Pride and Premeditation - Tirzah Price
This is the fourth book I have read in the relatively recent subgenre of 'Jane Austen Murder Mysteries', having previously read Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James, and The Murder of Mr Wickham and The Late Mrs Willoughby by Claudia Gray. Each author has brought a different interpretation to what exactly a 'Jane Austen Murder Mystery' is, and as a result each author's books have a slightly different feel. PD James wrote her novel as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, but still keeping Elizabeth and Darcy as the main characters with the same personalities, meaning that they weren't really 'detectives.' Claudia Gray - whose take I have enjoyed the most - also makes her books sequels but includes new, younger characters who are driven to solve the crimes - it makes sense!
Tirzah Price does something very different; she semi-retells the original Pride and Prejudice story but changes a number of elements to make it a murder-mystery. So, "Lizzie" is now wanting to be employed by her father, who runs Longbourn & Sons law firm. Darcy works for a rival firm, Pemberley & Associates. In order to prove her worth, Lizzie seeks to solve a case of her own, and randomly chooses the case of one Mr Bingley, who has been accused of murdering his brother-in-law, Mr Davis.
Fans of the original book will recognise these names, and although there are minor alterations here and there, the basic personality of each character remains the same. So Mr Collins is still annoying (though he is now a lawyer rather than a vicar), Mr Wickham is still charming and roguish, and the younger sisters are still flighty and giggly.
With so many similarities, Pride and Premeditation really does feel like a Pride and Prejudice-adjacent world - it even uses full scenes and specific lines of dialogue from the original at times - and, in some ways, this makes it appealing to Pride and Prejudice fans (of whom I would include myself).
The downside, however, is that the mystery loses some of its impact by including the original characters.
Try this, if you know the original story: think about the prominent characters from Pride and Prejudice. Now, tell yourself that at least a few of these characters are involved in murder or conspiracy. Knowing their personalities, ask yourself: who did it?
You are probably right.
Or, at least, you probably won't be shocked when they are revealed to be villains.
I still enjoyed the story, but this 'knowledge' of the characters and their personalities beyond what the story 'intended' for you to know did make some parts less mysterious. When Lizzie teams up with a character whom I 'knew' was untrustworthy, I found myself fearing for the lives of other characters they came into contact with - rightfully, in some instances!
Separately from the story itself... I was reading this book during silent reading time in some of my classes, and had taken the time to introduce the 'Jane Austen Murder Mystery' genre to some students that I thought might enjoy it. At one point, a student, hearing my description, made the comment, "Oh, so it's fan-fiction!"
Ohmigosh! It's totally fan-fiction! For public domain works!
So... yeah...
...out of all the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries I have read, this is the one the feels the most like fan-fiction. Enjoyable fan-fiction, but definitely a homage.
Completed 7 September 2025.
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