters later in their lives and marriages and while "happily ever after" gets complicated by life and a murder it was a pleasure seeing everyone again.

This book was so much fun. Highly recommended for Jane Austenites. A clever plot to include all of Austen's most beloved characters in one murder mystery. Jonathan Darcy as the sleuth was a great add. Hope this author writes a sequel!

Thanks to Netgalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing House and the author for an ARC of this book. I have not been compensated for this review and am leaving it voluntarily.

Reading the first few pages of this book was like meeting old friends again. Being an Austen fan and having read almost all her books, seen nearly all the movies and television series and absorbed a good number of 'spin-offs', the idea of these well-loved characters descending on the Knightley's home for a house party filled me with delight.

Each couple are at varying stages of their relationships, and facing their own domestic challenges when they converge on the Abbey, all set for a month of relaxation and entertainment.

Chapter One concludes with the arrival of an uninvited guest, Mr Wickham, who seems to have ties to nearly everyone present, and characteristically immediately begins to sew discord. Given the title of this book, I think it's safe to say that things end badly for Wickham and it's up to the socially awkward Jonathan Darcy and the unconventional Juliet Tilney to discover what happened.

As awful as it is to contemplate which one of my favourite literary characters might be responsible for Wickham's demise, it was devlishly good fun speculating along with Miss Tilney and Mr Darcy, especially as their investigation brings them closer together. I wanted to rush to the end but then I would miss all the fun in between. This is such a well crafted story, with twists and turns and red herrings as well as deeply emotional moments.

All I can say is that I am glad there will be more to come - I eagerly await the next adventure.

So many characters were introduced in the first 20 pages that I couldn’t keep travk of any of them. That combined with the faux Jane Austen writing style made this more of a slog than what I wanted to finish

A delightful read for all fans of cozy mysteries, but especially Austen fans. It was especially fun to see what happens to our Austen couples after "happily ever after."

This book was such fun! Sure to appeal to any Jane Austen fan. Gray does an excellent job with well-known characters and the entire book rang true. This was so clever with a satisfying whodunit and ending. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

3 1/2 stars

It's been a long time since I read any Jane Austen besides Pride and Prejudice, so the nuances of the six-way crossover are probably lost on me, but I enjoyed this. The adolescent protagonists Juliet and Jonathan were compelling enough to hold my investment even when Emma was being extremely Emma and the pace of mystery stumbled.

I appreciated that Jonathan is written with what would now be called an autism spectrum diagnosis, and his POV both normalizes the way his brain works and demonstrates how he's entirely capable of managing his own needs. A++ depiction of a neurodivergent human!

I also liked that Juliet grows so much as a character. Her missteps are appropriate for her age and situation, and I really want to read more about her life to come. Plucky but not annoying, clever but not infallible, interesting but not a tragic space princess.

There are issues with pacing, as I said, as well as depth of story and a red herring so obvious that it all but screams THIS CHARACTER DID NOT DO IT! However, the mystery reveal is very well done. All in all a fairly satisfying read. And as the editor says in the preface, it is nice to see Wickham get what he deserves.


ARC

This is likely closer to 3.5 stars, because I did truly enjoy many aspects of The Murder of Mr. Wickham. These are all characters that I already love, save for Fanny and Bertram, of whom I’m ambiguous about. That means that I was already set up for success, and while I didn’t always agree with the choices being made regarding them, there’s still a comfort in reading about them all again.

While this isn’t a book that I believed I would necessarily revisit, it was fun while it lasted, and Jonathan and Juliet proved to be a great next generation.

All criticisms aside, The Murder of Mr. Wickham, at the very least, killed a man who we have all wished dead. And for that, I am more than thankful.

3.5 stars rounded up.

You do not need to know all of Austen's characters (I'd actually venture to say that you may enjoy this more if you only know them in passing) to enjoy this Clue-remake in Donwell Abbey. The cast of characters is broad but I liked how it settled in on Juliet and Jonathan, and mostly told through their interactions. Pure Janeites I can see having issues with certain plots, but as someone who takes any and all adaptations to read AND who has loves all things Sherlockian, I fully enjoyed this.

What literary villain would you like to be the victim in a murder mystery?

The Murder of Mr. Wickham is a creative cozy murder mystery that selects one of my favorite villains, Mr. Wickham, from Pride and Prejudice and makes him the victim of a murder at a regency country house party at the Knightley estate of Donwell Abbey. Mr. Wickham was not invited to the party, but there are plenty of people at the party who would love to see him dead. His life has been one of taking advantage of people for his own financial gain or pleasure. Who murdered Mr. Wickham and why?

I loved the premise of this book and how it put together most of the main Jane Austen characters at their age in the chronological order that Jane Austen wrote her novels. That makes Darcy and Elizabeth the parents of a young man, while Marianne and Colonel Brandon are newlyweds. The Knightleys have invited the Darcys, Brandons, Wentworths, and Bertrams for a house party. They have also invited Juliet, the daughter of Henry and Catherine Tilney. While I missed Henry Tilney’s humor, I loved that Juliet and young Jonathan Darcy teamed up to solve the mystery. Jonathan is on the spectrum and is trying to navigate life and social situations. I found this part of the story to be really interesting. Jonathan and Juliet had a great relationship and I hope that there is a follow-up novel so that I can read more about them.

Claudia Gray did a wonderful job of capturing the original Austen characters and making them believable as their older selves. I didn’t really like Edmund and Fanny Bertram, but as they are my least favorite Austen couple, I was okay with it. I did not guess the ending, mainly because everyone had a really good motive.

Favorite Quotes:
“Do not be ashamed of caring for another creature. Would that the world contained more such feeling, rather than less.”

“Mrs. Elton preferred to express her piety through disapproval rather than charity. She was never more pleased when finding a new thing to condemn, particularly when the thing could in some way be connected to Emma Knightly.”

Overall, The Murder of Mr. Wickham is the perfect mystery for fans of Jane Austen. I can’t wait for a new book in this series!

A Review Copy from Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing. Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.