Wednesday, August 16, 2023

The Portraits of Pemberley by Elizabeth Gilliland

 


Do you like to decorate your house with portraits of people, animals, scenery, or something else?

The Portraits of Pemberley by Elizabeth Gilliland is the second novel in the Austen University Mysteries series.  It can be read alone, but I think it helps to have read the first novel to know who all of the characters are. 

George Wickham has been found naked and tied up on the Austen University campus square.  University President de Bourgh tells Lizzy Bennet that she must found out who did this or she will be expelled.  As Lizzy works to solve the mystery, her nemesis, Fo-Hian Darcy is the prime suspect.  When she discovers that there is a website called “The Portraits of Pemberley” which involves pictures of female students in various states of undress (taken without their knowledge), she is infuriated.  She works on solving both of these mysteries.

I liked that once again characters had names and some traits of the characters from Jane Austen’s novels, but they had personalities of their own.  I especially liked that Lizzy discovered throughout the novel that she shouldn’t judge people as they have layers and problems that she may not know about. The character of Karoline was one such person. I greatly enjoyed that Lizzy and Karoline had an interesting crime solving partnership.

I figured the mystery out but delighted in watching the characters put the pieces together.  There were a lot of characters, and the story did jump around in time so it took concentration to keep everything together on my end.

Overall, this was a fun cozy mystery and I hope to read and enjoy more in this series.

Book Source: Review Copy from author Elizabeth Gilliland.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Book Info

Author Name - Elizabeth Gilliland
The Book Title - The Portraits of Pemberley
Genre - Cozy Mystery
Date of Release - July 5th 2023
Number in Series - 2
Publisher - Bayou Wolf Press
Number of Pages - 285

Synopsis of the book

After George Wickham is found tied up, naked, on the Austen University Campus Square, President de Bourgh gives student journalist Lizzy Bennet an ultimatum: Find out who committed the crime, or be expelled from the school. Lizzy must team up with some old friends (like the Austen Murder Club) and some new (like...Karoline Bingley?) to get to the bottom of the truth.

Complicating matters is the fact that the prime suspect is Fo-Hian Darcy. Darcy and Lizzy have a messy history, but even so, Lizzy just can't accept that Darcy committed the crime. An anonymous whistleblower tips off Lizzy about a secret website called the Portraits of Pemberley that may help her get to the bottom of the mystery--but discovering the truth about who's involved may very well challenge everything that Lizzy believes.

The Portraits of Pemberley is Book 2 of the Austen University Mysteries series but can be read as a standalone novel. It combines plot points of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with Sense and Sensibility (and characters from all of Austen's novels) in a modern-university setting, with mysteries.

Author Bio 

Elizabeth Gilliland is a writer, Dr., wife, mom, and lifelong Jane Austen fan. She is a playwright (whose plays have appeared off-off Broadway), a screenwriter (with a master's in screenwriting and production), an academic (with a PhD and a dissertation on Jane Austen adaptations), and now a published author! When she isn't writing or grading papers, she is most likely reading a good book, binge watching the latest hit, working on a puzzle, or hanging with her cute kid.


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