Pride and Premeditation
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price – a murder mystery twist on Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. (affiliate link) A clean romantic mystery with all the characters we love. Why only three stars? I’m so glad you asked.
Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price (Affiliate link)
The Good
Let’s start with the good, shall we? Disclaimer, I wanted to give it four stars. I really did. Fun characters, that felt true to Austin’s originals. A solid plot, but we’ll get into that in a minute. And a basic London setting that didn’t do anything to detract from the story. That should be enough for four stars, and for many of you it will be, so if this sounds like your cup of tea, give it a try and let me know how you like it.
A Word of Warning
‘Warning’ might be a bit harsh, but the long and short of it is that the ode to Jane Austin was distracting. It’s impossible to tell for sure, but I think I would have liked this story better if it hadn’t been tied up with the original Pride and Prejudice.
I’m usually all for remakes, based ons, and inspired bys. The Netflix Persuasion is one of my favorite movies of all time. (Seriously get Netflix just to watch it.) Clueless, She’s The Man… The list goes on. This one just didn’t work for me.
Let’s get into in.
The Characters
*Spoilers*
We’ve got the whole gang. Lizzy, Jane, Charlotte, Darcy, Bingley, Wickham, Collins, etc. Lady Kathrine and Georgiana even made their appearances. And they all stay pretty true to the basic flavor of their characters. Which is great, but it’s also part of the problem.
We already know them and they can’t stray from their character. We know Wickham is a bad guy, no matter how charming. And Charlotte is Lizzy’s friend. They’ll have a falling out and get back together. And Lizzy will end up with Darcy, and Jane with Bingley. (Although Charlotte does not end up with Collins.)
In a way, it’s fun to see these different perspectives, but it takes some of the mystery out, and this is a mystery, so that’s important.
The Setting
Set in Regency London with a twist, Pride and Premeditation is, in a word, confusing. The author handpicked which Regency social rules to follow and threw in some modern sensibilities. I never knew quite how to react because I didn’t know which rules the characters were following and which ones they weren’t. It might not be a deal breaker, but I did have to do a lot of extra work to stay in the story.
There is also a modern feminist theme that at times is spot on, and at others is laid on a bit thick. I don’t want to say it was preachy, but there was definitely an agenda.
Overall I agree with the feminist sentiment, as I’m a strong proponent for women (we’re awesome). And I like that she didn’t stoop to degrading men in general to get the job done. However, as a woman, I deal with the realities of these issues in real life and it can be exhausting to deal with them in my entertainment too. It’s a hard balance. It really is.
The author wrote a note at the end of the book explaining her choices, all of which were consciously made for the story. But the end of the book is too late. I needed to know that going into the story.
That takes us to the plot. Hang onto your panties.
The Plot
Ah, the plot. *Spoilers*
The Set up
Young Lizzy Bennet frequently helps out at her father’s law firm. She does odd jobs and reads contracts etc. We first meet her when Mr. Collins (her father’s next-in-line at the firm) is taking credit for the evidence that she found.
She confronts her father. Mr. Bennet knows it’s Lizzy’s evidence, and it’s unclear why he doesn’t do anything about it. He knows Collins is a fool, but for some social reason, he’s still the next in line. Mr. Bennet can’t fire Collins, but he makes a deal that he will consider hiring Lizzy if she can prove that she can use logic in her arguing and not just her instinct and emotion.
Que interesting new murder charge levied at Mr. Bingley. He was found in Mr. Hurst’s bedchamber with Hurst’s blood all over him.
Lizzy wastes no time in trying to get the case. She impersonates Caroline Bingley, proving she’s clever, cunning, and charming. But it’s Darcy (the son and heir to the large competing law firm) who gets the case. Bingley asks Lizzy to look into the murder because someone killed Hurst. And Darcy is convinced that Bingley’s reputation as a well-respected, white man in society is enough to get him off. No evidence needed.
Using Bingley’s request as an excuse, Lizzy impersonates someone else to poke around the Hurst home. She finds a clue, gets caught, and meets Wickham whom she trusts explicitly. He has a nice smile and a dimple. And he doesn’t take her to jail. What more could a girl want?
Furthermore, she follows Caroline, meets Lady Katherine, gets threatened by Darcy and her father wants her off the case.
Things get Intense
Someone fires the maid that helped Lizzy at the Hurst’s house. When Lizzy finds her (with Wickham) she admits that she stole from Mr. Hurst but that she doesn’t know anything else. Someone kills the maid that night. At this point we strongly suspect Wickham. Somehow, it doesn’t cross Lizzy’s mind.
Oh. And, Lady Kathrine has someone follow and temporarily kidnap Lizzy so she can offer her a job. Lizzy refuses and is offended by the kidnapping.
The Main Suspects
Well, knowing what we know, obviously Wickham. But Lizzy doesn’t know that yet.
It could have been Bingley. His business is going under and Hurst was bleeding his pockets. Also, he was found with the body.
Or one of Hurst’s creditors. He owed a lot of people a lot of money.
It could have been Caroline or Darcy, but that’s a stretch.
The Ending
Finally Lizzy confronts Bingley for lying about his money problems. She doesn’t quite accuse him of murder, but she’s mad. Bingley admits everything. He knew that Hurst was rotten and limited his role in the business. But it was too little too late.
Through Bingley’s openness, Lizzy realizes that she saw an insurance policy on Hurst’s desk when she was snooping. This is the key to the whole plot. It’s a fake insurance policy.
Lizzy and Darcy rush to Pemberly Law Firm to secure the real policy, and Bingley goes to the Hurst home to get the fake one.
Someone broke into Pemberly, stole the real policy, and locked Darcy and Lizzy in the closet together. They don’t kiss, but they do hold hands, for a minute anyway. They bond, okay?
Back at home, Mr. Wickham is waiting for Lizzy.
Darcy came with Lizzy to talk to her father about the case, and when he sees Wickham and Wickham sees him all heck breaks loose. Wickham pulls out a gun and forces Lizzy into Darcy’s carriage with him. They ride toward the docks.
Long story short – Wickahm is shot by his accomplice at the dock (Lady Kathrine). With his dying breath, he admits that he killed Abby (the maid), but says he didn’t kill Hurst.
Who Done It?
In the end, Lady Kathrine was the mastermind. She was using false insurance policies to get protection money from pirates. She’s a pirate. Her accomplice was Mr. Collins. (She is his benefactor after all.)
Lizzy recognizes that Collins was the one who forged the fake policy and Charollet confirms it. Lizzy tricks Collins, goes to court, fulfills her dream of presenting the case, gets credit for her work, and clears Bingley’s name.
She gets the job at Longbourn and Sons, and kisses Darcy.
The End
Content Warning
There is murder. Nothing overly graphic. And a very PG kiss or two.