In a press release issued last week P.D. James' Faber publishers announced that the noted British author has completed Death Comes to Pemberley, a mystery based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Faber will release the book in the U.K. on Nov. 3, 2011.
Regarding her new novel, James commented, "It has been a joy to revisit Pride and Prejudice and to discover, as one always does, new delights and fresh insights. I have to apologise to Jane Austen for involving her beloved Elizabeth in a murder investigation but this fusion of my two enthusiasms – for the novels of Jane Austen and for writing detective stories – has given me great pleasure which I hope will be shared by my readers."
Death Comes to Pemberley takes place in 1803 at Pemberley, the home of Pride and Prejudice’s central characters Darcy and Elizabeth. Having been married for six years, the two are enjoying a quiet night at home when Lydia Wickham suddenly arrives with the shocking news that her husband has just been murdered.
"It is always a moment of great excitement when P. D. James delivers a new novel but the brilliance of both the idea and the execution on this occasion is simply breathtaking. It’s such an elegant, intelligent and moving book that is certain to delight an enormous readership," said Faber’s CEO and Publisher Stephen Page.
P.D. James is best known for her series of 14 novels featuring Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard. The Adam Dalgliesh series originated in 1962 with Cover Her Face. The most recent book in the series, The Private Patient, appeared in 2008.
In an August 2010 interview with John Humphrys for BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, James suggested that even though she would enjoy writing another Dalgliesh book, The Private Patient might be the final work in the series. "It seemed to me that the last book was somewhat valedictory," she remarked. James added that she was busy writing "something entirely new." Her readers now know that work was Death Comes to Pemberley.
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