As the third book in the Mr Darcy & Miss Tilney series, the world of Jane Austen is once again upturned by the always brilliant Claudia Gray. Mr Darcy and Miss Tilney find themselves once again joining forces, this time, they aren’t solving a murder, they are preventing one. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is known for being difficult to please, but after one too many accidents that threatened her life, she realizes that maybe there are sinister forces at work. She beckons her nephew and Miss Tilney with the hopes that they will discover the person that is clearly nursing ill feelings toward her. In a race against the clock, the two young people scramble to find the assassin before it’s too late.
This was such a wonderful addition to a series that I had already fallen in love with. With characters that are already known and loved, it is difficult to find ways to keep the tension going, especially when it involves a society such as this, but somehow, the tension just keeps coming. Between the high stakes of keeping Lady Catherine alive and the stress of Darcy’s potentially blooming relationship with Miss Tilley, readers are kept turning pages with abandon.
There is something comforting about reading this series. For anyone familiar with the works of Jane Austen, the tone and verbiage found within the books are familiar and bring the story to life in a different way than the originals, without losing the original feel. So much of Austen’s work is beloved because of the way her words brought forth stories that were familiar of the time while still capturing the imagination. Claudia Gray manages to echo these themes even for modern readers.
Despite absolutely loving the characters and the prose, I did struggle with the conclusion to the mystery. After feeling the tension of the high stakes for so long, the ending lacked a certain amount of satisfaction. The emphasis was definitely on the characters and the ending took a back seat. It finished quickly and left me questioning the parts of the story that led to that particular ending. However, it did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book itself, it just needs to be noted that it is a book much more character driven than mystery driven.
4/5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
The Novel Llama 