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joycet 's review for:
Death Comes to Pemberley
by P.D. James
I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I read it quickly with interest. It seemed to start well in feeling like Jane Austen, but then it didn't anymore. I tried to work out what bothered me, and I think I finally have it. Austen's books are told from the viewpoint of the heroine, and certain things happen off stage because as a woman in that time, she wasn't able to be there. For so much of this book, we had to get a male viewpoint, because all the legal proceedings were in the men's world - and this view did not ring true.
Also, there really was no mystery - more time was spent on working out how to deal with the aftermath than sorting out what happened. It was an interesting idea necessarily hamstrung by the author's need to stay within the cultural boundaries of the time period. I think it was as good as she was going to get. I will also say I thought the denouement was too quickly wrapped up and dangerously close to oversimplified.
Also, there really was no mystery - more time was spent on working out how to deal with the aftermath than sorting out what happened. It was an interesting idea necessarily hamstrung by the author's need to stay within the cultural boundaries of the time period. I think it was as good as she was going to get. I will also say I thought the denouement was too quickly wrapped up and dangerously close to oversimplified.