Book Review: Sense & Second Degree Murder

Recently I wrote about Tirzah Price’s Pride & Premeditation – a reimagining of Pride & Prejudice into a murder mystery. The second book in the series is Sense & Second Degree Murder and is just as fun.

I don’t think I’ve ever read Sense & Sensibility, but I have seen the movie (the Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson one) a few times so I was familiar with the major characters.

In this reimagining, the two main characters and sisters – Elinor and Marianne Dashwood investigate their father’s suspicious death. Like in the original story, their father has passed away and everything has been left to their older, half brother, who under the influence of his wife Fanny, does little to help his sisters. Left largely to their own devices and to the kindness of some friends, they move to a flat and are reduced to a staff of one. In this novel, Elinor has a passion for the sciences and wishes to study chemistry. Marianne used to help her father with his investigative business and wants to continue on.

After their father passes away suddenly seemingly from a heart attack, the girls can’t help but find it to be suspicious and soon learn that their father’s death was anything but from natural causes. They investigate, and new acquaintances and potential love interests – Edward Farrows, Mr. Brandon, and Willoughby play their roles as well. Who could possibly want to murder their father? Did it have anything to do with a case he was investigating?

I found this one to be a little slower to get into than Pride and Premeditation, but after I got into it I loved it. I loved the little bits of tension between Elinor and Edward! And the youngest Dashwood sister, Margaret, was so smart and delightful! I loved the little references to Pride and Premeditation and can’t wait til the next installment in the Jane Austen Mystery series comes out.

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