Death Comes to Pemberley

Death Comes to Pemberley is a historical mystery by P. D. James, published in 2011. It continues the story of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and adds a murder investigation to it.

The Darcys have been married for six years and are about to hold their annual ball in honour of Mr Darcy's mother. Jane and Bingley have arrived, the staff have the preparations well in hand, and the household is in the controlled commotion that a large estate produces before a great occasion. On the night before the ball, Lydia arrives in hysterics, screaming that her husband has been murdered. Wickham and a companion had gone into the woods on their way to Pemberley, where they were not invited, and shots were heard. What follows is an investigation conducted by magistrates and neighbours rather than by professional police, in a world where a scandal of this kind can ruin a family quite as thoroughly as a conviction.

James writes the sequel as a detective story anchored in Austen's characters, and much of its interest lies in what a legal process does to a family that has spent years protecting its reputation.