Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris (Historical mystery/horror)

I generally avoid all Jane Austen pastiches because they are usually crap. At the age of thirteen, having devoured all six of her novels, I tried a few of the modern sequels written by Emma Tennant and her ilk, and gave them up in disgust. And anything that I considered too sappy, implausible, and contrived to be bothered with in the eighth grade is something I would not now touch with a ten-foot pole.

However, I read good things about Carrie Bebris’s series, which now consists of three novels, with a fourth soon to be published. Featuring the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy as the protagonists, these books add supernatural mysteries to Austen’s world, which the Darcys must unravel. Through the course of the series, they meet characters from the other novels.

The switch from romance/social satire to supernatural detective story is what makes this series more tolerable than other Austen continuations, since it sticks to imitating Austen’s style which, though tricky, is far easier than successfully reproducing her substance. Even the style isn’t perfect: unfortunately, a number of modern words and idioms break the flow of the narrative. The biggest flaw, though, is in the presentation of Elizabeth, whose sudden belief in the supernatural is entirely out of character. And anyone who’s read Northanger Abbey will appreciate why mixing genuine supernatural occurrences with Austen characters doesn’t work well.

Still, the book was entertaining enough, once I forced myself to suspend my disbelief. After their wedding, Darcy and Elizabeth are looking forward to starting their new life together at Pemberley, so they’re disappointed when Caroline Bingley’s sudden engagement and wedding spoil their plans. Only hours after the wedding, the Darcys find Caroline wandering in an unsavoury area of London, with no explanation for her presence. Her strange behaviour soon escalates, and mysterious and dangerous events plague a house-party at Netherfield, culminating in the murder of one of the guests.

I am clearly not the ideal audience for this series, being (a) an Austen fan(atic), (b) persnickety about historical detail and period tone, and (c) less than enthused by supernatural mysteries. Pride and Prescience was okay, and actually had some genuinely funny moments, but it just wasn’t my kind of book. I also found the solution too obvious, but it’s at least believable that none of the characters would have figured it out. (It’s not so much that the characters were dim, but that for some reason the author felt the need to hit the reader over the head with really obvious clues–when in fact there was no need to give the reader any kind of clues at all, much less to hammer them home like that.)

Verdict? Meh. I’m reading the sequels, but I advise against spending money on this one, unless you’re sure it’s your cup of tea. I’ve heard the next two are better, so…we’ll see.

Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2008, A ~ Z Reading Challenge, Carrie Bebris, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries, R.I.P. III