Friday, September 6, 2013

Pitch Madness SJ-8: The Murder of Mr. George Wickham


Genre:  Adult Historical Mystery

Word Count:  66,000

Pitch: At sixteen, LYDIA BENNETT followed the dissolute WICKHAM into unrestrained debauchery. Now trapped and destitute, in polite society, divorce is never an option.

When police investigate Wickham’s murder, Lydia’s sisters must protect the morally innocent.

Excerpt: 
Murder is not something well-bred ladies discuss.  Worse still is to plan and execute such a wicked action.  Still, one must own, that in polite society, a well thought out murder is always preferable to the scandal of divorce.  It all started with an ornately carved coffin and a shadow of a former sister…

“We must find some way to help her,” whispered Jane as she squeezed my hand and her eyes directed at poor Lydia seated in the back pew.

Jane was no less concerned about Lydia than me, “After the funeral, we shall try to find a quiet moment,” I whispered back.

Darcy and Bingley, one on each side of us, frowned at our whispering during a funeral, especially our own mother’s funeral.  Sufficiently reprimanded like absent minded, naughty children, we turned our attention back to Mr. Collins and the podium.

Father often joked that we could all be so lucky as to have Mother die before him but no one expected his words to become a premonition.  Neither did I expect Father to look so solemn and lost, no longer his wife and source of amusement to keep him company.

There was a positive from the funeral, seeing poor Lydia again, though in saying that, she seemed to have aged well beyond her years. Thankfully, Wickham was notably absent. More than ten years had past since Lydia ran off with Mr. Wickham and Jane and I married Bingley and Darcy. During those years, we rarely heard from her, unless it was to plead for financial help, and saw her even less.

9 comments:

  1. Love this so much! I'd like to Buy a Hotel (request for Full) Thanks so much, Melissa Jeglinski of The Knight Agency.

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  2. I would like to buy property. But in Bath. Thank you.

    --The Iron, who will go safely cordless for the taking of baths in Bath

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  3. Awesome concept! I can totally seeing this do well in the current market. Regency Era books are so hot right now. Congrats!

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  4. I am a Jane Austen freak and a huge Pride & Prejudice fan (it's actually one of the things I watch while on my treadmill). The idea of Wickham getting his after what he put the family through amused me. And then Lydia getting herself in trouble again and her sisters banding together to save her. Give me this over Pride and Prejudice and Zombies any day.

    Killed the opening line (no pun intended). The world building and voice in the opening is sublime. I want to read this and hope to be able to buy it and see my name in the acknowledgements :D

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    1. "I want to read this and hope to be able to buy it and see my name in the acknowledgements :D"

      That is a promise (which is now etched in the vacuum of the internet)

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  5. My first instinct when I read this was a creepy grin and YES YES YES YES YES. Love Jane Austen retellings etc. Never get tired of them and I love how different this one sounds from the others I've read. I agree with Sharon. Wickham possibly getting his comeuppance delightful.

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  6. Congratulations on getting offers. Loved the voice even in the premise.

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  7. Thank you so much everyone!
    I too am a massive Austen fan.

    As for the concept, part of me was never fully satisfied with not knowing what became of Lydia, that is where the idea stemmed from.

    As for writing it, my friends and family have long held the theory I was born in another era, primarily because of my speech mannerisms which are utterly foreign to modern language. Therefore I simply channeled the "inner me" and wrote. I know I can never be Jane Austen, however I think a little bit of Jane lives within all of us.

    I would like to send a massive and major THANK YOU to Brenda for running this, to the entire slush team for their hard work and to Sharon for selecting it.

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