More in the style of Agatha Christie than "Graves" was, but funnier, more mysterious and fully more...

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	• Silent in the Sanctuary Deanna Raybourn Mira, 2008 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Little Slow

This book, Silent in the Sanctuary was good although not nearly as good as Silent in the Grave. While there is a small amount of romance included in this 2nd in the series, a great deal of focus seems to be on the March family. In addition, the murder does not take place till somewhere around page 220. If you can hang in through the slow pace at the beginning, the rest of the book is interesting and of course, there is always a twist to the mystery. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, due out in early 2009. I hope it reads more like Silent in the Grave, than this book however. I think I would rate this as 3 1/2 stars.

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More in the style of Agatha Christie than "Graves" was, but funnier, more mysterious and fully more enjoyable as well

Much as I wanted to read the sequel to "Silent in the Grave" as soon as I could get my hands on it, it some how wound up with another person who gave me continuous reports of it being boring, of the murder taking place half-way through the book, and of unsatisfying conclusions. Since I had liked but not loved its predecessor I had kind of low hopes in the beginning for this novel.

Let's just say having read that I now believe this other person to be quite wrong, or the author has improved. Both probably. While it is true the crime that makes "Silent in the Sanctuary" a murder mystery does place roughly half way through the book it is because this is a mystery of the Agatha Christie school, unlike it's predecessor. In "Grave" Lady Julia barely knew her husband and so everyone was a suspect for his murder and an old fashioned investigation had to be taken to find the culprit.

But "Sanctuary" has a murder taking place in an isolated country mansion (an abbey before Henry VIII's reforms) during a snowstorm that insures the murderer is one of the guests invited for the March Christmas party. As more crimes come to light, people and jewels go missing and hidden tempers, perhaps murderous, are revealed, it is clear that something must be dine before all the guests can depart-the killer and theif among them. Can Lady Julia (freshly returned from her recovery vacation on the continent with a young, handsome Italian Count in tow) and Nicholas Brisbane her partner in discovering her husbands murdered just months before (who happens to be newly engaged and in line for a title) find the culprit before more lives are taken? Or before their snowy isolation melts away and the fiend gets away for good...

I didn't find this to be boring at all, unlike my friend. Yes, a lot happens before the murder and it is mostly chit-chat, getting to know the cast of characters. But this is a deeply personal crime and knowing the characters is essential. Besides Lady Julia's narration is so charming (and at times laugh out loud funny) that everyday talk is still a pleasure to read. And I do believe with this novel Deanna Raybourn has firmly proved she is no copier of Tasha Alexandra's Lady Emily series. They are similar, it's true (widowed female detective gets into the business discovering husband's murder and somehow gets involved with a man that has something to do with investigations) but they are different in many ways. And both are so well written that it would be a crime not to enjoy both series.

Four stars and I do look forward to the next novel in the series immensely.

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Very good sequel...

England, 1887. Lady Julia Grey went through a great deal the previous year. Her husband was murdered, she discovered that her very good friend -- a very ill man -- was the murderer, and lost her home to a fire. So could you blame her for embarking on a much-needed holiday to Italy? There she reacquaints with two of her brothers and meets the very charming Alessandro. He is five years her junior, but more than willing to be paired off with her. However, Julia hasn't forgotten about Nicholas Brisbane, the enigmatic private investigator with Romany (gypsy) blood. After endless coaxing from her father, Julia and her two brothers and Alessandro go to England. There she discovers that Mr. Brisbane is now Lord Wargrave, a viscount. But the most shocking news of all is that he is engaged with a pretty widow. Julia doesn't let on the fact that she is heartbroken. And now, in some pre-Christmas parties at her father's well-appointed estate, she has to work with Brisbane again. Someone has been murdered, and her beloved cousin appears to be the murderess. But nothing is the way it seems at the Abbey. Soon Julia and Nicholas will have to uncover the truth.

Silent in the Grave, the first Julia Grey novel, opens with Julia's husband's murder. Silent in the Sanctuary, on the other hand, begins with the introduction of various characters. The murder mystery doesn't begin until about halfway through the book. I have to admit that the novel moved very slow for me, and I almost gave up after a while. However, things do get interesting as the mystery mounts and mounts and the plot thickens. I am not pleased with the fact that the murder victim was likable and interesting and I wish it had been someone else and not him, but things get interesting when you get to know the person. The sexual tension between Julia and Brisbane is great when he isn't brooding and being taciturn. Julia's family, especially her father and her sister Portia, is as eccentric and unconventional as better. This side of her family's personality is more convincing in this novel than it was in the previous one. It doesn't come across quite as anachronistic as it did in Grave. Deanna Raybourn has a good eye for historical detail and can write a good mystery. This falls into a Victorian gothic, but Raybourn's writing style is more Agatha Christie than Daphne du Maurier. I enjoyed this a little more than I did Grave. This series isn't quite a five-star read for me just yet, but I will very likely read the future installments. Julia as an amateur sleuth and Brisbane as the dark, brooding investigator are too delicious to pass on.

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Please, may I have another?

These books are so much fun to read.

I tend to read large heavy thick books, but something about these two intrigued me. Boy am I glad!

Lady Julia is most definitely a lady of her time: while fighting for respect as an independent, intelligent woman, she is quite blind to her own assumptions of class, as well as never neglecting her own elegant wardrobe.

Her "partner", Nicholas Brisbane, is a man of mystery. He is born Gypsy , raised by a Scottish relative, and works as a private investigator.

In the first book Lady Julia, in time-honored romance fashion, starts by detesting Brisbane. By the end, though thier love is never expressed, he does give her an unmistakeable sign of his care - or does he? As this book opens, we find that Brisbane has not communicated with Lady Julia in over five months, and though her sister makes insinuations about his continued affection, Lady Julia encounters Brisbane first with his brand-new, frilly fianc'e.

As in the first book, murder is done, and solved, though in a delightfully unpredictable manner. Brisbane and Lady Julia see-saw back and forth in their relationship. The reader waits eagerly to have the adventure to end with the lovers united in happiness (and perhaps with lips locked), but no, they only get two kisses throughout the whole book! Two kisses is 100% more than in the first book, so there is indeed progress. Dare one hope for three in the next book?

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Great escape!

I was disappointed at first: Larger print, smaller story. "Silent in the Grave" was such a detailed novel. In the end, I did enjoy this book and now hate to wait until 3/2009 to read more. I hope Deanna Raybourn takes this time to create another great story, letting the characters evolve some more... I certainly felt like living in another world while I was reading her first two books. Thanks!

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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