Although I admit Bebris is no Jane Austen, I must confess I relished this book, often smiling while reading, and went on to read and enjoy the rest in the series published to date. The book is first of a series where Mr and Mrs Darcy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice are sleuths, often with an element of the supernatural and romance.
I have a couple of friends who are Jane Austen fans I pointed this series to who didn't care for them as much as I did. One said she didn't find them anything special and another didn't finish that first book. That friend though said something that gave me insight into why I do enjoy these so much. She said at least Bebris doesn't try to imitate Austen's style--that those who do always fail. I've tried and disliked Stephenie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries. There the conceit is these are written by Austen, and Barron takes a stab at reproducing Jane Austen's prose style and never convinces me. She just doesn't have the wit and insight to carry it off. Bebris, in trying instead to just capture the personality of the Austen characters and sound of their dialogue, succeeds much better, I think. Much better in that than the one Austen pastiche I'd tried before this, Linda Berdoll's Mr Darcy Takes a Wife where I found the characters unrecognizable. And there's the charm for me in the books by Bebris--that they're good enough to make me feel like I'm visiting old friends.
This particular book centers on a mystery surrounding Caroline Bingley, who has married a charming American, Frederick Parrish, soon after the Darcys marry. After her wedding Caroline seems to be becoming unhinged and dangerous accidents dog the Bingleys. There's an element of the supernatural in the events reminiscent of the gothic novels Austen parodied in Northanger Abbey I feel mixed about, with a psychic Elizabeth acting as Mulder to a skeptic Scully Darcy. It's well-done though--just know going in you're dealing with the paranormal taken seriously, which after all is more than hinted at in the title.
Although I'm hardly a scholar of the period, the book feels to me like it gets it right, with lots of details that suggest Bebris did her homework. Even if you changed the names involved, this would work well as a historical mystery with a deft twist and resolution.
