A Murder at Rosings by Annette Purdey Pugh is an intriguing mystery novel set in the world of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It follows the story of Mary Bennett who is investigating the mysterious death of a family member.

With plenty of suspense and intriguing plot twists, it is a great read for fans of period fiction and mystery. The characters are well-developed, and the writing is crisp and captivating. I enjoyed the fact that there are several characters that are known from Pride and Prejudice, I could picture them from the TV series which added to my enjoyment.

A Murder at Rosings is an enjoyable and entertaining read that I recommend.

I am a Pride and Prejudice lover and have been since childhood so although a murder mystery isn’t my normal choice I wanted to pick this up and read more from the world Jane Austen created. I was unfortunately disappointed, and I think most of that disappointment lies with me not the author. I did enjoy the cozy setting but I just couldn’t get on board with the detectives and I am realising that more and more I am just not a fan of the whodunnit mystery. Nicely written, just not for me!

𝐀 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
I enjoyed this spin off from Pride and Prejudice.
Mr Collins meets an unfortunate ending in Lady Catherine de Bough’s flower beds. But no one seems to have seen or heard anything… or have they?
I enjoyed joining Mary as she tried to discover what had happened along with the local police. She rises to the occasion to defend her father and prove him innocent.
I enjoyed all the characters here, my only criticism is that Lady Catherine was far too nice!!
I did guess who-dunnit but that didn’t stop me enjoying the story at all.
A decent murder mystery 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A good fun look at what might happen if the repulsive Mr Collins got what many might have wanted for him. It’s not Austen, but it’s amusing nonetheless.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I haven't read any of the numerous Pride and Prejudice adaptations so when I saw this book available as a Read Now option on NetGalley, I picked it up eagerly. The cover looked great and the premise sounded promising with it being a murder mystery set in Rosings Park, the estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh...the victim none other than Mr. Collins! It was shocking to see Mr. Collins killed off at the beginning itself but that turned out to be the only shocking aspect about this mystery. The rest of the book was pretty dry. The investigation dragged and the end reveal too didn't create much excitement. The only characters we get to see here from the original are Lady Catherine, Lady Anne and their entire household/staff, Mary Bennet and Mr. Bennet, Charlotte and her father. New characters include the local magistrate and constable incharge with solving the murder and different members of the Rosings Park staff. Mary and Anne strike up a close friendship and it was good to see both of them finding a kindred spirit in each other.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Honno Press and the author for the e-Arc of the book.

A Murder at Rosings is an engaging and entertaining Austenesque murder mystery. This sequel to P&P is historically accurate, and is written in the Regency literature style, without any glaring period language errors. It is a satisfying and diverting homage to Pride and Prejudice.
The characters stay reasonably faithful to the originals, apart from maybe Lady Catherine.
A Murder at Rosings is a novel about skeletons in the cupboard, family, loyalty and friendship.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

As sequel of sorts to Pride and Prejudice, A Murder at Rosings focuses on a murder investigation. The victim? Mr Collins (not surprised at the choice there). The weapon? A paper knife. The culprit? To be confirmed...

Currently re-reading P&P, I really enjoyed having another story focusing on the side characters. However, it also highlighted the different writing style. While I really liked reading this story, I would often compare the different speech patterns. Similarly, I thought that the author made (overall) Lady Catherine de Bourgh, shall I say "nicer", than she was in the original book.

If you love anything P&P, and murder mysteries, you will really enjoy A Murder at Rosings, and who knows, you might guess whodunnit.

A Murder?! At Rosings?! Perish the thought! A compelling detective story with familiar characters, but a plot all its own!

The rector of the parish is found dead in the grounds of Rosings, home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, her daughter, her daughter's companions, and a whole grand household of servants, many had opportunity, some had the means, but who had the motive?

I wasn't sure if I would like this at first, I felt the Austen-like language a bit contrived at times, to begin with, but once the book and I became accustomed to each other, I got drawn in to the story and started trying to unpick the clues, and wonder who the villain might be. I really liked the characters that the author chose to highlight from the original, and that the mystery was not being solved by any of the characters made famous by Austen. I think we often get the main character-turned-detective idea in similar classic literature-based mysteries, but I think this worked really well for having previously-unknown characters as the magistrate and constable, it meant that characters we do know could be examined along with those we don't.

