Darkness at Pemberley (1938) is T. H. White's one novel-length foray into detective fiction, which was then experiencing an enthusiasm and something of a golden age in England, with practitioners like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers enjoying their heyday. Many authors tried their hand at the genre at least once, and White's is considered a very creditable effort. The book is divided roughly into two parts: the first is discovering who did the murder (at a college easily identifiable as Cambridge), the second is chasing down the culprit to Pemberly (the fictional estate in Pride and Prejudice, now owned by Darcy and Elizabeth's desendant).
I tried reading this book years ago. I checked it out of the library, and I remember reading it on a visit to Uncle Marvin's and Aunt Wimpy's house. I suppose I expected something more whimsical from White, and I was not seasoned enough for the period-piece mystery; it did not hold my interest and I never finished it. Now, at under $2 for my copy, I'm ready to give it another whirl. The spine was a little chipped (probably in shipping) but with some repairs using transparent tape it looks as good as a book reprinted by Dover in 1978 need be.
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