A summer house party turns into a thrilling whodunit when Jane Austen's Mr. Wickham-one of literature's most notorious villains-meets a sudden and suspicious end in this brilliantly imagined mystery featuring Austen's leading literary characters.

A summerhouse party turns into a thrilling whodunit when Jane Austen's Mr. Wickham-one of literature's most notoriousvillains-meets a sudden and suspicious end in this brilliantly imagined mysteryfrom a New York Times bestselling authorfeaturing Austen's leading literary characters.

"Had Jane Austen sat down to write a country house murder mystery, this is exactly the book she would have written." -Alexander McCall Smith

The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a party at their country estate, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances-charactersbeloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broaderarray of enemies. As tempers flare and secretsare revealed, it's clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yetthey're all shockedwhen Wickham turns up murdered-except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst.

Nearly everyone at the house party is a suspect, so itfalls to the party's two youngest guests to solve the mystery- Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry, eager for adventurebeyondNorthanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, the Darcys' eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem almost relaxed. In thistantalizing fusion of Austen and Christie, fromNew York Timesbestselling author Claudia Gray, the unlikely pair must put aside their own poor first impressionsand uncover the guilty party-before an innocent person is sentenced to hang.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL