Title: Pride and Premeditation
Author: Tirzah Price
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 6 April 2021
Pages: 368
Oh my word, this was such a fun read! I’m a huge Jane Austen fan and combining Jane Austen and murder was right up my alley. Lizzie Bennet is an aspiring lawyer who helps out in her dad’s law firm and wants her dad to hire her as an actual lawyer. An opportunity comes along that may just help prove her worth, the murder of Charles Bingley’s brother-in-law, his little sister’s husband. He has motive, means, and opportunity, seems like an open and shut case. Lizzie believes he’s innocent.
Yet, Lizzie comes up against Fitzwilliam Darcy, the stern young heir to the prestigious firm Pemberley Associates. Throughout the book the usual characters come and go. Charlotte works as the secretary at Mr. Bennet’s law firm. Mrs. Bennet is still trying to marry off all of her daughters. Mr. Collins is still an annoying little creep. There are some characters that have an appearance but their roles are slightly different than in the original. This is the genius of this book is that Price didn’t just transplant all of the characters into a different story with the exact same lines and story line practically. In this one, Price changes it up.
We are still given the famous opening line, with a twist, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man.”
Lizzie’s stubbornness and Bingley’s hopefulness means that Darcy and Lizzie start working together. They begin to like each other, of course. The case has many twists and turns and is beautifully executed. Mr. Wickham in this story is a criminal and kills a young maid who worked in the victim’s house. At first, the assumption is that he is the one who killed the brother-in-law, until Lizzie pieces all the bits of evidence together. This wasn’t just a murder mystery but a whole conspiracy that is wrapped up with Lizzie not given one offer of employment but two: one from her father and another from Mr. Darcy. Of course, Lizzie takes her father’s offer. Not only has Lizzie realized she misjudged Darcy but she’s grown to realize that there are more injustices in the world that she can uncover by being a solicitor not a barrister.
Again, this was such a fun book but more than that it was a great mystery to uncover as I read. I loved seeing all the characters I love in a different setting and different storyline. I can definitely say I cannot wait for Price’s next addition in this series. Yes, you heard that right! Tirzah Price will be turning 2 more Jane Austen stories into murder mysteries, who’s excited?
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