Carrie Bebris, North by Northanger, or The Shades of Pemberley

North by Northanger, or The Shades of Pemberley

Carrie Bebris

Forge, Apr 2006, $22.95

ISBN 076531410X

Family friend Captain Tilney invites Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy to stop at Northanger Abbey for a few days. Stunned by finding a letter written by Fitz's long deceased mother Lady Anne Fitzwilliam that shockingly implies a family heirloom was lost or stolen in some mysterious ways, the couple agree to visit the Captain who knew Lady Anne. However, the married couple are shocked by how run down his house is, and even more so by all the bandages the captain wears.

Keeping the visit short, as Fitz wants his beloved pregnant wife resting at their country home, the Darcys continue their trek, only to have a Gloucestershire constable arrest them for stealing jewelry that once belonged to the Captain's deceased wife. Fitz and Elizabeth worry about his potential incarceration as a jewel thief, so they begin to investigate what is happening now and what had occurred in the past, perhaps with his mother's involvement at Northanger Abbey.

The latest Darcy Regency amateur sleuth connects five degrees of Jane Austen to Alfred Hitchcock, in a well written exhilarating tale that the great author and excellent director would have appreciated. The inquiries this time are refreshed by a knowing growing desperation, as the one year married couple begin to doubt they will have a second anniversary together. Fans who gain pleasure from SUSPENSE AND SENSIBILITY in their novels will enjoy this strong thriller and Carrie Bebris' previous mysteries that pay homage to Austen.