Murder at Mansfield Park

Starred review from June 14, 2010
Mary Crawford, a minor character in Mansfield Park, takes center stage in Shepherd's debut, a clever reworking of the Austen novel that's strong on plot, character, and historical accuracy. Shepherd has altered Austen's characters, some beyond recognition. Most notably, meek and unassuming Fanny Price has become "a monster of complacency and pride" in Kingsley Amis's phrase borrowed from his essay on Jane Austen. Mary, whose cheerful disposition and wit ensure her acceptance at Mansfield Park, suffers much at Fanny's hands. When Fanny turns up dead in a trench on the park grounds, an apparent victim of foul play, a horrified Mary winds up playing detective. While mystery fans will find much to like, it is Austenites who will be most gratified, particularly by how well Shepherd has captured the tone of Austen's original. For anyone who thought Henry Crawford deserved Fanny or who has a problem with vampires and ghouls invading Jane Austen's world, this will be a delight.

Starred review from June 1, 2010

Not a sequel to Mansfield Park but a reworking of it as a mystery, with surprising results.

Although Jane Austen's characters are still in residence, their personalities and stations in life have been changed enough to afford ample opportunity for a murderer to arise from their ranks. Fanny Price, no longer meek and poor, is a spoiled heiress, outwardly charming, inwardly spiteful. Her unofficial engagement to quiet Edward Norris is heavily promoted by Edward's stepmother and Sir Thomas Bertram, the squire of Mansfield Park, who has raised Fanny as his own daughter. When Henry Crawford arrives with his clever sister Mary to visit and make improvements to the Mansfield grounds, the stage is set for disaster. Mary and Edward develop imprudent feelings for each other, while Fanny, who seems bored with Edward, encourages several suitors. On the eve of inheriting a large fortune, Fanny appears to have eloped with one of her beaux. The discovery of her battered body in a Mansfield ditch is a precursor to more horrors. Henry, the suitor Fanny married, is the most likely suspect for successful London thief taker Mr. Maddox. Mary finds herself in a position to help solve the mystery—if she can make some difficult choices.

First-timer Shepherd remains true to Austen's style while providing a sound puzzle. Janeites may be delighted or appalled, but more impartial readers will find much to enjoy.

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June 15, 2010

221B Baker Street meets Mansfield Park in this debut Regency whodunit. Poor, priggish Fanny Price has been transformed into a scheming and spiteful heiress while the mercenary Mary Crawford now appears to be the bright, resourceful heroine at the heart of this reimagining of Austen's classic. Fanny and Edmund (now a Norris) have been betrothed since birth, but the arrival of the alluring Crawford siblings puts a definite chink in those plans. Their presence creates tension and ignites a chain of events that leads to jealousy, murder, and the appearance of a London thief taker discerning enough to rival Sherlock Holmes. Faithful to Austen's elegant style without being mawkish, Shepherd's knockoff puts a playful, irreverent twist on a beloved classic. VERDICT Some Austen purists will be outraged at the liberties taken with the characters, but others will delight in the changes of the insipid Fanny, who is not one of literature's more popular heroines. Sure to appeal as well to fans of British murder mysteries of the Anne Perry, M.C. Beaton, and Agatha Christie varieties. [For another Jane Austen mystery, see Stephanie Barron's Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron, above.--Ed.]--Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY

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