The Murder of Mr. Wickham

 This was a recommendation from my good friend Hope, and BOY is it a DELIGHT. I had to do some quick Wiki catch-up on a lot of the characters because there were plenty of holes in my memory for what happened to all these characters, but once that was done it was easy to dive right in.
Now, it might seem strange to put these familiar characters in a murder mystery, but I think that???s part of what makes this book so compelling. It???s sort of the same logic behind some of the darkest, most tragic series getting a crapton of coffeeshop AU fanfics: you want to see these characters in a different setting completely, in many cases one that???s tonally different from the original, while still trying to maintain much of who they are. In the case of this book, taking Austen???s mostly-genteel characters and settings, and then making them the stage for a murder, has a similar appeal. Even more intriguing, one of those aforementioned beloved characters is probably the murderer, which just adds to the appeal in my opinion.
(I also gotta say that I am unsurprised that Wickham is the murder victim here. Honestly, couldn???t have happened to a better person. /s)
While I think the mystery itself was pretty well-plotted, what I most enjoyed was how this novel continued the lives of Austen???s characters beyond their respective happily-ever-afters, and did so in a way that shows that, while a wedding might signify the end of a story, it does not signify the end of lives being lived. Marriage isn???t an ending; it???s a beginning: a beginning of a new way of living, with new ways of thinking and being and living with another person - especially true for characters of the Regency period when a couple wouldn???t have really had a very good chance to settle in with each other until after the wedding. I liked how this book showed that just because the wedding???s over and everyone???s ridden off into the sunset, it doesn???t mean that their lives are perfect.
This is most clearly shown in the character dynamics presented in the story. While a lot of their interactions feel familiar (and therefore ???authentic??? to the characters Austen wrote), there???s also a lot that does not, because these are people who have changed over the time they???ve been married to each other. Austen???s characters have layers, but Gray has added more layers, made them more complex and nuanced, by showing how the couples play off each other now that they???re married. I think it???s that combination of the familiar and the new that really makes the character dynamics shine and makes this book a joy to read.
While reading about Austen???s characters is definitely entertaining and one of the major charms of this book, there???s also the two original characters: Jonathan Darcy (son of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth) and Juliet Tilney (daughter of Henry and Catherine). They were truly the stars of this book, and that???s saying something given the powerhouse cast. Juliet is sharp in a way that reminds me of Elizabeth, almost, but the way she melds that sharpness with compassion and competency are truly her own, and make her a true standout.
And then there???s Jonathan. It becomes immediately clear to the reader that he is neurodivergent: possibly autistic, but I can???t say for sure as I???m not an expert. It was interesting to read how that fit into Regency society???s understanding of such things, and how Jonathan and his family, and eventually Juliet, adjusted to it and helped Jonathan with it. I don???t think the Regency period could even describe or had a word for Jonathan???s neurodivergency, but it was still good to see the author handle the topic well.
Overall, this is a Jane Austen pastiche that does more than just parrot Austen???s works by expanding on the boundaries set in place by the original books, breathing new life into the characters by using the murder mystery as a way to imagine new angles to their dynamics. The original characters fit in well, and indeed managed to hold their own against the more familiar cast. There were many ways this could have been handled poorly, but I???m glad that this is an instance of a concept being handled very, very well.