I was fairly desperate for something to read that was going to capture my imagination so went to our local bookstore for emergency supplies. I didn't want another book about serial killers complete with so much forensic detail I could almost qualify for CSI without further training.
When I read the opening lines, helpfully printed on the back cover, I knew this was the book for me. I thought them witty and cynical - they made me smile.
"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor."
The novel didn't disappoint even though I wondered if an American novelist could really recreate Victorian London and its characters without striking a wrong note and breaking the spell. For me, Deanna Raybourn succeeded beautifully. I believed in Lady Julia Grey, the main character, and liked her immensely. I suspended disbelief as the investigation and action progressed and, when I finished the novel, I was looking on Amazon to buy more by the same novelist. Can I give higher praise than that?
The Plot of Silent in the Grave
Silent as the Grave by Deanna Raybourn opens with Lady Julia Grey's husband, Edward, lying writhing on floor of the music room of their home as they are hosting a dinner party. Nicholas Brisbane, one of the guests and a stranger to Lady Julia, carries the unfortunate Edward to his room where he dies some time later.It emerges that Sir Edward Grey had been receiving threatening letters and so had consulted Brisbane, a private detective. After Lady Julia had spent the compulsory (for the period) year of mourning withdrawn from society, she begins to wonder if Sir Edward's death was natural. He had suffered ill health for many years and the men in the Grey family did not usually live to old age. Even so, there were suspicious circumstances so Lady Julia asks Brisbane to investigate.
The two have a prickly, difficult relationship which give rise to some witty repartee and even a few funny moments (well, they made me smile). They uncover shocking secrets behind the mask of Victorian decorum and prudery and these lead to the eventual discovery of the murderer.
Lady Julia - A Very Likeable Heroine
Lady Julia comes from the eccentric March family. Although aristocratic, they are all unconventional and proud of it - all except Lady Julia that is. She marries her childhood sweetheart, Sir Edward, dressed the way he liked her to dress even though the colours he chose were not the most flattering for her, and she led the quiet, conventional life of an aristocratic English lady.When she discovers her husband may have been murdered, she begins to change. First of all, she insists on helping Nicholas Brisbane in the investigation which leads her into unconventional circumstances and into making friends beyond the pale of polite society. Throughout the book we see her courageously confront her fears including her fear of becoming as unconventional as other members of her family. By the end of the book, she is believably more mature and confident but just as witty and likeable as she had been throughout the book.
Lady Julia's Description of Herself - In relation to her eccentric family
"I had never fought a duel or run away with my footman or ridden a horse naked into Whitehall...I did not even keep a pet monkey or wear turbans or dye my dogs pink. I lived quietly, conventionally, as I had always wanted, and I think I had been something of a disappointment to them."
Do you find that sometimes you really like a character in a novel? You feel that, if you met them, they would become a good friend? The characters in some of my favourite books make me feel like that. Sometimes I hate finishing a book because I have to say goodbye to a favourite character in it. Luckily, Deanna Raybourn has written more mystery novels about Lady Julia Grey. You can see them on her website.
or from Amazon.co.uk
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