- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Beautiful Books (8 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905636792
- ISBN-13: 978-1905636792
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
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- #98 in Books > Humour > Lawyers & Criminals
Murder at Mansfield Park
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A superb retelling of the Jane Austen novel in which the house at Mansfield Park becomes the scene of one murder after another. Here is a new and surprising Fanny Price: forthright, ambitious, scheming and downright untrustworthy. What could possibly happen to a character like that? And how will the fortunes of the inhabitants of Mansfield Park be changed with the discovery of a dead body early one morning...?
About the Author
Lynn Shepherd is a successful copywriter and academic. She returned to Oxford in 2003 for a DPhil, during which she lectured on Richardson and Fielding. Her thesis is being published by the OUP in late 2009 under the title: 'Clarissa's Painter': Portraiture, Illustration, and Representation in the Novels of Samuel Richardson. This is her first novel.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
My main issue with this book is the blatant disregard for Austen's original Mansfield Park. I'm quite a fan of these classic-horror re-writes that have been flooding the market recently but the ones I've read at least have the decency to twist the original in such a way that many important details are kept unchanged. Murder at Mansfield Park does no such thing! I was really irritated and confused in the beginning because the characters are so different.
Fanny Price is no longer the eldest child of impoverished parents, her mother in disgrace with the family for marrying below her station and subsequently cut off. She's now an only child and the heir to a large fortune, having lost her mother (who married above her station) and high born father as a child. She is brought up at Mansfield Park by her aunts and uncle from an early age, putting on a performance in front of her guardians that is at odds with her vicious character. Hence, her background, character and treatment are all the opposite of what they should be. Her cousins are also different with Edmund now a Norris and not a Bertram and peripheral characters (such as Tom Bertram) are swept into the background until needed and brought 'out of the cupboard' at intervals so we don't forget them (although Tom disappears entirely towards the end) The background and characters of the Crawfords have also been changed to fit in with the story
I also objected to the constant references to other Austen books (talking about Mr Bingley of Netherfield and Sir Robert Ferrars) and I particularly hate sentences like 'If only there was a way to prove it was my blood' and 'Wouldn't it be easier if we could prove who handled the weapon?' Ridiculous.
There were also times when the characters were particularly rude to non-family members, something that would have been unheard-of during the Regency period.
Shepherd would have been much better off creating entirely new characters for an entirely new book and remembering that people living in the Regency period probably didn't even imagine that one day science would advance enough to allow us to test blood and take fingerprints.
Having said that, once I got to grips with who was who (and tried to ignore the supposed Austen connection), I actually quite enjoyed the book as a whole. The plots twists keep you guessing and the characters are well developed. I would have given the book four or five stars had it been more original. Shepherd is obviously capable of it, the character of Maddox is brilliant and the new Mary Crawford a star.
I'm afraid to say, I certainly won't be reading any more
Moving on...
Fanny Price is no longer the eldest child of impoverished parents, her mother in disgrace with the family for marrying below her station and subsequently cut off. She's now an only child and the heir to a large fortune, having lost her mother (who married above her station) and high born father as a child. She is brought up at Mansfield Park by her aunts and uncle from an early age, putting on a performance in front of her guardians that is at odds with her vicious character. Hence, her background, character and treatment are all the opposite of what they should be. Her cousins are also different with Edmund now a Norris and not a Bertram and peripheral characters (such as Tom Bertram) are swept into the background until needed and brought 'out of the cupboard' at intervals so we don't forget them (although Tom disappears entirely towards the end) The background and characters of the Crawfords have also been changed to fit in with the story
I also objected to the constant references to other Austen books (talking about Mr Bingley of Netherfield and Sir Robert Ferrars) and I particularly hate sentences like 'If only there was a way to prove it was my blood' and 'Wouldn't it be easier if we could prove who handled the weapon?' Ridiculous.
There were also times when the characters were particularly rude to non-family members, something that would have been unheard-of during the Regency period.
Shepherd would have been much better off creating entirely new characters for an entirely new book and remembering that people living in the Regency period probably didn't even imagine that one day science would advance enough to allow us to test blood and take fingerprints.
