Sense and Second-Degree Murder is a Sense and Sensibility retelling with a murder mystery twist. When Elinor and Marianne’s father, who runs a detective business, dies suddenly, they (and their mother and younger sister) are left in dire financial straits, as their house is entailed away to their half-brother and the most recent copy of their father’s will dates back to before they were born, so no money is left to their family. Marianne grows suspicious of the circumstances surrounding their father’s death, and the sisters are soon attempting to solve the mystery.

I’d like to start off by saying that I absolutely adored every aspect of the book (except maybe Marianne, but even she was more bearable here than usual).

Marianne is impulsive and emotional. She was her father’s apprentice while he was alive, and thus takes the lead on the mystery. I never liked Marianne in the original book, and, while I don’t love her here, it is still a marked improvement upon her original character. I really enjoyed her passion for her father’s business, and her hopeless romantic personality did grow on me a tad.

Elinor is sensible and pragmatic. She plans and overthinks everything (I relate to her a lot in those aspects). She wants to be a chemist, but believes that that would be almost impossible for a woman during her time period. She and Marianne are perfect foils for each other. I prefer her immeasurably to Marianne; she’s smart and humble, self-conscious in many ways but bold and confident when it counts.

The other characters were all wonderful too. I loved Margaret (the youngest sister) much more than I was expecting. All of the other side characters were so fun and distinct as well. I particularly loved Edward (Elinor’s love interest), but they were all interesting and dynamic.

This book was honestly just so fun. The murder mystery was obviously a big part of that; I don’t read many mysteries, but thoroughly enjoy them on the occasions that I do read one. However, the Sense and Sensibility retelling aspect was almost as fun. The source book is honestly my least favorite Jane Austen book I’ve read (although I read it 3-4 years ago, so I don’t remember it that well), but I really did absolutely love all of those aspects of the book too,

I truly can’t recommend this book enough. Whether you’re an Austen fan, a murder-mystery fan, or just want a historical fiction book with some really cool heroines, you’ll find what you’re looking for in this book. It isn’t lacking in any respect, and I definitely recommend picking it up if you feel even slightly inclined to.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.