In her latest novel, P. D. James carries forward the story of Elizabeth and Darcy six years into their life together after their marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And, of course, since James is a writer of mysteries, the tale includes a murder. James writes in the style of the late 18th/early 19th century, but, of course, she does not write like Jane Austen. No one writes like Jane Austen. Her sparkling wit, her great gift for creating comic characters and writing dialogue, the thread of irony that runs through all her work...no one can duplicate, and I'm quite certain the object of James' effort was not to copy, but was rather to write an homage to Jane, whose books she greatly admires.
While largely remaining faithful to the characters as Austen created them, James cleverly takes them through rather surprising twists and turns as she continues their story. The book was an enjoyable read, but, in the end, P D James, writing in the style of the turn of the 18th to the 19th century is not James writing at her best. I've read all of her mystery novels, and I think she ranks amongst the best, thus my mild disappointment. At one point, the author hit a real clinker with the word 'lifestyle', which I was pretty certain was not in use in the period in which the mystery is set. It turns out I was right: the first known use of the word dates to 1929.
Since I don't want to write a spoiler review, I won't say more, except that James held me in suspense with the identity of the murderer until the mystery was solved, taking me completely by surprise. Never would I have thought...
