Join JASNA-NC for our Virtual Book Club, this time reading a fan fiction selection of Claudia Gray’s The Murder of Mr. Wickham, a fun Jane Austen/Agatha Christie mashup. It promises to be a fantastic conversation, and we’re delighted to read this selection!
The Details
What: Virtual Book Club: Claudia Gray’s The Murder of Mr. Wickham
When: October 15, 2023 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Where: In the comfort of your home via Zoom
RSVP: This is a member-only event; it is FREE but registration is required.
Accessibility: We have auto-captions available in the Zoom meeting for our discussion. If you have accessibility needs we have not addressed here, please let us know.
about the book
A summer house party turns into a whodunit when Mr. Wickham, one of literature’s most notorious villains, meets a sudden and suspicious end in this mystery featuring Jane Austen’s leading literary characters.
The happily married Mr. Knightley and Emma are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances—characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. Definitely not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him an even broader array of enemies. As tempers flare and secrets are revealed, it’s clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet they’re all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered—except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst.
Nearly everyone at the house party is a suspect, so it falls to the party’s two youngest guests to solve the mystery: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry, eager for adventure beyond Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, the Darcys’ eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem almost relaxed. The unlikely pair must put aside their own poor first impressions and uncover the guilty party—before an innocent person is sentenced to hang.
About the Virtual Book Club and Our Facilitators
The Virtual Book Club takes place quarterly with a rotation between contemporaries of Austen, nonfiction, an Austen selection, and fan fiction. For 2023, we have a rotation of wonderful facilitators: Mary Jane Curry, Nancy Martin-Young, and Sara Tavela will help coordinate book selections and rotate through facilitating meetings. We are delighted to continue our conversations about fascinating books!