Perhaps no author's books have been reimagined more than Jane Austen's. This month we have three new young adult novels that incorporate elements from Jane Austen novels. Dashed: A Margaret Dashwood Novel by Amanda Quain sets Sense and Sensibility on a modern-day summer cruise. The Monstrous Kind by Lydia Gregovic is an Austen inspired regency era fantasy, set in an alternate England which is shrouded in a toxic fog that turns people into zombies. In Want of a Suspect by Tirzah Price (Pride and Premeditation, Sense and Second Degree Murder, Manslaughter Park) is the first in a Lizzie and Darcy Mystery duology. Lizzie and Darcy, now both lawyers, investigate a deliberately set warehouse fire.
In Dashed Margaret Dashwood is accompanying her sister Elinor and husband Edward on a cruise where Edward will be the ship's pastor for the summer. Margaret is looking forward to being away from her sister Marianne who has just gone through another breakup. When Marianne, who is wallowing in misery, decides to join them on the cruise, Margaret has to share her cabin with her. She is determined to find Marianne another boyfriend, so she will stop crying. She enlists the help of Gabe, the ship's theatrical lighting expert, to find eligible men. Along the way Margaret develops feelings for Gabe, which she tries desperately to deny. Add to the mix a hurricane on the horizon and Margaret is in for a stormy summer.
The Monstrous Kind is a supernatural mystery, which encompasses a story about sisters and social manners in Regency England. Twelve families make up the ruling class due to their immunity to the deadly fog surrounding the country. Commoners will be killed by the fog or turned into monsters. Merrick Darling, daughter of the Manor Lord of Sussex, is off in New London looking for a husband, but returns home when her father dies. On her way home she is saved by sentry Killian Brandon, when she is attacked by a fog-infected monster. She arrives home to find the Manor’s perimeter being breached and her sister Essie preparing to become Lord of the Manor. The other Lords, sensing their family’s weaknesses, are jockeying to take them over, and the Monsters are looming. Killian and Merrick form an alliance to get to the bottom of the secrets threatening their lives.
In Want of a Suspect finds Lizzie investigating a warehouse fire, looking for the woman the owner thinks caused the fire and consequently his brother's death. Witnesses lead her to suspect Josette Beaufort or her cousin Leticia, who both fit the description of the woman seen at the warehouse. Coincidentally, years earlier Darcy’s proposal of marriage was turned down by Josette, making him uncomfortable with the investigation. When Leticia is murdered and Lizzie gets closer to the truth, the warehouse owner fires her, as he realizes his brother had been involved in a smuggling scheme. Darcy begins to understand that Lizzie’s safety is his most important concern, and he works closely with her to uncover the truth. This new element of the Jane Austen Murder Mysteries is sure to delight fans of the series.