I read this pretty much in one sitting, after the halting start, it was a quick and easy read, though the plot went much darker than I anticipated, turning to more disturbing ideas and scenes than I was prepared for. I think I will view some of the characters in a new light after reading this, some in a better light, some much worse, it was a really interesting use of the characters.

As a light adult reading experience, with an edge, and an Austen setting, I would recommend this to anyone who likes to read Austen-based stories and retellings, and anyone who likes a good murder mystery.

I absolutely loved this. Not sure if it's meant to be a standalone novel or the first in a series, but I would definitely read more adventures with these investigators with cameos from my favourite new BFFs (or possibly more? I don't know, but I would be willing to ship it). If there are more, I'd love to have Lizzy and Darcy visit Rosings in the next installment.

The book started a bit slowly, but once it got going I couldn't put it down. The mystery was well written. I thought I had it all figured out early on, but there were a few twists and turns and I had to keep reevaluating my theories. The resolution was satisfying.

I enjoyed the original characters and liked the realism with the young and vulnerable servants, although sometimes it was difficult to read as a modern reader. Please be aware that there are some references to sexual assault although nothing graphic.

I was quite glad Mary didn't end up with a husband. It wasn't a romance and she didn't particularly want a husband so I was happy with the way things ended for her.

Mr Bennet was a little more difficult to understand. I didn't quite get why he would make the request to Mr Collins nor why they would continue to argue after Collins refused. Considering Lizzy and Jane's marriages, it seemed most unnecessary and a bit out of character.

Overall a really enjoyable mystery novel that I would strongly recommend. It would be useful to have read Pride and Prejudice before for background, but not necessary since the book explains everything you need to know.

A very enjoyable and intriguing cozy type mystery series based on Jane Austen's Bennett family. The setting didn't matter for me as I have never read the original Jane Austen series so I wasn't distracted by weather the character's were true to her description. Bring on the next one.

A Murder at Rosings, by its very title, must surely have some connection to the world of Jane Austen. And so it proved. Annette Purdey Pugh uses the setting and some of Austen's characters in this nineteenth century murder mystery. But the blurb is misleading. It is not Mary Bennet who solves the crime but the local magistrate, Sir John, and his constable, Robert Archer. They, of course, are Pugh's own creations and they are expertly fitted into the setting readers of Pride and Prejudice know well.

I enjoyed the novel very much and was engaged from the start. Pugh has captured the historical period well with all its unwritten rules and societal structure and divides. But mostly she has written a good story, a murder mystery with a believable resolution and characters who remain true to themselves whilst developing. I very much hope we might meet some of them again.

A Murder at Rosings by Annette Purdey Pugh is designed to appeal to Pride & Prejudice fans (of which group I count myself a member!). In her book, we meet Mr Bennet and Mary as they pay a visit to Mr and Mrs Collins. During the night, however, a terrible crime takes place and in the morning, Mr Collins is found murdered on the grounds of Rosings. Mr Bennet soon comes under suspicion after it is revealed that he and Mr Collins had recently been overheard arguing.

This was a fun read and it was interesting to see how the author created a friendship between Mary and Anne de Bourgh (I’ve always felt that those two were natural friends!). The crime element of the story was also well-plotted with a satisfactory and believable conclusion. I also thought that on the whole the author did a good job of making her characters true to Austen’s creations; it was only Catherine de Bourgh who I wasn’t fully convinced by. Purdey Pugh presents her as a thoughtful employee, but I struggle to believe that the woman who insisted Mrs Collins play only the housekeeper’s piano would be a considerate employee.

I also struggled to bond to the ‘detectives’ of the novel who model themselves on London’s newly formed police force but I think that’s because the characters from Pride & Prejudice naturally take centre stage. I would definitely recommend this book to Austen lovers with a soft spot for cosy crime reads!

Though I enjoyed the premise of this novel, I found that there were a few issues I had reading it.

I love reading novels based off the classics, and pride and prejudice is a firm favourite of mine. However, I do feel that sometimes trying to use a classic as the basis for a modern novel can come with challenges and it can be hard to live up to the standards set, in this case, by Austen.

I was looking forward to reading this, it is my second novel of the year that I’ve picked up centring around Anne de Bourgh. But on the whole I was a little disappointed.

Though most of the characters were continued to be written as they were by Austen, I felt that some were not. In pride and prejudice, both Mary and Charlotte were written as strong independent women, but Mary spends most of the book crying and Charlotte is bedridden. I think I would have believed the character of Mary more had she put her intellect towards solving the crime on her own. After all, the plot does lead to the critical witness being someone who lived in the same house as Mary at that time.

