The Late Mrs. Willoughby (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney, #2) by Claudia Gray ~ 400 pages ~ to be published on May 16, 2023 by Vintage Books
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
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.
What I Thought:
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*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 Books for this ARC!*
I was such a fan of the first book in this series, The Murder of Mr. Wickham (check out my review for it here!), so I was so psyched to get a chance to read the ARC for The Late Mrs. Willoughby. Some of the same characters from the first book made appearances in this one as well, and we got to see a few more from Sense and Sensibility in this installment.
I really enjoyed the mystery in this one. Claudia Gray does such a good job of leading you down the wrong path! I totally suspected someone the entire novel, and it turns out they had nothing to do with it! (That’s all I’ll say, I don’t want to spoil anything for you!)
The paring of Miss Tilney (the daughter of Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey) and Mr. Darcy (the son of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice) was just a lovely the second time around. The chemistry between these two is to die for (pun intended 😉) and I love how they work together to solve these murder mysteries.
Getting to see more behind the characters of Elinor Dashwood, Willoughby and Mrs. Jennings was also great fun. I loved how these books imagine the lives of these characters after the original Austen work leaves off. Also, getting to see characters from different books interact is such a fun time for any Austen fan ❤️
Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon are couple goals and I loved getting to do a deeper dive into their relationship in this book. I hope that if Gray decides to continue with the series (which the last chapter hinted at!), that we will get to see more of them.
The story was suspenseful and nostalgic. It basically gave me everything I was looking for from this series. I cannot wait to see where Gray goes from here!!
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I gave The Late Mrs. Willoughby 4 Stars!
Are you interested in learning more about this book/series? Check out the links below!
The Late Mrs. Willoughby on Goodreads
Pre-order The Late Mrs. Willoughby on Amazon
Have you read The Murder of Mr. Wickham? Are you a fan of Jane Austen retellings? What is your favorite Austen novel? Which Austen character do you hope to see in the next book in this series? Let’s chat in the comments below!
Love and happy reading,
Whitney
Whit Reads Lit 