Murder in the country seat Review by James Urquhart The queen of crime revisits Jane Austen's famous lovers six years after the close of 'Pride and Prejudice' Death Comes to Pemberley , by P.D. James, Faber, RRP7.99, 352 pages The queen of crime revisits Jane Austen's famous lovers six years after the close of Pride and Prejudice . Elizabeth is married to Mr Darcy and settled in Pemberley, his magnificent country seat, and on the eve of Darcy's annual ball, Elizabeth's flighty sister Lydia dashes into Pemberley with cries of murder. Darcy musters a search party and soon discovers Wickham, Lydia's drunken husband, leaning over a mortally wounded friend. Arrest and confession ensue. More IN Fiction P.D. James 's brisk style is more boisterous than the precise, economical language of Austen -- whose cool observations eschewed melodrama or sentiment. James brings the drama and pace of a whodunit to this generally enjoyable sequel but, somewhat surprisingly, doesn't make much of a fist of investigating the crime. James knows her period policing and courtroom methods but Wickham's arraignment, trial and sentence are only half-heartedly set out before a largely unforeseeable twist resolves the case. Vigilant armchair sleuths might feel short-changed. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.