I felt that Lady Catherine was reimagined exactly as Austen intended her to be, still stern, still overly proud. I also thought that the way that Mr Collins was written was thoroughly believable, and it was almost as if Austen set her narrative up to support this eventual plot twist. He was always written as being slimy, and I think the author did a brilliant job of continuing that theme. However, there was a lot of build up about the “man of the cloth” being sinful and I thought it would have come to light that there were more skeletons in his closet, so to speak.

I think this novel had great potential, it could have included great themes of modern day feminism, which I think would have done Austen some credit. However, the female characters were mostly written as emotional, useless, gossips or promiscuous. All the stereotypes feature in this novel, and it felt like a shame since we are given much more of an insight into Mary, Anne and even Lady Catherine. And in the end, a man abusing his power and essentially attempting to rape a woman before his murder, is allowed to rest in peace with his reputation upheld.

In addition, for a book sold as a murder mystery, the content of this novel doesn’t focus all too much on murder. There are many lines of subplot and it does start to get a bit confusing trying to remember who is who. This isn’t helped with the narrative style that switches from person to person with no real focus. I think it would have benefitted from changing chapter for each new characters voice, and perhaps titling each one as such. Instead the narrative can switch multiple times in a chapter and it can be hard to follow.

I will say the mystery element was definitely there. It isn’t until the final few pages that the murderer is revealed, and I didn’t see it coming until a few pages earlier than that. There is some foreshadowing and elements that are put into the plot that won’t make sense until the end, and it is all done rather cleverly.

All in all, I would give this book 3 stars. I think it could have been better, but I enjoyed reading it.

Whoever wrote the blurb clearly hadn’t read the book. Because while Mary makes more of an appearance in this book than in Pride and Prejudice, she isn’t part of the investigation. It’s a shame the blurb is so misleading, because I kept waiting for her to become swept up in the murder mystery – and was a bit taken aback when it didn’t happen.

So my advice is to ignore the blurb and just relax into the story. I think Purdey Pugh has nailed the setting and the atmosphere at Rosings. We see another side of Lady Caroline de Bourgh, rather than the overly entitled harridan portrayed by Austen. Lady Caroline is depicted as a stickler for the rules, but also someone who is genuinely concerned about her servants and is grieved at the violent death of Mr Collins, to the extent that she is willing for the local magistrate, Sir John Bright, and the village constable, Robert Archer, to freely question both the servants and the high-born occupants of Rosings, given that it soon becomes clear that whoever murdered Collins had to have close ties with the household. She also deeply loves her daughter, which becomes increasingly clear throughout the book. So while I started this one expecting to thoroughly dislike her, my initial prejudice towards her softened into genuine respect for her.

I also liked the depiction of Mr Bennet, who although isn’t as witty as he appears in Pride and Prejudice, nonetheless does make the occasional light-hearted comment. But then, this event takes place several years after the events of P & P. Mr and Mrs Collins are now blessed with three children and the three married Bennet daughters are all in an interesting condition. So Bennet has a particular and pressing reason to visit his cousin, Mr Collins, who is the heir to Longbourn on Mr Bennet’s death. I also appreciated seeing more of Mary, who is more of a retiring, desperately shy scholar who dreads social occasions in this version. She and Anne de Bourgh, Lady Catherine’s timid daughter, immediately form a close relationship as they attempt to study Greek together without the aid of a tutor. While Lady Caroline loathes the Bennets, after Lizzy treacherously stole Mr Darcy from the arms of her daughter, she is prepared to make Mary Bennet welcome for the sake of Anne’s happiness.

There is also a darker sub-plot running through the story. There are young and vulnerable female servants among Rosings’ large staff – and the dangers they are subjected to makes for a thought-provoking read. Especially as the investigators and most of the main characters are clearly striving to do the best they can for the people in their charge. Thus demonstrating that it only takes one or two of the other sort to cause real harm. So there’s a trigger warning for sexual assault.

I think the murder mystery is handled very well. Although I soon guessed who the perpetrator was – until I was proved utterly wrong. Meanwhile, there are plenty of twists and turns along the way, before the unexpected and rather shocking solution came to light. Overall, I found this to be an engrossing read that took me convincingly into Austen’s world, treating it with respect while giving us a different view of some of her characters. Highly recommended. While I obtained an arc of A Murder at Rosings from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️
(Rounded up to 4 stars).

