Holy moley with a side of guacamole!! This book grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go until I finished it less than 24 hours later!!Lady Julia Grey just lost her husband and private investigator Nicholas Brisbane thinks he was murdered and wants to find out who dunnit. Julia refuses to believe him but after a year passes, she stumbles upon evidence that in fact he was. Julia must swallow her pride and try to convince Brisbane to reopen the case. As they begin to follow the clues (which unravel VERY slowly - but not annoyingly so), Julia finds herself learning all sorts of unsavory truths she would rather not know and that change her life forever. This book was amazing. With a double shot of perfectness. I loved the March family and their motto "I Dare". I loved the appropriate quotes at the beginning of each chapter. I loved Aquinas, the butler, with his unfailing knowledge of just when to serve tea. And most of all I loved Julia for her seemingly to be a quiet mouse who comes out of her shell and does something 'important'. Victorian England at it's best with beautiful descriptions of people and place. A treasure that I am so happy comes as part of a series. ( )

the Writing of this book really pulled me in and I found it overall to be a good long mystery that kept me slightly confused and full of vague guesses. It has been many years since I have read much mystery, and I did enjoy this one. As a basic Victorian English Mystery novel it was quite fun. The characters were likable and I do plan to read the future novels in the series. This is not a series for everyone. It is very "worldly" and liberal with homosexuality and affairs. After all the murder weapon was for use on a phallus. This is definitely an adult novel. Part of me feels that they mystery could have gone a completely different way. It was not until late in four hundred pages that it even appeared to have the "lovers" and method of death. I am quite disappointed as to where it went, because those are definitely not my taste, and it is just plain blah. It was just annoying at first that her sister earlier displayed a leaning tendency toward her Jane, but it just went too far really. The writing is good, and such a better story could be told with the talent without being so sexual. ( )

the Writing of this book really pulled me in and I found it overall to be a good long mystery that kept me slightly confused and full of vague guesses. It has been many years since I have read much mystery, and I did enjoy this one. As a basic Victorian English Mystery novel it was quite fun. The characters were likable and I do plan to read the future novels in the series. This is not a series for everyone. It is very "worldly" and liberal with homosexuality and affairs. After all the murder weapon was for use on a phallus. This is definitely an adult novel. Part of me feels that they mystery could have gone a completely different way. It was not until late in four hundred pages that it even appeared to have the "lovers" and method of death. I am quite disappointed as to where it went, because those are definitely not my taste, and it is just plain blah. It was just annoying at first that her sister earlier displayed a leaning tendency toward her Jane, but it just went too far really. The writing is good, and such a better story could be told with the talent without being so sexual. ( )

The opening lines amused me, "To say that I met Micholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor." and drew me in. Lady Julia Grey loses her husband at the beginning of the book and disbelieves Nicholas Brisbane when he suggests that in fact the death wasn't natural. It isn't until a year later that she finds clues to suggest that maybe things aren't as they seem and she joins forces with Brisbane to hunt for clues.

I found it quite an interesting read, enjoyed the characters and the interaction, while there were some slightly "modern" moments it really didn't jar too much for me. I did have an inkling about who the murderer was but I was still questioning the outcome up to the reveal, which was a bit rushed.

I also loved the Lady Julia Drop Caps designed by Juliana Kolesova. ( )

I enjoyed this mystery and intend to read the rest of the series. I found it a bit rambling, with some unnecessary scenes, but I was surprised at the end and did not guess the villain. I listened to it on audiobook. Also, I would not categorize it as a romance, though it does have romantic elements to it.

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2009/10/s... ( )

Not bad for a romance book. I actually cared about the characters, although some of them are a bit too stereotypical, especially Nicholas Brisbane who is your typical darkly mysterious, dangerous yet protective hunk. The character has potential, he deserved more subtlety.

I am always a little annoyed to see 20th/21st Century characters slapped on a historical background. Here there is some effort at historical consistency, but still, the casual way in which some subjects are discussed doesn't ring very true.

Despite these faults, an enjoyable read. ( )

"To say I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body isn't entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor." Quite possibly one of the greatest first lines ever. Lady Julia Grey sets out to solve the mysterious death of her husband, Edward. This book is smart, witty, and very well written. I figured out who the murderer was fairly early in the book, but I never guessed the reason. What a surprising twist! ( )

I usually pay attention to the book summaries and blurbs first. And then perhaps read other reviews to see whether or not I'd like the book. This time, I started reading the first chapter and promptly forgot about putting it down until I realized it was 1:00 AM and that I needed to get some sleep if I wanted to get to lab the next morning in some sort of coherent state.

