The Late Mrs. Willoughby
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4.5 • 40 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The suspenseful sequel to The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which sees Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney reunited, and with another mystery to solve: the dreadful poisoning of the scoundrel Willoughby's new wife.
“An absolute page-turner full of well-plotted mystery and hints of simmering romance.... More of the Jane Austen characters we love (as well as those we love to hate).” —Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo
Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who's returned home to Devonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride.
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby's new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town.
With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman's newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine.
A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gray's second whodunit featuring characters from across the Jane Austen universe (after 2022's The Murder of Mr. Wickham) is another superior blend of humor and detection. Jonathan Darcy, the son of Pride and Prejudice's Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, and Juliet Tilney, the daughter of Northanger Abbey's Catherine and Henry Tilney, met in the previous installment, when they teamed up to solve a homicide and found themselves fighting mutual attraction. The amateur sleuths get another murder to crack when they're both guests at the Devonshire home of Sense and Sensibility's John Willoughby, a former schoolmate of Darcy's. Despite that connection, Darcy is not fond of his host, who bullied him at school. The unexpected reunion with Tilney, who recognizes the shy Darcy's hidden depths, improves matters, but the get-together becomes fraught after the arrival of Sense and Sensibility's Marianne Brandon, who has a past with Willoughby. Things get worse when Willoughby's wife, Sophia, whom he'd married for her dowry, dies after drinking some poisoned port. Gray makes her endearing leads' sleuthing both plausible and entertaining while evoking the wit and feel of Austen's classic novels. Admirers of P.D. James's Death Comes to Pemberley will be delighted.
