Yes it’s that Pemberley, country seat of
Darcy and his wife Elizabeth (nee Bennet) of Pride and Prejudice fame. The
couple are well settled and have a couple of children by now, but their idyllic
existence is about to be intruded upon.
A violent death occurs in the grounds; and Darcy’s
old enemy, and now his shamed and shunned brother-in-law, Wickham is involved. This
creates conflicted emotions with personal antipathy struggling against family honour.
This gives a lot of scope for Darcy to
stiffen his upper lip, for the family servants to display commendable loyalty,
and for Elizabeth to simper about from good sister to bad sister via sweet sister-in-law,
while ensuring the house is kept up to scratch.
The crime investigation is minimal, no Adam
Dalgleish here, instead a Justice of the Peace and Coroner just ask a few
questions and assume that those interrogated are either telling the truth or
are lying for good honourable reasons, and so should not be pressed further.
A trial takes place, enlivened by a late revelation,
and eventually the whole truth comes out as those in the know don’t so much spill
the beans as spoon them out carefully, strictly on a need to know basis.
It is an interesting curiosity of a read;
those more familiar with Pride and Prejudice may get more out of it than a
one-time reader like me. PD James clearly enjoyed attempting to write in the
style of Jane Austen, and I for one do not begrudge her this indulgence.
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