Guest Review: Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Ames’ review of Silent in the Grave (Lady Julie Gray, Book 1) by Deanna Raybourn.

“Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.”
These ominous words are the last threat that Sir Edward Grey receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, he collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.

Prepared to accept that Edward’s death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that her husband was murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers damning evidence for herself, and realizes the truth.

Determined to bring the murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward’s demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.

I consider myself new to the mystery genre. I never liked to read mysteries because I would get so frustrated when I couldn’t figure them out. LOL But I have to admit I’m not the most observant person around and I just need to accept the fact that I do enjoy reading mysteries and I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. Deanna Raybourn’s Silent in the Grave gives us such a great story that I wasn’t hard on myself for not solving things until almost the main character, Lady Julia Grey, did.

First, Silent in the Grave starts off with one whopper of an opening line:

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.

As a beginning, doesn’t that just grab you?  It definitely had me hooked!

Julia Grey is hosting a dinner party at her home when her husband starts to have an attack.  Everyone assumes it is his weak heart, a family trait, and Julia assumes the same.  But when Nicholas Brisbane has another idea, murder, Julia is furious and refuses to consider the notion. It isn’t until a year later when she’s going through Edward’s things that Julia begins to reconsider.  There are mysterious papers in Edward’s desk and Julia recalls that Brisbane told her Edward had hired him to find out who was threatening him.  Intrigued, Julia engages Nicholas’ services to find her husband’s killer.

That’s the most basic summary I can give you.  What you find between the covers is so much more rich and interesting.  First of all, there are the characters.  Lady Julia Grey is the heroine of this series and the book is told from her point of view.  So we the reader are in her shoes and see how she grows as a character and we discover what she discovers.  It’s up to the reader to piece together what is happening.  Something I’m not good at, but the author gets us to our final destination – no worries on that score.

So Julia at the beginning is the perfect wife.  She’s a great hostess, there’s no scandal (except for her family’s foibles and follies) and she didn’t necessarily love her husband, not passionate love anyway.  She loved him as a friend since they had grown up together.  But after she engages Nicholas and she begins to participate, to have a purpose again, Julia slowly comes out of her shell and a strong, stubborn woman takes her place.  I really liked this character growth.

I found Nicholas an intriguing character but I don’t want to go on about him too much, just that he’s a mysterious fellow who knows that Julia can do better than him but these two are drawn to each other anyway.  

Aside from the rich characters, we have a very interesting mystery.  It took me a while to figure things out and there were a few red herrings thrown in there that definitely threw me off!  I found Deanna’s style of writing very engaging and I couldn’t put the book down.    I definitely recommend Silent in the Grave.  4 out of 5.

The series:

This book is available from Mira. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Related Posts