Book Review: The Rushworth Family Plot

The Rushworth Family Plot (Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney, #4) by Claudia Gray ~ 336 pages ~ published on 6/17/2025 by Vintage

Goodreads Synopsis:

The fourth book in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery series, which finds the amateur sleuths caught up in the whirlwind of the London Season—and in a murderous scheme involving the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it’s a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet’s grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund’s brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet’s, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley’s previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund’s sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn’t marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

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 fourth installment of the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney mystery series was fun, in that it took place in the city. Each of the previous books took place in the countryside, generally at a large estate. This book taking place in London during the Season made for some fun obstacles for our amateur sleuths to overcome.

I enjoyed that this book centered around the characters from Mansfield Park, one of Austen’s lesser loved novels. I feel that Claudia Gray does a fantastic job of characterizing each person from Mansfield Park just as I would imagine them in the aftermath of their story from the original source material. It was fun to see the villains, The Crawfords, Maria (Bertram) Rushworth, and Mrs. Norris back in their full glory. I also liked that we got to see more of Susan Price in this novel. She is a fun character, and I hope we get to see more of her in future installments.

Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney continue to be precious and couple goals. I liked getting to see Jonathan become more serious about Juliet, to the point of considering going against his parents’ wishes, which is great character growth for him. I also really liked getting to see more of Catherine (Morland) Tilney in this novel. She is such an under-appreciated Austen heroine, and I enjoyed seeing her in the role of mother this go around.

The murder mystery was fun, and proved to keep me guessing until the very end. I had my mind made up on who I thought the murderer was, and they pulled the rug out from under me. I always appreciate when a mystery can truly surprise me.

If you are a fan of Austen, and enjoy a good retelling, make sure you pick up this series! Start from the beginning, and you will be glad you did!