Having said that, once I got to grips with who was who (and tried to ignore the supposed Austen connection), I actually quite enjoyed the book as a whole. The plots twists keep you guessing and the characters are well developed. I would have given the book four or five stars had it been more original. Shepherd is obviously capable of it, the character of Maddox is brilliant and the new Mary Crawford a star.
I'm afraid to say, I certainly won't be reading any more
Moving on...
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is only one way to read this novel, and that is with an open mind and the realisation that it is not Mansfield Park mark two. Murder at mansfield Park is a wonderful book. It is a re-imagining of a world which Jane Austen fans will already be familiar with. The operative word there being 're-imagining'.
Shepherd clearly knows her subject; not only knows her, but loves her too. This is evident in the flawless delivery of Austen-esque language and style. The story moves fluidly through - I feel deliberate - phases. The first section of the book takes on a gentle pace, giving the reader time to re-adjust to the character changes and shifts in dynamic, which are polar opposites to MP. The second phase of the book moves at a faster pace, setting the appropriate tone and atmosphere for a murder-mystery novel. One might wonder how a recipe such as Austen with a dash of Bronte and splash of Poirot might work - the answer is wonderfully!
Readers that pick up Murder at Mansfield Park looking for a rehash of the original with a slight twist will be disappointed. That is not the point of this book. Murder at Mansfield Park should be approached almost as an alternative version, with not only a twist but a whole lemon thrown in to give it some serious bite.
Austen had a talent for filling a novel with intricate character relationships; her writing employed an abundance of characters, major and minor, that all seamlessly connected as if the story were a literary dot-to-dot puzzle. Shepherd, cleverly and with ease, draws upon this; her expert command of Austen's writing style in conjunction with the personality and status makeovers creates characters, and indeed a world, that all at once seem completely alien and yet totally familiar.
This book is a definite 5 stars. A page turner from start to finish. It is intelligent and elegant, suprising and exciting, original and daring.
Shepherd clearly knows her subject; not only knows her, but loves her too. This is evident in the flawless delivery of Austen-esque language and style. The story moves fluidly through - I feel deliberate - phases. The first section of the book takes on a gentle pace, giving the reader time to re-adjust to the character changes and shifts in dynamic, which are polar opposites to MP. The second phase of the book moves at a faster pace, setting the appropriate tone and atmosphere for a murder-mystery novel. One might wonder how a recipe such as Austen with a dash of Bronte and splash of Poirot might work - the answer is wonderfully!
Readers that pick up Murder at Mansfield Park looking for a rehash of the original with a slight twist will be disappointed. That is not the point of this book. Murder at Mansfield Park should be approached almost as an alternative version, with not only a twist but a whole lemon thrown in to give it some serious bite.
Austen had a talent for filling a novel with intricate character relationships; her writing employed an abundance of characters, major and minor, that all seamlessly connected as if the story were a literary dot-to-dot puzzle. Shepherd, cleverly and with ease, draws upon this; her expert command of Austen's writing style in conjunction with the personality and status makeovers creates characters, and indeed a world, that all at once seem completely alien and yet totally familiar.
This book is a definite 5 stars. A page turner from start to finish. It is intelligent and elegant, suprising and exciting, original and daring.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Austen sequel or entertainment is an not uncommon beast these days, even if Pride & Prejudice is more usually the chosen book. As the title might give you a clue - this one relates more to Mansfield Park.
The major characters from the Austen novel are all there in name, but characters and relationships have been seriously altered. The first third of the book is mainly made up of recycled dialogue and narrative from Mansfield Park, but not necesarily in the same order. Mr Rushworth's character is changed to be more like Henry Crawford (and he is given the 'black and plain' description belonging to him in the novel) crossed with Robert Ferrars, so it seems odd when he is given dialogue beloning to the Mr Rushworth of the original novel, although not perhaps as strange when Mrs Norris is found spouting his lines.....
