Suspense and Sensibility: Or, First Impressions Revisited (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery Series #2) Book

3.75 Stars

It happens to me so often that you guys are probably as sick of reading about it as I am of experiencing it: I fall in love with the first half of a book, only to fall rapidly OUT of love with the second. In this case, though, it wasn't because the plot, themes and characterizations became tiresomely repetitive or because the pacing became either frustratingly slow or alarmingly erratic. It's because the charming, witty, wonderfully written romantic comedy/light mystery of the first half gave way to an utterly bizarre paranormal, supernatural 'thriller.' The change was both jarring and poorly executed.

I'm an Austen fanatic, but I'm in no way an Austen purist. I'm open to a variety of sequels and spin-offs, and I neither expect nor even want them to be slavishly faithful to Austen's original work. As a mystery lover, I loved the idea of a whodunnit featuring Elizabeth and Darcy as sleuths. More importantly, I found this book was written in a delightful and sneakily sharp style that, while different from Austen's, managed to capture a lot of the same wit, insight and spirit of which Jane would have approved. And Sense and Sensibility was my second favorite of Austen's novels (and one of my favorite books of all time), so I leaped at a chance to catch up with some of those characters. In theory, I wouldn't have even minded a paranormal element, but here it just swallowed the book whole, overshadowing all the elements of the book that worked in favor of forcing a plot and tone that really DIDN'T work at all. The novel was no longer even a whodunnit---the only 'mystery' was when Darcy would acknowledge that something supernatural was at play and whether I'd throw my poor Kindle across the room in frustration ;)

The first half was a solid 4.5 stars for me, filled with charm and wit and subtly brilliant turns of phrase. The second half was closer to two stars...and that's being excessively generous ;) I've heard that Bebris' later mysteries are more mysteries, with the paranormal element mercifully minimized. I'm hopeful that those will get a spot on my 'keeper' shelf that this one didn't quite manage to earn!