The Rushworth Family Plot

Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mysteries, Book 4

De: Claudia Gray

Narrado por: Billie Fulford-Brown

The fourth book in New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray's Jane Austen sequel series, which finds amateur sleuths Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney caught up in the whirlwind of the London Season—and in a murderous scheme involving the family of Edmund and Fanny Bertram

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it's a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet's grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund's brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet's, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley's previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund's sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn't marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

©2025 Claudia Gray (P)2025 Random House Audio

NO SPOILERS: 4/5 stars, but overall a good addition to the series.

I've thoroughly enjoyed this series and this new book was not an exception. The pacing was good, the characters well fleshed out, as always. The narrator's performance was as phenomenal as it has been for the other books in the series. However, one complaint is that this was the first book in this series that felt a bit predictable at times. I enjoyed the previous three because they kept you guessing and second guessing your predictions, but the same cannot be said for this book. Also, while I appreciate the need to continue to create instances for the main characters to come together to solve murders, I'm left dissatisfied with the state of their relationship. Without spoiling, I think the incident involving the pair towards the end of the book did a lot more harm than good overall for their story. 4/5 because of these two complaints, but still a good book. I will be reading #5 when it is released!

Please tell me that wasn’t the last of this series!

Day one of its release and I finished it already. I couldn’t stop listening and now I’m worried there won’t be any more Miss Tilney and Mister Darcy (the younger) for me to appreciate. Claudia Gray wove an impressive plot for our young hero and heroine to navigate. Excellent plotting and characters to love and hate are the bedrock of her mysteries. Now I must go back and read the second and third books in this series to refresh the background before listening to the Rushworth saga again. Billie Fulford-Brown, a new narrator to me, has done a fine job with all the characters and depiction of London and the Regency Season. Don’t miss this one. The audiobook cover does tell it all!

Another delight!

This is another great installment in the series. The writing is excellent - very clever and fun - and the narration excellent. I hope there will be another book soon!

Keeps getting better

I can't believe the complaints about this latest installment of the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney Mysteries! The series began by delightfully and skillfully bringing together all the Austen protagonists for a murder mystery--but the author continues to mine Austen's oeuvre for completely believable succeeding chapters in all their lives. This book, which brought together Juliet's portrait from Book 2, the scheming Caroline Bingley, the Bertram families various scandals and connections to slavery in the West Indies, was so much more than just the delightful mystery (in which a deeply unpleasant character gets a satisfying comeuppance). Jonathan Darcy's final line was pitch-perfect, and catapults him into what I hope is the next installment. I listened to all four books nonstop and absolutely loved them all. In all the books I have only caught two errors (one anachronism and one grammatical error)--the Austen pastiche is spot-on and while of course the whole series is tongue-in-cheek, it works because the details of the lifestyle and culture of the time, as well as the syntax and language, are so consistent and lovingly reproduced. A winner!

Loved the narrator & the story!

Another fabulous whodunit in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mysteries! I love following these Jane Austen 2nd generation sleuths as they tackle complex mysteries. The Rushworth Family Plot features characters mainly from Mansfield Park in a stunning murder mystery involving several well known suspects.

It’s the London season, & both Juliet Tilney & Jonathan Darcy are in attendance. Despite their feelings for each other & ability to work so well together, their parents have forbidden a match between them. But when murder is afoot, there’s no better sleuthing team.

Jonathan is staying with Edmund & Fanny Bertram at their brother’s Sir Thomas’ home. Sir Thomas is hoping to be engaged to the former Caroline Bingley’s daughter, & when Caroline discovers Jonathan Darcy’s staying with them, she contrives to have her other daughter become the future mistress of Pemberley.

Meanwhile, Maria Rushworth, the disgraced sister of the Bertram’s has returned with a small daughter in tow. Though she claims she’s her ex-husband’s, Mr. Rushworth, their are rumors she’s Henry Crawford’s child. Rushworth agrees to change his will acknowledging the child as his own, but before the ink is dried, he’s murdered. It’s once again up to Jonathan & Juliet to investigate.

I love Juliet & Jonathan! They’re becoming one of my favorite detective couples. Jonathan’s most likely neurodivergent & though he’s baffled at times by people & hates the noise of London, he’s an excellent investigator & has a deep love for Juliet. I love his determination to marry her despite their future together seeming all but lost.

Juliet is Jonathan’s perfect match. She has a brilliant mind of her own & works seamlessly with Jonathan. She understands him so well & is able to anticipate his emotions & needs.

The mystery really kept me on my toes! There are two unsolved murders in this story with several shocking twists. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from Mansfield Park & the way the author captures their personalities so well. It felt like a natural continuation of the story. The ending left me highly anticipating the next book in the series.

I listened to the audiobook version & absolutely loved the narrator. She did a fantastic job bringing all of these characters to life. Her voice was easy to listen to & the performance was enjoyable.

Highly recommend! Can’t wait to see what happens next!

More, more more!

I’ve enjoyed this series so much, and I do hope the author has more novels planned!

Still nice, but lacking

While I still enjoyed the mystery and characters, it’s becoming increasingly harder to see all of the impossible ways our leads are being kept apart. There is no reason why the series can’t continue with the pair engaged or married and all the difficulties keeping them apart are getting ridiculous. This was an immediate buy for me, but I may have to wait for more reviews before deciding to purchase book 5.

Hard to believe that the author wanted the voice to be so sacharine

This was a fun series and I looked forward to this installment. I kept telling myself I should go read ithe book rather than listen to it. The narrator made the protagonists appear simpering, extremely immature, and a bit pitiable. Hard to sustain interest with characters like that. Also, aspects of the plot and facts were extremely unbelievable.