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 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent

In Silent in the Sanctuary, Deanna Raybourn continues where Silent in the Grave leaves off. Lady Julia Grey has just spent six months in Italy with her two brothers, Plum and Lysander, Lysander's wife Violente, and a friend named Alessandro Fornacci. The March children are summoned home by their father to the family's ancestral estate Bellmont Abbey, a converted monastery. Once she arrives home, Lady Julia finds, to her surprise, that Nicholas Brisbane is one of the Christmas guests--along with his new fiancée, Mrs. Charlotte King.

Very soon, however, Lady Julia finds herself engrossed in the middle of a murder mystery, as a local curate turns up dead. Complicating the mystery is the fact that Julia's cousin is found standing over the still-warm corpse, holding a candlestick. Then Julia's family pearls go missing, and she finds that she may have more than one mystery on her hands. And where on earth has Julia's great aunt Dorcas gone? Soon, everyone is snowbound in the abbey, with both a murderer and a jewel thief on the loose.

While it takes a while--220 pages or so--for the murder to actually occur, the mystery is well plotted and kept me turning the pages rapidly. Like its predecessor, Silent in the Grave, this mystery had me guessing all the way through--though it was a little easy for me to figure out who the "ghost" was. In all, although I would have liked to see a little more romantic interplay between Julia and Brisbane, this was a thoroughly entertaining and amusing story. I anticipate reading the third book in the series, Silent on the Moor.

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"Murder, though it have no tongue, will speak..."

In this excellent sequel to SILENT IN THE GRAVE, Lady Julia Grey is recuperating after losing her house in a fire and nearly losing her life in the last book. She has spent five months in pleasant Italy with her brothers, Eglamour (Plum) and Lysander. But now her father demands their return for the Christmas Holidays to the great, sprawling medieval Bellmont Abbey, home to the "mad" March family.

Gathered for this wonderful cozy/English country house mystery are the patriarch, the Earl and only some of the ten March children: Julia, Plum, Lysander, Portia. Also, Lysander's new bride, a friend traveling with them from Italy, Alessandro, an elderly aunt, two poor cousins--one of whom plans to marry in the chapel, the fiancé and his assistant/cousin, and very surprisingly, the consulting detective Brisbane... and his fiancée.

The mad Marches and their old Abbey are fabulous. Julia has matured from the first book. She is stronger and more confident, and as the first-person narrator, comes through as a more intelligent and witty personality--with greater focus on what she wants in life and on solving the mystery.

The mystery is a good one, with no obvious suspects at all and no motive. And a snowstorm serves to isolate the Abbey, allowing Brisbane and Julia to investigate. Unlike the previous book, both do a lot of decent sleuthing, and the dark, intense Brisbane is well-matched by the stronger Julia. The sexual tension between them is heated, without being ridiculous. There are sub-mysteries as well, which add to the enjoyment.

I liked this book even more than the first, if that is possible. Having both Brisbane and Julia snowed-in in one place along with a good mystery to solve was just loads of fun. I will totally look forward to reading the continuation of the series.

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A great NEW period mystery writer!

This was my second Deanna Raybourn novel and I anticipate seeing more historical fiction and period mystery from this fabulous author. What a fortunate and unique find she is!

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 murdered is one of the guests invited for the March Christmas party. As more crimes come to light, people and jewels go missing and hidden, and tempers, perhaps murderous, are revealed, 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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Clue, anyone??

I was thoroughly disappointed in this book. I loved "Silent in the Grave". I was looking for this book as soon as I finished that one. But, if the first book made me change my mind about mysteries, this one made me remember why I have never enjoyed them consistently. This plot and story line just felt like a bad game of clue. Some family and strangers are stranded in a large house in the countryside and crimes start happening. I thought to myself, "It was Ms. Scarlett in the library with the candlestick." Anyway, it was not for me. Although, just to keep those of you interested that love mysteries, there were some interesting plot twists. But, I will definately read whatever she writes next.

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

fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns home to Sussex to find her father's estate crowded with family and friends? but dark deeds are afoot at the deconsecrated abbey, and a murderer roams the ancient cloisters.

Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget?the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas Brisbane?is among her father's houseguests? and he is not alone. Not to be outdone, Julia shows him that two can play at flirtation and promptly introduces him to her devoted, younger, titled Italian count.

But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel, and a member of Lady Julia's own family confesses to the crime. Certain of her cousin's innocence, Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and deliciously intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane, setting out to unravel a tangle of deceit before the killer can strike again. When a sudden snowstorm blankets the abbey like a shroud, it falls to Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane to answer the shriek of murder most foul.

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