Murder by Death

I had put off reading these for ages, because I normally don't like a new author taking a beloved set of characters from the classics and 'extending' their stories. But this was recently recommended to me by a GR friend who felt that the author did a credible job with the characters.

I must say, I agree. I love the original Pride and Prejudice, and was relieved to find that Ms. Bebris did a fantastic job of respecting Ms. Austen and the characters themselves.

The mystery itself was clever. I don't often vacillate between suspects, but reading this, I at once knew who the culprit was, only to change my mind several times in the course of just a few chapters. In the end, ultimately, the villain is not a shocker, but I have to say, I just wasn't sure until the denouement.

There was also a paranormal element to all of it that I hadn't expected and enjoyed quite a bit, even though it's far afield of anything Ms. Austen could have imagined.

A fabulous read I'm happy to say I discovered when there are a whole raft of additional books in the series just waiting to be bought and read - I look forward to being happily entertained by one of my favorite all-time fictional couples for quite a while to come.