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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Mystery Playground Book Club - Death Comes to Pemberly



It's time for our first ever Mystery Playground Book Club Meeting. Our first pick was Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James. Here's what the MP team thought. Make comments below or come to the Mystery Playground Facebook Group. 

Here are a few questions for book clubs who read the book:

1) Do you think the characters remained true to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice? 
2) Did you like the book?
3) Were there any plot holes, or things that bothered you?
4) Do you want to see the TV mini-series based on the book?


Deborah
The book started out a little slow for me. James' summarizes Pride and Prejudice a little and I thought if you're familiar with Austen you don't need it, and if you're not familiar with it, the summary goes too fast to be of any use. After the summary, I found the book highly entertaining and easy to follow the plot. 

For me, the characters were true to Austin, for the most part, with one major exception. I did have some questions about the ending, which I won't discuss here in case you haven't read it. I have already seen the TV mini-series, but I didn't remember the ending when I read the book. 



Pat
I thought the book was great fun. I hadn't read Austen in years, but reading the phrasing in this book brought it back. The backhanded insults made me laugh. Mrs. Bennett and Lydia are still laughable. Without giving anything away, I'm still not sure about how Wickham was portrayed. This was a fast, enjoyable and easy read. Great for a break. 

I enjoyed the book, but I have no interest in seeing it on TV now that I know the ending. I'm glad I read the book. I wouldn't have picked it up myself. 

Kerry

I’m a big fan of PD James mysteries as well as all of the Jane Austen novels, so I was very excited to read Death Comes to Pemberley. 

I think James really captured the characters as they appeared in the original Austen novel. The mystery she created surrounding the ball at Pemberley was very intriguing and kept me guessing throughout.


I enjoyed reading The author’s take on the lives of the Darcy’s post Pride and Prejudice. She managed to write the book as if it were written in the Jane Austen period. Once I had myself in that mindset, it was all smooth sailing and very enjoyable. I’m now off to see the movie, so I can see how the book was adapted for television.

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