Silent In The Grave (Lady Julia Grey Mystery, #1)

by Deanna Raybourn

“Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. ”

London, 1886

For Lady Julia Grey, her husband’s sudden death at a dinner party is extremely inconvenient, not to mention an unpardonable social gaffe. Once the shock has passed, however, things take rather a turn for the worse. Her eccentric relations descend en masse (and her odious Aunt Ursula clearly intends to stay until another relative expires elsewhere), and Julia is forced to drape the mirrors in crepe and herself in endless widow’s black.

But when swarthy, inscrutable private investigator Nicholas Brisbane tells her that her husband’s death may not have been due to natural causes, Lady Julia finds herself thrust into surroundings she could never have imagined, from the elegant home of a renowned courtesan, to a volatile boxing match in a gypsy camp.

As the truth begins to emerge, Julia discovers that she has much to learn; about her husband, herself and the infuriating, mysterious and very attractive, Mr Brisbane…

Set in the extravagant surroundings of upper-class Victorian England, and introducing the compelling, charismatic Lady Julia Grey this is a must read!

• ISBN13: 9780778301370
• Publish Date: 1 January 2008 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 April 2010
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 544
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I bought this book because I was quite enjoying Tasha Alexander's historical mystery series and I'd heard from several corners that this series was even better.  When I received my copy, I was rather taken aback by its size: 500+ pages presented a brick of a mystery and admittedly, it intimidated me enough that it had worked its way towards the bottom of my TBR.    

Then, a couple of nights ago the book I was reading wasn't working for me, and this book started shouting "read me!" so loudly I could hear it down the hallway (not really) and I'm happy to say not only was it monumentally better and more interesting that the one I had been reading, but that the 500 pages fairly flew by.   I'm a little bit in love with the March family; they all sound mad as hatters.  Perhaps that's a strong way to put it, but they are all decidedly eccentric.  

Lady Julia's subtle, dry humour had me smiling throughout and chuckling outright whenever she talked about The Ghoul (I'm not going to explain The Ghoul - I'll just say it's not supernatural - because explaining would ruin it, I think).   But parallel to this delicious humour is a much more confronting murder mystery that starts off very slowly (not boring) and gains momentum as the ending nears.  Readers who are choosing historical mysteries because they tend to stick with sanitised world views are going to be really disappointed; this book delves into the less conventional and seedier sides of Victorian society.     

I've already indicated my affection for Lady Julia and her family.  The only other real main character is Nicholas Brisbane and I'm not quite sure what to think of him.  He makes a good hero of the alpha sort, I suppose, and he's certainly a 'still-waters-run-deep' character, but while I didn't dislike him, the author never really showed me anything particularly likeable about him either.  Tragic, yes, attractive, yes. Warmth and humour....notsomuch.  Still, intriguing potential.   

The murder mystery was good, although I had guessed the villain long before the denouement.  The author did get me to flip suspects for a few brief pages, but ultimately I went back to my first guess.  I don't know if it was because of this, but the actual climatic scene felt oddly anti-climatic.  Maybe rushed?  I suspect there might have been a nuance or two I missed and a couple of small unanswered questions kept that scene from working for me.   Am I supposed to think that he was always psychopathic and just hid it really well, or that his behaviour at the last was a result of the syphilis?  Did he start out good or was he always bad?    

Made no real matter though; the story was thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish and I'm looking forward to acquiring the next books.  Another new series!

[wyvernfriend]

The opening lines amused me, "To say that I met Micholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor." and drew me in. Lady Julia Grey loses her husband at the beginning of the book and disbelieves Nicholas Brisbane when he suggests that in fact the death wasn't natural. It isn't until a year later that she finds clues to suggest that maybe things aren't as they seem and she joins forces with Brisbane to hunt for clues.

I found it quite an interesting read, enjoyed the characters and the interaction, while there were some slightly "modern" moments it really didn't jar too much for me.

I also loved the Lady Julia Drop Caps designed by Juliana Kolesova.

[cherryblossommj]

the Writing of this book really pulled me in and I found it overall to be a good long mystery that kept me slightly confused and full of vague guesses. It has been many years since I have read much mystery, and I did enjoy this one. As a basic Victorian English Mystery novel it was quite fun. The characters were likable and I do plan to read the future novels in the series.

This is not a series for everyone. It is very "worldly" and liberal with homosexuality and affairs. After all the murder weapon was for use on a phallus. This is definitely an adult novel. Part of me feels that they mystery could have gone a completely different way. It was not until late in four hundred pages that it even appeared to have the "lovers" and method of death. I am quite disappointed as to where it went, because those are definitely not my taste, and it is just plain blah. It was just annoying at first that her sister earlier displayed a leaning tendency toward her Jane, but it just went too far really. The writing is good, and such a better story could be told with the talent without being so sexual.