Pride, Prejudice, and Poison

A Jane Austen Society Mystery, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Blake

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

Perfect for fans of Laura Levine and Stephanie Barron, Elizabeth Blake's Jane Austen Society mystery debut is a mirthfully morbid merger of manners and murder.

In this Austen-tatious debut, antiquarian bookstore proprietor Erin Coleridge uses her sense and sensibility to deduce who killed the president of the local Jane Austen Society.

Erin Coleridge's used bookstore in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England, is a meeting place for the villagers and, in particular, for the local Jane Austen Society. At the Society's monthly meeting, matters come to a head between the old guard and its young turks. After the meeting breaks for tea, persuasion gives way to murder with extreme prejudice when president Sylvia Pemberthy falls dead to the floor. Poisoned? Presumably, but by whom? And was Sylvia the only target?

Handsome but shy Detective Inspector Peter Hemming and charismatic Sergeant Rashid Jarral arrive at the scene. The long suspect list includes Sylvia's lover Kurt Becker and his tightly wound wife Suzanne. Or, perhaps, the killer was Sylviaâ's own cuckolded husband, Jerome. Among the many Society members who may have had her in their sights is dashing Jonathan Alder, who was heard having a royal battle of words with the late president the night before.

Then, when Jonathan Alder narrowly avoids becoming the next victim, Farnsworth (the town's cat lady) persuades a seriously time-crunched Erin to help DI Hemming. But the killer is more devious than anyone imagines.

©2019 Carole Buggé (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Where was the editor??

This is not a terrible story or a real waste of time, but there are some annoying things. The text is so repetitive- characters repeat verbatim dialogue from the previous chapter; phrases are used nonironically to describe different people.
But the main problem I had was the lack of reaction by anyone in the cast of characters to the murder. It happened, it was mentioned, then tea and cakes were served. The victim *SLIGHT SPOILER* was one of their group- their club- and there would not unnaturally be endless gossip and speculation re the occurrence. Here, there was much more talk about the victim Before than after their murder.
Finally, I realize this is a P&P or Jane Austen club, but the number of ready (often lengthy) JA quotations by club members is, well, unlikely. It sounds as if the author googled for them any time a significant word or phrase struck a chord with them.
Not terrible, no, but nothing quite rings true, with cast nor storyline

Loved it

Please tell me there will be more Jane Austen society mysteries. Really fun book to listen to when taking a walk.

Not My Cup of Tea

Normally this is exactly the kind of book I like, but I had to quit listening after they started talking about being atheists . . . ugh . . . and having their meetings in a church . . . why not just leave that out?

Not good

This was awesomely BAD! Terrible narration too. Couldn't in good faith give the story or performance even 1 star.

Pseudo English

I kept wondering throughout this book if there had been a poor editor trying to translate English words into American. I have now discovered that the author is an American trying to write an English novel. Those of us brought up in England have to grit our teeth at the very obvious errors. I think the worst blunder is probably the idea of an English policeman eating a jelly (English would be jam) doughnut. First, where would he buy one in England, and second why would he waste his calories in a doughnut when he could have obtained delicious pastries or cakes from a bakery? The reader makes a reasonable effort but has a cadence which is totally unEnglish and every time she pronounced 'lorry' as lawry I winced. Why do American authors not stick to what they know and leave stories set in England to authors born there.

Fun & entertaining, but not P&P

I enjoyed listening to this book. I originally purchased thinking it would be a modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice based on the title but that is not the case. The P&P characters are mentioned throughout but it is a completely different story. At first I was disappointed, but it began to grow on me. I enjoyed the story & the characters and the mystery. The narrator did a good job too.

Ok but...

This is an ok book. The characters are engaging and the story is interesting. Erin makes novice mistakes several times. I'll get the next one in the series to see if it gets better.

good entertainment

a lot of mystery and a little hit of romance. enjoyed this book - will read more.

Very fun cozy mystery

I enjoy mysteries that engage without over sensationalizing or sex. That element is for a different genre.
This ticked all the boxes of suspense, empathy, good and strong feminine characters with friendship at the center. Yes. Well done. The only challenge is the narrators substantial increase in volume when giving voice to a character. It required frequent adjustment of the volume on my older device.

better then expected

I ended up enjoying this more then I expected. it was a recommendation based on a book I didn't like. I enjoy reading Jane Austin books, so I gave it a try. I liked it.

Oh dear!

Why do American authors writing books with British speakers never get the grammar and vocabulary correct? Gotten? Sidewalk? Teacakes are a light yeast-based sweet bun containing dried fruit, typically served toasted with butter spread over them as opposed to the American teacake which is a small cake. Yorkshire folk don’t like the monarchy? We say tap not faucet. While the narrator is generally speaks British English when she said mobile as in mobile phone it took a while to realise what was meant. Small things but enough to annoy. I will finish listening to the book as long as I can control my tutting.

Disappointing …

This seemed to go on…and on…
No real (or believable) plot, poorly defined characters and a really disappointing ending.
I absolutely agree with the reviewer who found the author’s rather insulting ignorance about so many aspects of British life distracting.
Surely, if setting a story in an unfamiliar country/culture, it would make sense to run it past someone who could pick up the (often glaring) errors ? Isn’t that what editors are for?

Do yourself a favour and give this tripe a swerve

Do not read this book if you are British, especially from Yorkshire. An American writer attempting (but failing miserably) to appear British and a narrator whose varying attempts at different accents all come out as a weird Irish/Scottish hybrid make for a truly terrible book and performance. Littered with the massive cultural differences between Brits and those across the pond, in addition to glaring errors throughout, it will get on your last nerve.

Good housework listen

make your mind up author's. The mix of American and English terminology detracts from the story
The narrator has some irritating pronunciation and inflection.An easy listening free title suitable while doing something else.

Poor research

Overall story was good. What spoilt it for me was the poor research. The author is obviously American and used word such as forcet for tap and Vicodin both of which not used in Britain
The poor Yorkshire accents used by the narrator also spoilt it

Appalling narration

The story might have been decent but I couldn’t get that far. This narrator is so dreadful that I couldn’t continue. For example, she pronounces mobile phone as moball phone, and there are plenty of other examples. Add that to Americanisms that don’t belong in a novel set in England with English characters and you have a pretty awful audio experience lined up.

Good story spoilt by Americanised language

This novel is set in Yorkshire. Water comes out of "taps" not "fawcets". The story is littered with similar American-isms which jar for an English listener and spoilt the narrative. Thankfully, "mobile" has not been replaced by "cell phone" but even that is pronounced strangely.

a joy to listen too.

a wonderful book. The artistry is beautifully detailed and observant. A joy to listen too.

Enjoyable but intrusive Americanisms.

Whilst enjoying the story, the Americanisms were a distraction (Fall, intersection, faucet etc) and she needs to brush up on the British police, she seems confused about Chief Constables. There were some dreadful attempts at accents the narrator does posh English well but not regional accents.

Great story but accents not great

As a UK listener I found the accents really bad. I’m not sure if the narrator is British, but the Yorkshire accent was completely off & so really distracted me from the story. The story was good though & overall I enjoyed it.