Hello and happy Sunday, dear readers! Today I'd like to invite you to step into a world where Regency elegance meets thrilling intrigue! In this upcoming release, Crime & Culpability: A Jane Austen Mystery Anthology, some of your favorite Austen characters find themselves entangled in captivating mysteries, with clues hidden beneath the surface of every story. Whether it’s Darcy investigating a murder or Emma Woodhouse solving an art heist, each tale invites you to join the sleuths and unravel the secrets within. Ready to discover how Austen’s timeless charm blends seamlessly with a dash of mystery? Scroll down and dive into this unique anthology where the game is afoot! MG x
Book Blurb
"No one can withstand the charm of such a mystery." - Jane Austen, Persuasion
Jane Austen mysteries have become a popular subgenre of Austen variations, but this is more than just a trend. Austen was a masterful storyteller who embedded clues within her stories for her readers to follow, inviting readers to read between the lines and "gather the evidence" to follow her intricate plotlines.
In this anthology, various authors who are also fans and admirers of Austen's work have taken the challenge to add some mystery to Austen's stories and characters. From Regency sequels to film noir retellings to cozy art heists, Crime & Culpability: A Jane Austen Mystery Anthology explores the many faces of Austen and all of her enigmas.
Featuring stories by Regina Jeffers, Riana Everly, Jeanette Watts, Michael Rands, Linne Elizabeth, Emma Dalgety, and Elizabeth Gilliland, with a foreword by Regina Jeffers and an introduction by Elizabeth Gilliland Rands.
Excerpt from the Introduction to the Anthology, by editor Elizabeth Gilliland Rands
Austen does not always spell things out for us clearly, but leaves us to connect the pieces for ourselves, and sometimes even draw our own conclusions. (Was Charlotte wrong to marry Mr. Collins? Could Mr. Crawford really have been redeemed by Fanny’s love? Just how often did Colonel Brandon wear his flannel waistcoat, anyway?) We must discern who is sincere, who is lying, who is hiding their true feelings, and why. As Lisa Hopkins writes, Austen “consistently invite[s]...readers to construe meaning in a discriminating, alert, and nuanced way” (para. 10). The actions of Austen’s characters do not always match their words; we, as the reader, must play detective along with the heroine and look beyond the surface to discover the truth of peoples’ motives, all while paying close attention to the evidence provided. Mirroring the experience of reading a good mystery novel, returning to Austen’s novels again often reveals the clever sleights of hand that have been performed in the narration to obscure the truth from us until the end, when everything is happily resolved. We understand, suddenly, why Knightley
develops such a strong and immediate dislike for Frank Churchill, why Captain Wentworth always seems to take more of an interest in talking to Louisa when Anne is nearby, and why Mr. Wickham decides to single Lizzy out as the Bennet sister to receive his attentions. The mystery in Austen’s novels is not ever will a happy ending be achieved, but how will it be achieved, and what clues have been planted along the way to lead us there.
Crime and Culpability
This anthology, and the authors involved, hope to pay loving tribute to the many Austen-mystery connections that exist, and to continue the conversation around why these two seemingly disparate genres (Austenesque fiction and mystery) seem to go hand-in-hand so very well. As you will see as you continue reading, we have quite a range of stories, from Regency-era murders to modern-day noirs. Continue reading to find:
In “Order and Disorder,” Regina Jeffers returns to her original character, Detective Thomas Cowan, as he and Mr. Darcy investigate a murder related to familiar faces from Darcy’s past.
In “Shadows at Northanger” by Jeanette Watts, original characters move to Northanger Abbey and soon discover the home is not as idyllic as it first seems.
In “Death at the Races” by Riana Everly (a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and a Mary and Alexander short story), a trip to the horse races ends in murder.
In “The Beginning and the End,” by Elizabeth Gilliland (an Austen University Mysteries short story), Professor Walter Elias discovers he is being blackmailed and turns to an unexpected source for help.
In “New Year, New Problems” by Linné Elizabeth, a robbery takes place in a modern club setting, after Liam Darcy and Izzy Bennet have a close encounter.
In “Detective Woodhouse and the Gallery of Forgery” by Emma Dalgety, a painting goes missing—but no fear, Emma Woodhouse is on the case!
In “Darcy’s Revenge” by Michael Rands, a modernized, noir-styled sequel to Pride and Prejudice, Darcy has fallen on some hard times thanks to putting his trust in an old friend.
We hope you will enjoy playing detective with our sleuths, piecing together not only the clues of the mystery, but also how these pieces fit in with Austen’s original works. Some stories are direct sequels; others introduce new characters; some are variations; and some may not clearly spell out what their direct involvement with Austen and her work might be. Watch out for a few red herrings along the way, and best of luck in solving the crime before the last page. The game is afoot!
OUT ON SEPTEMBER 10th, 2024
