The Murder of Mr. Wickham

Content warnings: murder, blackmail, homophobia, sexism, classism, referring to Romani people as "gypsies"

If you've read Jane Austen, you know he had it coming.

All of Jane Austen's protagonists come together at the Knightleys' country home in Donwell Abbey. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy bring their son Jonathan and George Wickham crashes the party. His wife, Elizabeth (Bennet) Darcy's youngest sister Lydia, has died years prior to the beginning of the novel. Joining Emma (Woodhouse) Knightley and the Darcys are Marianne (Dashwood) Brandon and her husband, the Bertrams, and Juliet Tilney (daughter of the Tilneys in Northanger Abbey).

When George Wickham is murdered, everyone in the household is a suspect. Frank Churchill is called upon to investigate the crime, but young Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney take it upon themselves to solve the murder. Jonathan and Juliet are the only members of the house party that are innocent, so everyone else (including the other Darcys) are suspects. Everyone has secrets, and many members of the party have been swindled by Mr. Wickham or know someone who was his mark.

The novel has a Christie-meets-Austen vibe that delivers twists and turns on the way to its shocking conclusion, where no one will suspect the actual murderer. Recommended for fans of murder mysteries, historical mysteries, and Jane Austen.

Claudia Gray is the pen name for Amy Vincent. She has written several young adult novels as well as books in the Star Wars universe. Amy lives in New Orleans.

Publisher: Vintage (print); Random House Audio

Narrator: Billie Fulford-Brown

Running Time: 12 hours, 3 minutes

Length: 400 pages

Release Date: May 3, 2022

Representation: neurodivergent main character

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I also received a digital audio recording of this title from Penguin Random House Audio as a librarian review copy. I read the latter edition.