Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Law & Order: Pemberley

For the month of May, we dabbled in murder and mayhem ... only on paper, of course! The group discussed Death Comes to Pemberley, a murder mystery sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice written by P.D. James, and enjoyed tea and iced rose cakes from a recipe via The Jane Austen Cookbook by Maggie Black and Deirdre Le Faye.



Multimedia tie-ins

Regency culture & other stray tidbits

Jane Austen "Easter eggs" hidden in Death Comes to Pemberley
  • Sir Walter Elliot (briefly employs Wickham) - father of Anne Elliot, the protagonist of Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion
  • Mr. & Mrs. Martin, Mr. & Mrs. Knightley (mentioned in the last chapter before the epilogue) - main characters from Austen's novel Emma

More resources on Jane Austen

Hindsight is 20/20

James makes little nods to what we now know happens in the future. For instance ...

    ... Dr. Belcher conducts “experiments on the time taken for blood to clot under different circumstances and on the speed with which changes took place in the body after death.” - p. 94

    ... Sir Hardcastle jokes that scientists should find “a way of distinguishing one man’s blood from another’s? We would welcome such assistance although, of course, it would deprive me of my function and Brownrigg and Mason of their jobs.” - p. 95

    ... Alveston surmises that “surely war and a first-hand experience of the realities of battle could corrupt the sensitivities of even a normally peaceable man so that violence becomes less abhorrent? Should we not consider that possibility?” - p. 141

    ... Darcy argues for a system of appeals to court verdicts; Alveston imagines a future where the defense can make a closing speech just like the prosecution. (pp. 146-147)


Professional reviews of Death Comes to Pemberley

Discussion questions
  • Has anyone read any other works by either author before? If so, how do you find this book compares? Are the characters similar to or different from Pride and Prejudice?
  • Jane Austen never wrote scenes in which only men were present. She also wrote very little about the servants, especially never from their point of view. Why do you think that James chose to depart so drastically from Austen by doing both of these things? Could this story have been told without hearing from the menfolk and servants directly?
  • In a similar vein, Austen revealed very little about wars that were ongoing, even though several of her characters were in the military (as were some of her brothers in real life). What do you think lead James to include details about military exploits within the pages of Death to Pemberley?
  • Do you find it troubling, surprising, or short-sighted that the investigation totally negates any possibility of female involvement? The investigators are quick to say no woman could have caused the wound, Lydia’s bags are not confiscated with Denny’s and Wickham’s, and Georgiana is nearly outcast to her aunt’s as having no bearing or insight to bring to the case.
  • Based on the depiction here of the court proceedings and sentencing being an object of entertainment, does it seem like the publicity of capital cases is actually a deterrent to crime? What do you think makes the courtroom drama so interesting to people?
  • Do you find Wickham at all a redeemable character? So many of the people he knew in his youth (and later burned) were convinced that, despite having not been in contact with him for years, that it was impossible for him to be a murderer. And, Reverend Cornbinder insists “his virtues outweigh his faults” (p. 261) and that Wickham is a changed man for having gone through the ordeal of the court system. Do you think that Wickham will keep on the straight and narrow in the future or is a leopard unable to change his spots?
  • Were you surprised by the reveals? Was the mystery satisfactorily explained for you? 

About P.D. James
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