Death Comes to Pemberley

Plot summary

The novel begins in October, 1803, six years after the events in Pride and Prejudice which resulted in the marriage of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet. The Prologue and Book One introduce the main characters, summarize the histories of the Bennet and Darcy families, and introduce a murder. The remainder of the novel is about the mystery and its solution.

Style

The novel is a pastiche in the style of Jane Austen, as James acknowledges in her Author's Note. The book is divided into sections: Author's Note; Prologue; six Books; Epilogue.

Contents

Author's Note Prologue Book One: The Day Before the Ball Book Two: The Body in the Woodland Book Three: Police at Pemberley Book Four: The Inquest Book Five: The Trial Book Six: Gracechurch Street

Reviews

Newspaper reviews are generally favourable, many enthusiastically so, with the New York Times foremost in the United States.

Editions

James, P.D. (2011). Death Comes to Pemberley. NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-30795985-0. 

——— (2011). Death comes to Pemberley (large print ed.). NY: Random House. ISBN 978-0-30799078-5. 

——— (2011). Death comes to Pemberley (audio book / CD). NY: Random House. ISBN 978-0-44901116-4. 

——— (2011). Death comes to Pemberley. London, UK: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-57128357-6. 

Adaptation

A serial of three sixty-minute episodes, also titled Death Comes to Pemberley, written by Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls) was made by Origin Pictures for BBC One. It was telecast in the UK over three nights from 26 December 2013 as part of BBC's Christmas schedule and stars Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth, Matthew Rhys as Mr Darcy, Jenna Coleman as Lydia, Matthew Goode as Mr. Wickham and Trevor Eve as Sir Selwyn Hardcastle.