The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray ~ 352 pages ~ to be published on June 18, 2024 by Vintage
Goodreads Synopsis:
The third book in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery series, which finds the amateur sleuths facing their most daunting challenge preventing the murder of the imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Someone is trying to kill Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Esteemed aunt of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, generous patroness of Mr. William Collins, a woman of rank who rules over the estate of Rosings Park with an unimpeachable sense of propriety—who would dare ? Lady Catherine summons her grand-nephew, Mr. Jonathan Darcy, and his investigative companion, Miss Juliet Tilney, to find out.
After a year apart, Jonathan and Juliet are thrilled to be reunited, even if the circumstances—finding whoever has thus far sabotaged Lady Catherine’s carriage, shot at her, and nearly pushed her down the stairs—are less than ideal. Also less than their respective fathers, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Henry Tilney, have accompanied the young detectives to Rosings, and the two men do not interact with the same felicity enjoyed by their children.
With attempts against Lady Catherine escalating, and no one among the list of prime suspects seemingly capable of committing all of the attacks, the pressure on Jonathan and Juliet mounts—even as more gentle feelings between the two of them begin to bloom. The race is now on to provoke two one from the attempted murderer before it is too late—and one, perhaps, of love.
What I Thought:
*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Vintage for this ARC!*
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This is such a fun series, and this installment is a great addition to it! If you are into Jane Austen retellings, mysteries, and Regency-era shenanigans, this is the series for you!
I enjoyed getting to dive back into Pride and Prejudice in this installment. I always feel like Claudia Gray does a great job with her assessment of where the characters would be in this future and how their personalities and stories would have progressed. Getting to see Lady Catherine in all of her Lady Catherine glory was a trip in and of itself. I really liked the story decision to have Colonel Fitzwilliam marry Lady Anne de Bourgh. That felt right to me and I feel like it played well with the rest of the storyline.
Seeing the P&P characters from an outside perspective was quite a fun experience. Most of the characters in this book come from P&P originally (or are the children of the original characters). Seeing them from the Tilney’s perspective (they are from Austen’s Northanger Abbey) was very interesting. Tilney and Darcy immediately don’t like each other. And Juliet Tilney doesn’t trust Mr. Collins’ flowery, constant compliments of Lady Catherine de Bourgh as far as she could throw him!
I love the disability rep in these books. Jonathan Darcy is working on his curtain (or as modern day autistic people would call it, masking). Two other characters in this novel have disabilities as well. This is refreshing to see in an historical context.
This mystery is less a who-done-it than a who-is-trying-to-do-it. I enjoyed the small switch up and how it changed the way Jonathan and Juliet went about solving the mystery.
All in all, this was a fun read that kept me on my toes. I love seeing all of the character interactions, and cannot wait to see if Jonathan and Juliet will finally declare themselves in the next installment!
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I gave The Perils of Catherine de Bourgh 4 Stars!
Are you interested in learning more about this book/series? Check out the links below!
The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh on Goodreads
Order The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh on Amazon
Have you read any of Claudia Gray’s previous books? Check out my reviews for some of them here!
The Murder of Mr. Wickham ~ The Late Mrs. Willoughby
Are you a fan of the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney series? How about Jane Austen retellings? What are some of your favorites? Let’s chat down in the comments!
Love and happy reading,
Whitney
Whit Reads Lit 