We're delighted to announce a new P.D. James novel, Death Comes to Pemberley, which masterfully recreates the world of Pride and Prejudice, and sets a murder at its heart.

The year is 1803. Darcy and Elizabeth have been married for six years. Two healthy sons occupy their nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband Bingley live nearby and Elizabeth's happiness feels complete. Then peace is threatened, and old sins rekindled on the eve of an autumn ball. A chaise rocks down a path from the wild woodland. Lydia Wickham, an uninvited guest, tumbles out, screaming that her husband has been murdered.

James fuses her passion for Jane Austen's work with a talent for detective fiction. She mixes insight into the Darcys' happy, but threatened, marriage with the suspense of a detective tale, using the qualities her readers expect: psychological and emotional richness, vivid evocation of place and a well-structured plot.

Born in Oxford in 1920, James worked in the National Health Service and subsequently in the Home Office. She's a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Society of Arts. A resident of London and Oxford, she has received awards for crime-writing and honorary degrees from seven British universities.

Faber and Faber Ltd
London, England

(November 3, 2011)



ARCHIVES