Many thanks to NetGalley, Honno Press and Annette Purdey Pugh for my eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

A beautifully written novel by Annette Purdey Pugh. The story follows on from events in Pride and Prejudice, with prose faithfully and skilfully mirroring that of Jane Austen. Filled with gloriously descriptive period detail, the author captures the atmosphere of the Regency era perfectly.

Featuring a cast of authentic, well developed characters and enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes.

An entertaining fusion of a good old-fashioned murder mystery, married together with a historical period drama makes A Murder at Rosings a thoroughly enjoyable read.

A clever story based on characters from Pride and Prejudice. A murder investigation prompts Mary to try to protect her father when he is accused of committing the crime. An interesting read and impressive for successfully developing two of the less well developed characters of the original story into the main protagonists of this one.

If you are a fan of Jane Austen, you are in for a treat with A Murder At Rosings. Mr Collins is found stabbed in Lady Catherine de Bourgh's garden and local magistrate Sir John Bright and his Constable Robert Archer are called in to investigate.
Let's face it, Mr Collins was one of the least likable characters in Pride and Prejudice so I quite enjoyed reading a book about his murder. Having watched the TV adaptation of P+P in the 90s with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle I always have a clear picture of the characters in my mind and I loved revisiting them at Hunsford in Annette Purdey Pughs Austin-inspired mystery.
Mr Bennet becomes the prime suspect in this case as he and Mr Collins were heard arguing over the entail of Longbourn in the days preceeding his death. As investigations proceed, the residents of Rosings and the Rectory are questioned, to little result. But, has Mary stumbled across some information that could clear her fathers name?
Surprisingly, we don't hear much from Charlotte Collins in this book due to her recent confinement. But Mary Bennet and Anne de Bourghs characters are developed which is refreshing considering they were quite often in the background in P+P. We also meet new characters in the servants and residents of Hunsford where we discover surprising and possibly scandalous information relating to the murder investigation.
I really enjoyed this enjoyable trip back into the lives of the Bennets and De Bourghs.

I really enjoyed this book. I love crime mysteries set in the past and also loved Pride and Prejudice so I was very excited to read this.
The story starts when the local rector of Hunsford Mr Collins is found stabbed to death outside Lady Catherines house (Rosings.) Mary Bennett (who there is very little written about in Pride and Prejudice) is staying at the vicarage with her father and he quickly becomes the prime suspect. He was seen arguing with Mr Collins (his cousin) and had the most to gain from his death. The local magistrate and constable are called in to investigate. They slowly question everybody working at Rosings: servants, footmen and maids until they manage to unravel the series of events that happened on the night.
I loved the style of writing in this book and the atmosphere of rural England in the 19th century. I really enjoyed finding out more about some of the characters from the original novel. I loved the murder mystery in the story and found the slow reveal kept me turning the pages. There were several twists in the story which I didn't guess which was great.
Overall a very enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to fans of murder mysteries and Pride and Prejudice. Thank you to NetGalley and Honno Press for this ecopy.

A Murder at Rosings by Annette Purdey Pugh
Publication Date: June 17, 2021
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Description from NetGalley…
“When Mr Collins is found stabbed to death in Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s garden, simmering tensions are revealed beneath the elegant Regency surface of the Rosings estate.

The prime suspect is Mr Bennet, who was overheard arguing with Mr Collins over the entail of Longbourn in the days before the murder was committed – and who stands to benefit more than anyone from the Rector’s death.
His daughter Mary uncovers a scandalous secret that holds the key to the murder. Can she prove her father’s innocence in time to save him from the gallows?”
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Thank you to @netgalley @gwasghonnopress for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts…
Someone killed Mr. Collins and I for one, would suspect everyone! As much as Mr. Collins was annoyingly pretentious, did he deserve to die? The writing is comparable to Austen’s P&P. I liked the idea of knowing more about the secondary characters. I appreciated how Mary’s and Anne’s characters were more active in this book. Even though there could have been more excitement to the murder and mystery, this book was still a quick and entertaining read.

Delightful sequel to 'Pride and Prejudice' featuring Mary, and set at Rosings. The book, written in a very Jane Austen style, remains true to the spirit of the original novel, as do the the characterisations, including new participants - local servants, dignitaries, as well as Lady Catherine, and her daughter.

I don't intend to say too much, as it is a mystery, a who-done-it; but it is well worth a read by any Austen fans.

With thanks to NetGalley and Honno Press.