Jane Austen’s hallmark mix of gentle humor, razor-sharp characterization and clever plotting lends itself perfectly to cozy mysteries. Passions swirl beneath a tranquil surface, little is said but much is felt, and all that unspoken tension, lust and ambition is the perfect stage for a crime.
Sadly for us, Jane Austen is not here to swerve into the cozy mystery lane, but her work has guided the pen of many a contemporary crime novelist, myself included. The heroine of my debut cozy mystery novel, A Crime Through Time, is none other than Georgiana Darcy, who finds a curious artifact in the woods of Pemberley that transports her through time to the year 1995. I hope Jane Austen would be amused rather than offended by the thought of Mr. Darcy’s younger sister as detective, time-traveler and heroine of her own story, but as Mr. Darcy found in his dealings with Lizzy Bennet, one sometimes offends without meaning to…
Without further ado, here are five other mysteries for Jane Austen lovers.
Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James.
This dark and twisty whodunnit and sequel to Pride and Prejudice is set a few years after the events of Austen’s beloved novel. Infamous gamester and teen predator, George Wickham, finds himself in hot water after a series of characteristically poor decisions leave him the prime suspect in a murder case. In Pride and Prejudice, we find that Wickham is capable of many a dastardly deed, including an attempted elopement with fifteen-year-old Georgiana Darcy, principally to secure her fortune, but also to enact revenge upon her brother, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, his former playmate and current archenemy. Foiled in his first attempt at eloping with a fifteen-year-old, Wickham fares better in his second, and executes a successful moonlit flit with Elizabeth Bennet’s youngest sister, Lydia. We already know Wickham is a scoundrel in dire need of a stint behind bars and an ankle monitor, but does he have it in him to commit a murder?
In Death Comes to Pemberley, Wickham is accused of killing his friend, Captain Denny, whose body is found in the woods of Pemberley. Wickham is discovered wandering near the murder scene, distressed and covered in blood, and his guilt appears certain. However, despite the mounting evidence pointing to Wickham as killer, the case is not quite as cut and dry as it seems. For what reason would Wickham shoot and bludgeon the affable Captain Denny to death? In due course, the case goes to trial and Mr. Darcy finds himself entangled at every level of the unpleasant business, given that he himself is a magistrate, the crime was committed upon his property, and his sister-in-law is the wife of the accused. Will Darcy be able to look past his own prejudice against Wickham to discover the truth, or will he turn a blind eye and allow his old enemy to hang for a murder that he likely did not commit?
A Very Vexing Murder, by Lucy Andrews
In this cozy crime retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma, we see Emma’s sidekick, Miss Harriet Smith, reimagined as a swindler-turned-detective. Harriet’s first client is the exacting Mrs. Churchill, who is convinced that her nephew’s secret fiancée is out to kill her. Naturally disposed to accept a lucrative commission, no matter how outlandish, Harriet is hired to investigate a murder that hasn’t yet been committed. Is Mrs. Churchill merely a victim of paranoia or could she really be the intended target of a murderess? Mrs. Churchill has no doubt that it’s a case of the latter; and she expects Harriet to foil the plot. The would-be assassin? Breathtaking beauty and noted good egg, Jane Fairfax.
Undercover in the sleepy village of Highbury, Harriet encounters the visiting Jane and duly begins her investigations, but how can she take seriously Mrs. Churchill’s wild accusations when it seems so unlikely that anyone would be out to kill her, least of all the elegant Miss Fairfax? Matters soon take a sinister turn when a maid drops dead after eating Mrs. Churchill’s discarded breakfast… Coincidence or crime? Danger edges ever closer to Harriet when she is stalked by a mysterious figure who threatens to reveal her true identity, ruining both her reputation and, even worse, her business prospects. Our wily detective has her work cut out for her: if she has any hope of preventing a murder and advancing her career, she must prove her mettle, preserve her cover, and protect her tyrannical client at all costs. Part mystery, part coming-of-age story, and part romance, this novel is neo-Regency fiction at its finest.
Miss Austen Investigates: The Hapless Milliner, by Jessica Bull
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the considerable skillset of an accomplished authoress is wholly transferable to the art of sleuthing, and in Miss Austen Investigates we see our favorite literary icon and history’s wryest observer of human behavior reimagined as a budding detective.
When a milliner is discovered dead in a linen cupboard and Jane’s brother is fitted up for the murder, it’s up to Jane to discover the real killer and save her brother from the hangman’s noose. A fresh blend of fact and fiction that will delight cozy crime fans and Janeites everywhere.
The Murder of Mr. Wickham, by Claudia Gray
A delightful hodgepodge of Austen’s most famous characters and a murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie. Mr. Knightley and Emma have the bright idea of throwing a house party, but they’re certainly not about to invite the scoundrel George Wickham, who’s finally tasted wealth and success, at the expense – quite literally – of the investors foolish enough to sink their riches into his dubious financial schemes. All in all, everyone’s had just about enough of Wickham, but who resents him enough to resort to murder? It’s up to Juliet Tilney (daughter to Catherine and Henry of Northanger Abbey) and Jonathan Darcy, stuffy heir and future master of Pemberley to discover the murderer.
The Haunting of a Brontë, by Amelia Blackwell
It’s bad form to include your own novel in a listicle but given that I always worry about being influenced by the authorial voices of my contemporaries and have therefore only read four mysteries for Jane Austen lovers – two of them in the past week – I hope the CrimeReads audience will forgive me for taking the liberty of including here the second book in my Miss Darcy Investigates series. In The Haunting of a Brontë (sequel to A Crime Through Time) Georgiana Darcy uses her Motorola pager to time-travel forty-six years into the future to Thorp Green Hall in 1845, where she meets Anne and Branwell Brontë, who are governess and tutor to the children of the peculiar Robinson family. Soon after Georgiana arrives, people begin to die…An Austen-Brontë mash-up for those who like their cozy crime novels served with a dash of time travel and a pinch of salt.
