Mr. Darcy, Vampyre is a sequel of Pride and Prejudice that picks up the story immediately after the double wedding of the Bennet sisters, and it opens with a letter written by Elizabeth that is so enigmatic the reader has little choice but to continue reading to satisfy his curiosity.
Amanda Grange will then invite us to follow Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth as they go on an adventurous honeymoon through Europe visiting places like Paris, the Alps and Venice. During their travels, the author will not only provide us with vivid images of all these places with her descriptive segments, but also introduce us to some enigmatic new characters that will contribute to the gothic tone of the book.
I enjoyed this new world of characters and places very much and due to the authors writing style, I could imagine myself in each of these sombre locations, even visualizing Elizabeth’s nightmares myself. Amanda Grange’s ability to make me feel inside the story was definitely one of the aspects I enjoyed the most in Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, however, at a certain point, it started to feel like a never-ending odyssey, and I believe the book would have gained if the couple had visited fewer places. A little more balance between their travels and the plot itself would have made the book more compelling, especially because as the story progresses, it becomes increasingly more difficult to understand why Elizabeth doesn’t confront Mr. Darcy with what is troubling her since their wedding day.
Elizabeth Bennet was a little disappointing to me, but I did love Mr. Darcy’s character and I would have loved to see some of the scenes told from his point of view. I understand the gothic tone in the book was achieved because Elizabeth was clueless concerning Darcy’s vampiric nature (it’s in the title, so no big spoiler here), but because she never confronted him, and there was a big distance between them, I started feeling detached from him myself. That could have been prevented if we could have been privy to his inner struggles (and they were many indeed!).
As I mentioned before some of the secondary characters were interesting, but my favourites were Lady Catherine and Anne. I loved their background story and how they entered into Darcy’s life. That was a very interesting integration of the vampirism in this story and perfect for these characters.
As this book was written in 2009, it was one of the first vampyre P&P books, so we have to give credit to where it is due, but even though I do love vampyres, it became a little too dark for me. I believe more recent books are starting to present to us a very different type of vampirism that may be more appealing to most readers, especially the ones who are not usually into the paranormal sub genre. Nevertheless, the writing is very good and the ambience was perfectly created so I did enjoy listening to it and I don’t regret spending some time in this story.
Mr. Darcy Vampyre is a perfect gothic Pride and Prejudice sequel to read in Halloween, and even if I had a few quibbles with it, it is still a wonderful adventure with an enigmatic paranormal twist that readers of the genre will enjoy.
Audiobook Narration:
Jane Bennet’s Level
The narration was quite good and this audiobook has some music in it, which is an interesting addition. The difference between Elizabeth and Darcy’s voice is well done; in fact, the different voices are all well done which makes the listening of this audiobook easier. Something I really enjoyed was that the narrator really interpreted the story giving an aloofness to Darcy’s voice that was befitting the narrative. We could also hear in the narrators voice Elizabeth’s discomfort, which was a plus but the audio book gets a little depressing, maybe because of the darkness of the story, and at a certain point, it becomes less addictive. Nevertheless, the narration was good, so I can recommend the audio version of this book
You can find Mr. Darcy, Vampyre at:
and on Audible.com
From Pemberley to Milton 
It has been so long since I read this one that I could probably use a re-read. Too much of the travel settings and the one-sided point of view are definite points against it. Now, you have me wanting to do re-reads of the book. 🙂
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Maybe you can try the audiobook 🙂
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Love your review Rita. I’d never heard of this book. I have read a few vampire/werewolf/magical versions so it’s a possibility but it does sound a little too dark for me. I will definitely check it out though.
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I enjoyed your review, Rita. I’ve read a few books where Darcy was a vampyre so this should be interesting. I have it on my wish list. Blessings, stay safe, and healthy.
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