Book Review - Pride, Prejudice, and Poison

Pride, Prejudice and Poison (A June Austen Society Mystery # 1)
Author:  Elizabeth Blake
Publisher:  Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date:  August 23, 2019
2 Stars


Pride, Prejudice and Poison is a cozy mystery that takes place in Kirkbymoorside, a village in North Yorkshire.  Most of the key players in the book belong to the local Jane Austen Society.  Their current president is Sylvia Pemberthy.  Sylvia does not seem to be well liked, both for her governing skills and for personal reasons.  When Sylvia winds up dead, there is a long list of suspects to be sorted through.  That task falls to Detective Inspector Peter Hemming and Sergeant Rashid Jarral.  Farnsworth Appleby becomes the prime suspect when it is learned that Sylvia had been poisoned, and Farnsworth was the one who had served her the tea.  Erin Coleridge, a close friend of Farnsworth’s and crime aficionado, decides she must help prove Farnsworth’s innocence.  Erin quickly learns that solving a crime is much harder than reading about one, and it is much more dangerous.  DI Hemming works hard to solve the case before someone else is killed.

I went into this book with high hopes as I thought a mystery centered around Jane Austen and her novels sounded like fun.  However, I didn’t particularly enjoy the first 2/3 of this story.  The writing wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.  The plot seemed slow, and the characters were hard to connect with, both of which made it difficult to focus on the story.  The Jane Austen quotes were overdone and proved to be a hinderance to the story as well.

The last 1/3 of the book was pretty good.  The pace picked up, and I found myself more invested in the story.  I was anxious to learn the who and the why.  I enjoyed how the author wrapped up the story.


Thank to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book.  #NetGalley #PridePrejudiceAndPoison