Fanny Price moves to become a rich heiress and the eldest of the female cousins; her character is more like the Maria of the book crossed with Lucy Steele and Caroline Bingley! Maria becomes more like the Julia of the book and Julia becomes more like the Fanny of the novel crossed with Marianne Dashwood - got that yet?! Henry Crawford here I don't really know - I'm not sure we got a proper description, so he does seem a bit of a cipher.
It's not a bad book, but with the murders I found it all rather unpleasant - I prefer such things to be more about the solving of the mystery than the incident itself, and here we have so few characters who could have committed the crime I didn't feel like I was waiting with baited breath for the conclusion (it's not Pug, in case you were worried.....). some characters were so underdeveloped it was rather obvious that they wouldn't have been involved. I do feel that having made so many changes, Lynn Shepherd would have been better off writing her own, original novel; one can't help but feel she has used Austen just to sell her book whereas her original dialogue does suggest that she could allow her writing to stand on its own merits.
The major characters from the Austen novel are all there in name, but characters and relationships have been seriously altered. The first third of the book is mainly made up of recycled dialogue and narrative from Mansfield Park, but not necesarily in the same order. Mr Rushworth's character is changed to be more like Henry Crawford (and he is given the 'black and plain' description belonging to him in the novel) crossed with Robert Ferrars, so it seems odd when he is given dialogue beloning to the Mr Rushworth of the original novel, although not perhaps as strange when Mrs Norris is found spouting his lines.....
Fanny Price moves to become a rich heiress and the eldest of the female cousins; her character is more like the Maria of the book crossed with Lucy Steele and Caroline Bingley! Maria becomes more like the Julia of the book and Julia becomes more like the Fanny of the novel crossed with Marianne Dashwood - got that yet?! Henry Crawford here I don't really know - I'm not sure we got a proper description, so he does seem a bit of a cipher.
It's not a bad book, but with the murders I found it all rather unpleasant - I prefer such things to be more about the solving of the mystery than the incident itself, and here we have so few characters who could have committed the crime I didn't feel like I was waiting with baited breath for the conclusion (it's not Pug, in case you were worried.....). some characters were so underdeveloped it was rather obvious that they wouldn't have been involved. I do feel that having made so many changes, Lynn Shepherd would have been better off writing her own, original novel; one can't help but feel she has used Austen just to sell her book whereas her original dialogue does suggest that she could allow her writing to stand on its own merits.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent read
This is an excellent story, reworking the characters of Mansfield Park into totally different people. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Jay
A clever and creative romp through Austen
An event is imminent! An event is imminent!
A clever and creative twist on Jane Austen's classic, I whizzed through this re-imagining in a hotel whilst attending a... Read more
A clever and creative twist on Jane Austen's classic, I whizzed through this re-imagining in a hotel whilst attending a... Read more
Published 26 days ago by TomDHarris
Disappointing
The author is using the setting of Mansfield Park and the names to sell a book which bears no resemblance to the original story. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alison DJ
Follow on
This book is a very good follow on from Pride and Predudice. Reccommend you read P & P first so that you know the characters and their background before reading this well written... Read more
Published 1 month ago by G. M. Donald
What is the point.
I really did not see the point of this novel. Shepherd uses Austen's characters and often her words, but with none of her humor or psychological insight. Read more
Published 1 month ago by KAW
Fun and games at Mansfield
This is an excellent little book - mainly because it doesn't try to take itself too seriously. The author takes the characters from Mansfield, and with delightful irreverence... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Catherine
Mansfield Through the Looking Glass.
Shepherd has taken the characters of Mansfield Park and shaken them vigorously, causing them all to fall on their heads. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. B. Kelly
Where's the comedy?
I agree wholeheartedly with Mrs D J Smith's critique, but I would also add that this book would be so much better if there was some laugh out loud comedy in it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Janet Medway
Lightly subversive but ultimately disappointing
Apologies to all the reviewers who loved this - but I found this book lightweight and ultimately rather disappointing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Roman Clodia
Much recommended!
I cannot add to the wonderful reviews that have already been written but I would like to add my tuppence worth. Read more
Published 3 months ago by K. Aminadra
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