North By Northanger, or The Shades of Pemberley: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery (Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries)

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, the courting couple from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice take the roles of Regency versions of Nick and Nora as they uncover a family secret of the past to deal with a contemporary crisis of estate and other family matters Publishers Weekly Bebris provides another feast for Janeites in her third Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery (after 2005's Suspense and Sensibility). Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam, about a year into their marriage, stop off at Northanger Abbey on their way from Bath to Pemberley, at the invitation of Captain Tilney. There the couple find a poorly managed house and their good-natured host swathed in bandages. After a brief visit, they've scarcely resumed their journey when a Gloucestershire constable arrests them on the charge of stealing a diamond set belonging to the late Mrs. Tilney, the captain's mother. A note written by Darcy's mother 18 years earlier hinting at a lost family heirloom and Elizabeth's condition further complicate this well-told tale. Austen's fans will be happy to see the reappearance of not only the Bennet family but also Lady Catherine de Burgh. For film buffs, there's an echo of Hitchcock's thriller, though the crags of the Peak District must stand in for Mount Rushmore. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. After the excitement of their recent Season in London, the Darcys are eager to reach Pemberley. The look forward to spending a peacful time enjoying Elizabeth's first pregnancy. However, such serene solitude is not meant to be. First a mysterious letter from the long-deceased Lady Anne Fitzwilliam Darcy is discovered. Then, a summons to Northanger Abbey involves the young couple in intrigues that threaten not just the Darcy legacy and good name, but quite possibly Darcy's freedom as well. Making matters even worse for the newly expectant mother, Darcy's overbearing Aunt Catherine de Burgh arrives to further bedevil Elizabeth. Adding to all of the madness are rumors of treasure and past scandals. Pemberley is not the quiet estate the Darcys envisioned. Rather, it is home to secrets and spirits of the past, whose revelations can have a chilling effect on not only the Darcys but on their growing family. (from the back cover of the book - this is the third book in Bebris's Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries series) Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy find their situation compromised by challenges to the family fortune, the arrival of Darcy's imperial-minded aunt, and the discovery of a family heirloom that holds the key to a secret conspiracy Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy take a trip into the past in a mystery that involves not murder but a missing statue, the person trying to find it and why Lady Anne had it in her possession Less than a year into the marriage that made her mistress of one of England's finest houses, Elizabeth Darcy knew she still had much to learn about the place she now called home.