The Meryton Murders

A Mystery Set in the Town of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice

By: Victoria Grossack

Narrated by: Erin Evans-Walker

Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Elizabeth Darcy receives a letter from her father informing her that her sister needs her. So Elizabeth travels from Pemberley to her old neighborhood to do what she can to support her sister in her time of distress.

After her arrival, an acquaintance apparently kills herself, a cousin is found dead, and tempers everywhere are frayed. Soon Elizabeth learns firsthand what is menacing Meryton, and her fortune, her marriage, and even her life are at risk.

©2016 Victoria Grossack (P)2017 Victoria Grossack

Critic reviews

"Grossack's writing is spot on when it comes to capturing Jane Austen's tone and writing style." (Cozy Mystery Book Reviews)

Mystery and murder in Meryton!

Review of the audio version as performed by Erin Evans-Walker

This is by way of being a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, so you can assume that all of the events from canon have happened before this. Elizabeth is happily married to Fitzwilliam Darcy and is called home by her father to see if she can find out what is making her sister Jane Bingley unhappy, as she approaches the birth of her first child. It tuns out that Bingley is behaving in a very un-Bingley-like manner; ill-tempered, drinking a lot, secretive.

Other mysterious happenings are going on in Meryton. Mary King (who Wickham tried to marry for her money in P&P) takes her own life and a lot of her money and jewellry are missing. Mr. and Mrs. Collins are visiting her parents, with their recently born son (named in true Collins style after the late husband of his patroness) and soon after, he's the apparent victim of murder. Elizabeth's Aunt and Uncle Phillips (he's the local solicitor) play quite a major role in this during the investigations and it seems that he takes on the role you'd expect the local magistrate to do, under the circumstances. Eventually, there's another suicide; this time the Phillipses' tenant Mrs. Smith. All is not well in the town of Meryton!

I won't give any more plot details, as this is a mystery well worth reading or listening to for yourself. See if you can work out who the guilty party (or is it parties?) is. I guessed the real identity of one character but are they behind it all? There's some intriguing new characters introduced by Ms. Grossack, too. Could they be responsible for turning Meryton into a town where everyone is suspicious of everyone else? Find out for yourself!

The story is generally well written, with nothing to offend this particular Picky Brit. There's little romance, as Darcy plays only a small role in the events, having to spend a lot of time at Pemberley for various reasons. If I was nit-picking, I'd say that Elizabeth was not as astute as you'd expect her to be during the investigations, and why was Mr. Phillips usurping the role of the local magistrate? However, that didn't spoil the overall story for me. Language use seemed to be pretty much correct for Regency English. Erin Evans-Walker's audio performance maybe wasn't my favourite (switching between US and UK pronunciation of "details", for instance) but I'd rate both writing and performance as a solid four stars.

I won a copy of this audiobook in a blog giveaway a couple of years ago and have only just got around to listening to it. No review was expected.

Excellent continuation

As a massive lover of Pride & Prejudice, I really enjoyed this book.
Because the characters are so dear to me, I have began, and ceased reading MANY other very disappointing, terribly written and reinvented books involving my beloved Darcy’s.
However, THIS book was excellent.
Carrie Bebris is the only other author who upholds the style and personality of the characters as well.
The mystery is mild, the story is told well, with enough dialog of substance to catch us up with everyone. It was very satisfying.
As a side note, the other book in this series I also recommend is “The Highbury Murders.” I don’t care for the actual character in “Emma,” but this is a great book also.

Feels authentic

Wow! I enjoyed this so much more than anticipated. Grossack writes convincingly and enthusiastically. I was quite taken by surprise by the plot twist and happy with the denouement. The performer is quite pleasant to listen to, and I prefer her reading to many other Austen readers.

Wonderful Pride & Prejudice Mystery

First read this story in E-book format and when I saw it in the Audible store I couldn't wait to purchase. I love this story line and the characters were true to the original book. I would definitely recommend this book.

WOW good one

Mystery, suspense and murder oh my. Great "who done it". Great characters. Tolly took me by surprise. Great ending

A Convincing Sequel

Enjoyed the reframing of Austen characters into a well researched mystery. Narrator differentiated the multitude of voices well helping the dialogue flow clearly. Entertaining read.