In this rare meeting of literary talents, the late mystery writer par excellence P.D. James draws the characters of Jane Austen's beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem. It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley Estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable, but on the eve of their annual autumn ball, a coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who shrieks that her dubious husband Wickham has been murdered, plunging Pemberley into a shocking mystery.

"Of all the other pens to take up where Austen left off, P.D. James's is head and shoulders above the rest."—Evening Standard (London)