Silent in the Sanctuary

Lady Julia Grey is summoned back to England after a restorative six months in Italy following the traumatic events written about in SILENT IN THE GRAVE. An attentive young count, Alessandro Fornacci, journeys with her, as do two of her brothers, one of whom is newly married and who fears their father's wrath at his choice of a bride. It is the Christmas season, and when they arrive at their imposing ancestral home, a former Cistercian abbey confiscated from the monks by Henry VIII, many guests are already in residence, including more of Julia's nine siblings, two penurious cousins, a crotchety aunt, a titled man who made his own fortune, and the inimitable and enigmatic Nicholas Brisbane who has taken a fiancee! The drolly endearing eccentricities of the March family surface at the dinners, outings, and other diversions of the leisure class that unfold with loving detail, particularly concerning the apparel and courtliness of the Victorian times. But Julia senses undercurrents of intrigue almost immediately as she makes (mostly) courteous conversation all around. Soon a ghost, stolen pearls, a vanished Aunt Dorcas, and a body discovered during a game of sardines all demand investigation and Lord March commends the task to Julia and Brisbane, much to their simultaneously warring disquiet and excitement. The game is afoot, and this prickly pair have many secrets to unravel and more than one culprit to unmask. Their collaboration requires many a consultation, often during the nocturnal hours and often in each other's bed chambers.... Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey, by the way, calls strongly to mind Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily Ashton. Both are strong-willed young widows who give Sherlock Holmes sprightly competition. SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY delights with its singular characters, its warmly fluent style, its finely-tuned mysteries, and its continuing love story. This second SILENT entry surpasses the first in this reader's opinion. If Lady Julia is to be believed (and why not?), she and Brisbane will discover another body, in Yorkshire this time, very soon. I can't wait.

"Silent in the Sanctuary" was truly a book that I hated to end. I wanted to stay in the world of the Marches as long as I could because they have become even more endearing than they were in "Silent in the Grave." In this installment, the family is snowbound at their estate, so we get a heavy dose of Julia & her eccentric family. Surprisingly, the mystery was not the main draw for me. The actual murder that precipitates the mystery does not happen until about 250 pages into the book, which allowed me to focus on the Marches & Nicholas Brisbane. I'm sure that some readers will be dissatisfied that the mystery does not get more pages, but I think that the Marches well made up for that fact. I've also really enjoyed the inclusion of the Gypsies in this series.

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn is the second book in the Julia Grey series. Lady Julia is heading home with her two brothers Plum and Lysander (plus Lysander's new wife) for a family Christmas on the March country estate. But she's in for a surprise because her father has invited family members, neighbors, and the target of Julia's affection: Nicholas Brisbane, who just happens to bring his fiance. Every one of Raybourn's characters is a stand out, whether supporting or lead, they are fascinating and full of mystery. Even the family home, a former abbey, has a personality. The March family is well known for its eccentricities, but murder is something even they can't overlook, and when a young cousin confesses, Julia decides to find out the truth, no matter who gets hurt. The electricity between Julia and Brisbane arcs across each page, and the sibling rivalry among the March children is insightful and often hilarious. This Victorian romance/mystery is filled with lots of period detail and sparkling dialogue. Raybourn ends with a new home for Julia, and this series has a new home on my list of favorites.

Lady Julia Grey is a thirty-year-old widow who almost lost her life in Deanna Raybourn's debut mystery, "Silent in the Grave." The sequel, "Silent in the Sanctuary," opens in a luxurious rented villa near Lake Como in 1887. Julia, who narrates, has been enjoying Italy's picturesque sights and warm climate along with her brothers, Plum and Lysander, and their good friend, the handsome Alessandro Fornacci. Since she helped private inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane hunt down her late husband's killer, Julia has developed a taste for intrigue and danger. She longs for "something more important than the embroidering of cushions or the pouring of tea to sustain me." Julia gets her chance for excitement sooner than she expects when her father, the wealthy and influential Earl March, peremptorily summons the siblings home to Bellmont Abbey, the family estate in England. The Earl is furious with Lysander who, without asking permission of his father, has wed a fiery Neapolitan woman named Violante. Since Lysander has very little money of his own, he is dependent on the Earl's financial support to cover his living expenses. If the earl were to cut them off, Ly and his wife would be destitute. Although Julia is happy to be at home with her family, she dreads seeing Brisbane again. She cannot forget the moment when "we had both of us reached beyond ourselves" and kissed passionately. Unhappily, their relationship never progressed beyond that one feverish encounter, and she has not heard a word from him in five months. However, Julia still cherishes the pendant that he gave her bearing the lovely inscription, "For where thou art, there is the world itself." Julia and her brothers arrive four weeks before Christmas to find a large group of guests in residence at March House: their saucy and sarcastic sister, Portia; the vicar and his new curate, Lucian Snow; their poor orphaned cousins, Emma and Lucy Phipps; Dorcas, a portly and cranky old aunt; Lucy's much older fiancé, the overbearing Sir Cedric Eastley; Henry Ludlow, Cedric's cousin and secretary,; Hortense, the Earl's lady friend and a former courtesan; and most shocking of all, Nicholas Brisbane and his future wife, the lovely widow, Charlotte King. It takes all of Julia's considerable pride, breeding, and restraint to keep from showing her true feelings towards Brisbane's intended: "She was a Fragonard milkmaid, a Botticelli nymph. I hated her instantly." When one of the Earl's guests is murdered, Julia and Nicholas join forces to find and apprehend the perpetrator. In the course of the novel, people are robbed, bludgeoned and poisoned. The deliciously intricate plot features phantoms, gypsies, and jewel thieves as well as deception, secrets, shocks, and betrayals. Raybourn has come up with the perfect recipe for a Victorian murder mystery: Take one spunky and meddlesome heroine. Add a dark and handsome gentleman with a shadowy past and a tortured soul. Mix in family scandals and a dollop of murder.

I have been eagerly awaiting this sequel to Deanna Raybourn's first novel Silent in the Grave and I was not disappointed in the least. In this novel we are reunited with our heroine Lady Julia Grey as she sets out to return to her father's home in England with her two brothers after they have sojourned in Italy. She has been in Italy recovering from the loss of her husband and her home. Now their father has demanded that they all return home for Christmas. Their father's home in England is in Belmont Abbey which has been the home of the Marches for generations, back to the time of dissolution of the Catholic church under Henry VIII. Julia returns to find many houseguests visiting when she arrives, including Nicholas Brisbane who is not alone. When one of the houseguests is murdered Julia's cousin confesses to the crime. Julia is certain of her cousin's innocence and at her father's request she and Brisbane set out to discover who the real murderer is as they have done before. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it was effortless to read. I enjoyed the various threads of mystery and the history of the English Abbey. I loved the characters of Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane as I did in the first novel. The tension propelled the story and kept me reading and wondering while I wasn't reading. I was satisfied by the conclusion of this story and yet there was plenty left unfinished and unexplained. I can not wait to read the next installment in this series. I would highly recommend reading Silent in the Grave first, it will make this story a richer and more satisfying read. My only disappointment was how quickly I finished reading this book...another 550 pages would have made me happy!