Think you know Jane Austen? Well, think again, as superfan and Cardiff University graduate Lucy Andrew is here to ruffle a few feathered bonnets. Her debut novel, A Very Vexing Murder, takes the characters of Emma (plus a couple of minor players from Pride & Prejudice) and drops them into a whodunnit.
Longtime readers will remember Harriet Smith as Emma’s penniless friend and unwitting protégée, but Andrew deftly refashions her into a tricksy, no-nonsense conwoman. Employed by Frank Churchill’s austere aunt to solve a string of local murders, Harriet must wheedle her way into Highbury high society and uncover the dastardly culprit before they strike again.
In terms of the all-important romance, it’s slightly more Bingley than Darcy-esque, and the story can play a little too fast and loose with the source material at times – poor Robert Martin is demoted from a steadfast paramour to the promiscuous gay best friend cliché – but as a murder mystery it provides all the twists, turns and shoals of red herrings that fans of the genre have come to love. A diverting and delightful romp, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that Austen devotees will require little persuasion to step back inside the world she created.
