The Late Mrs. Willoughby

A Novel

By: Claudia Gray

Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The suspenseful sequel to The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which sees Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney reunited, and with another mystery to solve: the dreadful poisoning of the scoundrel Willoughby's new wife.

“An absolute page-turner full of well-plotted mystery and hints of simmering romance.... More of the Jane Austen characters we love (as well as those we love to hate).”—Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo

Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who's returned home to Devonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride.

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby's new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town.

With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman's newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.

©2023 Claudia Gray (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An absolute page-turner full of well-plotted mystery and hints of simmering romance, The Late Mrs. Willoughby expands on Gray’s wonderfully original amateur sleuths, Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney, while bringing in more of the Jane Austen characters we love (as well as those we love to hate). This is fast becoming one of my favorite series and I’m already eager for the next installment!” —Mia P. Manansala, author of Homicide and Halo-Halo and Arsenic and Adobo

“Delightful. Claudia Gray is systematically taking out all of the unpleasant characters in Jane Austen’s novels, and I am here for it.” —Juneau Black, author of Shady Hollow

“A delectable treat of a read, blending the world of Austen with a gripping and gorgeous detective story—the word romp was practically made for this book!” —Sophie Irwin, author of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting

Really Enjoyed This Second Book!

This was fun and well written. Gray creates interesting story lines with the characters us Janeites love, while adding some intriguing new characters in Jonathan and Juliet. Parts were suspenseful, and I enjoyed this book even more than the first. These books are pure fluffy fun and great entertainment for relaxing. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

A great second installment!

I enjoyed the second installment very much! I loved seeing familiar characters and new as well. I look forward to Jonathan and Juliet’s sorry evolving more and can’t wait for the next book. The narration was very great!

Such fun!

I very much enjoyed the second book in Claudia Gray's Austen-Universe. There is no shortage of adaptations of Austen's stories and characters. What is so refreshing about Claudia's stories is that the characters read so very much as if they are exactly the continuation of Austen's original heroes and heroines. I look forward to reading the third book.

Love Juliet and Jonathan - they are great together

This is the second book in a fabulous series. It features a new favorite couple, Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney. I fell in love with them in the first book and that love affair is continuing after this book, Jonathan and Juliet joined up at a house party in the first book to investigate the murder of the villainous George Wickham. Now as they both attend another house party at the Willoughby's home and now must investigate the murder by poison of Mrs. Willoughby. This series has a hodgepodge mixture of characters from several of Jane Austen's novels. I usually don't like that (it is an overload of characters in my opinion) but it works in this book. The author has a good imagination and I had a difficult time deciding on who did what. Many people have good motivation for murder in both the first and second books. The sad thing about all of this is that I now must wait until June of 2024 for the third book, which I definitely will purchase.
The narrator is excellent. She does not "overdo" the characters. All is smooth and convincing.

Juliet and Jonathan are on the case

I was very excited for this book. The first book in the series was so well plotted and really kept me guessing until the end. While the ultimate mystery was a little easier to solve this go round, I still really enjoyed the story. Can't wait to see how Juliet and Jonathan next get thrown together!

This Series is Taking A Special Place In My Heart

This series is taking a special place in my heart. I adore exploring cozy mysteries with Jane Austen's many characters. Yet again, this was absolutely delightful. While it does start off not feeling quite as engaging as this first book in this series, I found that it picks up decently fast. Even if this one was a tad easy to solve, I was thoroughly invested. I still enjoyed reading about Juliet and Jonathan solving mysteries and falling in love with each other. I'm firmly in the camp of rooting for them to get together. I’m already looking forward to the next installment.

Enjoyable read

This was a light hearted listen. Obviously reminiscent to Austen and very enjoyable. Recommend, for sure.

Poor Mrs. Willoughby…

This is the second book in the series and almost as good as the first one. I highly recommend this series and I am looking forward to any future installments. If you are a Jane Austen fan I can just about guarantee that you will love this series.

I loved it!

Any normal reader wondered what would happen when Willoughby finally inherited Allenham. I’m not completely convinced that his estate was so close to the Brandon estate, but I love the way this was played out. I’m really looking forward to the next installment!

Late Mrs Willoughby

This is a wonderful book on par with Jane Austin. Loved it and I can’t wait for the next books in the series