Review: The Rushworth Family Plot

I knew I wanted to save The Rushworth Family Plot to read during Austen August. Claudia Gray’s new novel is the fourth in her Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney series that sees the offspring of two of Jane Austen’s couples solving mysteries in Regency England. The mystery kept me guessing and it was lovely to reconnect with characters I’ve been reading about for a few years.

Here’s the book’s description:

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other perfectly; it's a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, has led their parents to deem the pair unsuited to wed. Now, with the Season approaching, Juliet's grandfather, General Tilney, has sent her to London with a new wardrobe and orders to prove herself worthy of someone better than the snobby Darcys. Meanwhile, Jonathan has been forced to accept an invitation to stay in town with old friends Edmund and Fanny Bertram at the house of Edmund's brother, Sir Thomas. Oblivious to and undesiring of female attention outside of Juliet's, Jonathan is at risk of being ensnared by Caroline Bingley's previously rebuffed plans to make herself—or her daughter—mistress of Pemberley.

But when Mr. Rushworth, the former husband of Edmund's sister Maria, is discovered dead in his home, Jonathan and Juliet find themselves with problems far weightier than the marriage market. In one of the greatest scandals of its day, Maria abandoned her new husband in favor of the notorious rake Henry Crawford, and when he wouldn't marry her, was forced to flee to the continent in disgrace. Now Maria is back, accompanied by a daughter she claims Mr. Rushworth fathered after their divorce—and who he wrote into his will just before his death. To spare Edmund and Fanny further social shame, Jonathan and Juliet must unmask a killer before the drama surrounding the Rushworth family fortune claims another victim.

I think what really helped me enjoy this one more than I expected was last month’s reread of Mansfield Park. Each of Gray’s novels focuses on one of Austen’s and The Rushworth Family Plot features, as you may have guessed, the characters you meet in Mansfield Park. Gray’s book takes place not too long after Austen’s ended, which was fun. (I seem to recall she wrote an author’s note in the first book explaining how she figured out how old Austen’s characters would be. She used publication dates but also when Austen actually wrote the books.) Gray really leaned into the morality issues that are present in Mansfield Park and explored them through our modern lens. For example, the Bertram family made their money thanks to plantations in the Caribbean and being enslavers. It’s pretty glossed over in Austen’s novel but there’s still a bit of an undercurrent of Fanny not necessarily liking that. So, in The Rushworth Family Plot, Gray leans into it and Fanny is very against it and is pleased that Edmund’s older brother is finally selling the plantation.

I admit that I went into this one with very low expectations. The first book in this series, The Murder of Mr. Wickham, was delightful (review). The second, The Late Mrs. Willoughby, was alright (review) and the third, The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, was not great (review). I think it helped that I didn’t have my hopes up because I ended up enjoying the new book more than I think I otherwise would have. That’s not a glowing review, I know. And it’s really hard to say exactly why this series just isn’t hitting as it once was. I think there’s just something in the way it was written. Sometimes it feels like Gray’s trying to be tongue in cheek, like we, modern reader, don’t speak and act like they did in the 1800s so she goes to extremes. It’s almost like when someone does an exaggerated accent. Something about it just doesn’t work for me. And while I love a good love story and do really want to see Jonathan and Juliet married at the end of this, I also don’t know if the love story works for the mystery series. It feels forced and at this point, because I love love stories, I’m only still reading the series to see their Happily Ever After.

While there were two murders to solve in this latest installment, the story is still on the cozy side, which I really love. I wasn’t entirely sure who the murderer was (or were there two killers on the loose?) and it was fun to guess alongside Jonathan and Juliet. I don’t mind when I can pick up on clues before the detectives (or amateur sleuths) but I also find it fun when I’m completely stumped. As long as the rest of the story is well-written and interesting! This one hit the right balance of me having a theory but not necessarily knowing exactly how things were going to wrap up.

If you’re a cozy mystery reader, especially one who’s also a Jane Austen fan, The Rushworth Family Plot, and the rest of Claudia Gray’s series, might be one for you. They’re not the best books in the world but they’re entertaining and mysterious enough for an enjoyable weekend read.

*An egalley of this novel was provided via NetGalley by the publisher, Vintage, thanks to a previous cover reveal tour with Austenprose PR. All opinions are honest and my own.*