The Late Mrs. Willoughby

Contents Cover About the Author Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Acknowledgments Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List i ii iii v ix x xi 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 385 387 Advance praise for Claudia Gray’s The Late Mrs. Willoughby “What a terrific concept—to take a cadre of beloved literary characters, wrap them up in a murder, and extract a wonderful investigative duo from the bunch! Claudia Gray’s The Late Mrs. Willoughby is a clever, delightful treat for Jane Austen lovers. Ms. Austen would be thrilled!” —Colleen Cambridge, author of Mastering the Art of French Murder “Absolutely delightful! Fans of Jane Austen and historical mysteries will fall in love with this series. Gray remains true to Austen’s style and intent for her beloved characters while still adding her own spin on them and their progeny—one that is both refreshing and absorbing. I’m already looking forward to the next installment.” —Anna Lee Huber, USA Today bestselling author “Delightful. Claudia Gray is systematically taking out all the unpleasant characters in Jane Austen’s novels, and I am here for it.” —Juneau Black, author of the Shady Hollow Mystery series Praise for Claudia Gray’s The Murder of Mr. Wickham “A well-done pastiche that balances menace with wit, recrimination with reconciliation, sin with redemption and justice with mercy.” —The Wall Street Journal “Had Jane Austen sat down to write a country house murder mystery, this is exactly the book she would have written. Devotees of Austen’s timeless novels will get the greatest possible pleasure from this wonderful book. Immense fun and beautifully observed. Delicious!” —Alexander McCall Smith “What a splendid conceit!…There’s so much fun to be had in this reimagined Austen world—and the mystery is so strong—that one can only hope, dear reader, that more books will follow.” —Booklist (starred review) “An astonishingly convincing and tremendously entertaining pastiche…. Written elegantly, with a keen eye for Regency detail as well as a deep knowledge and affection for Ms. Austen’s oeuvre, this is an entirely plausible continuation of the Austen canon that stands as a worthwhile read in its own right.” —Criminal Element “Who would not want to read a book in which one [of] literature’s most notorious rakes meets his final demise?…A delightful Agatha-Christie-meets-Jane-Austen romp.” —Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose Claudia Gray The Late Mrs. Willoughby Claudia Gray is the pseudonym of Amy Vincent. She is the author of The Murder of Mr. Wickham and the writer of multiple young adult novels, including the Evernight series, the Firebird trilogy, and the Constellation trilogy. In addition, she’s written several Star Wars novels, such as Lost Stars and Bloodline, and is one of the story architects of the High Republic series. She makes her home in New Orleans with her husband, Paul, and assorted small dogs. claudiagray.com Also by Claudia Gray The Murder of Mr. Wickham Graphic Novels House of El: The Shadow Threat House of El: The Enemy Delusion House of El: The Treacherous Hope Constellation Series Defy the Stars Defy the Worlds Defy the Fates Star Wars Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Lost Stars Bloodline Leia: Princess of Alderaan Master & Apprentice Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star Firebird Series A Thousand Pieces of You Ten Thousand Skies Above You A Million Worlds with You Spellcaster Series Spellcaster Steadfast Sorceress The First Midnight Spell Evernight Series Evernight Stargazer Hourglass Afterlife Balthazar Stand-Alone