When Julia Grey's husband Edward expires during a dinner party, it appears on the surface that the Grey's hereditary heart ailment has struck again. But the private inquiry agent that he has hired, the enigmatic Nicholas Brisbane, claims that Edward may have been murdered. Still unsettled by her newly widowed state, she denies such a thing could be possible and sends Brisbane away. It is only until one year after mourning, while cleaning out her deceased husband's desk, that she finds a threatening note indicating that Brisbane might have been right after all. She brings the note to Brisbane to enlist his help on finding her husband's murder. However, the more they delve into the mystery, the more Julia learns how little she knew about her husband and the people around her...(more)

For a first book, Deanna Raybourn has done an exceptional job. I love books set in Victorian times and have been a long time fan of Anne Perry and Elizabeth Peters. Raybourn's writing and her cast of characters have the potential to outdo both!

I'm running out to get book 2. ( )

So I guess I was expecting something spectacular from all the reviews I read. The book was entertaining, but the mystery was not all that gripping. I felt the story of a year in the lady's life was written and then a mystery was quickly woven in at the last minute. Oh, and I figured out who the murderer was about half-way through the book.

The strong character of Nicholas Brisbane is what kept the plot from completely collapsing. Raybourn has created a very, very intriguing character with him. I couldn't have cared less about the actual mystery; I just wanted to learn more about him.

I expect the next installment to be better. With a series like this, the first installment is never the best. ( )

Fans of Elizabeth Peter's independent minded Amelia Peabody will enjoy Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey, caught between the conventions of Victorian society and her own goals and plans. This is a good book because the characters grow and learn about themselves and their capabilities and learn whom to trust while solving a wrongful death mystery. ( )

I should have read this one first but the 2nd book came out as a freebie on the Kindle so I started there. I've really liked this series so far. Altho its a timeperiod I'm not overly fond of, I found the writing to be very good, the details excellent, the mystery convoluted enough to hold my interest and the character development fun. I love the various personalities of the March family. And the slowly developing romance between Brisbane and Lady Julia is a nice change from the most romance books. Will read the 3rd book in the series. ( )

It's really hard to not get hooked by a novel that begins with these two sentences:

"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."

Wow! A really strong way to begin a story. Fortunately, the rest of the story remains just as strong. Silent in the Grave is the debut novel of Deanna Raybourn. Set in late 19th century London, it is also the first of a series that now numbers three centering on Lady Julia Grey, a lady of high status in Victorian England. Lady Julie's life changes when her husband dies, leaving here a young widow. But when someone brings to light the possibility that his death was, in fact, a murder, her life suddenly veers into the unknown. Julia must weigh her desire to simply move on with her feeling of duty to her late husband to solve the crime.

While the murder mystery makes for an enjoyable story, what really takes this novel to the next level is the writing of Deanna Raybourn. Her style paints the period beautifully, but she refrains from making the scenery the focus of the story. Instead, it provides the perfect backdrop - bringing the reader into the London that existed more than a century ago. However, Raybourn never loses sight of the plot being the driver of the story - a problem that many authors who write period pieces often get sucked into. (You can check out my review of The Historian for an example of a period story gone wrong). The mark of a great period story is that by the end of the book, your focus should be on the story and the atmosphere should be but a comfortable shawl that the story is wrapped in. Raybourn succeeds at this.

Whether you like reading about the Victorian-era, enjoy a good mystery, or a simply looking for a well written novel to read, I think you will be very satisfied with this book. I, for one, am already looking forward to reading the sequel.

4.0 stars: Great book, you should not be disappointed

Oh, one final comment. The cover artwork of the hardcover version is one of the finest I've seen in a very long time. It captures the essence of the book and looks wonderful on the shelf. ( )

So my town library has thirteen copies of this book, it manages to lurk about in the upper reaches of my Amazon recommendations for months and comparisons to my beloved Laurie R King are bandied about wantonly. Maybe it's time to read the thing.
I don't think this quite lived up to the hype but it was still a more than enjoyable read. I must say I had the most fun when reading in short bursts. The writing is witty, amusing and sometimes even chortle inducing (see manly apparatus gag). Longer sessions gave me more time to start getting annoyed at the author's constant over selling of the next chapter. The darkness that was to come usually turned out to be something as horrific as Julia learning to walk without using her hips and bum.
Good enough for me to order the sequel but come on folks... Mary Russell would have had this thing in the can by page three. ( )

The is a beautifully written book. I love historical novels. This one is no exception, you get lost in the location & time, the language & characters. The mystery of the death of Lady Julia Grey's husband keeps you on your toes through the entire story & leads to a suprising ending. The relationship between Julia & Nicholas is definately an interesting one & the author does a good job of not serving it up on a silver platter. Julia is a wonderful character as well, stronger then most women of her time & willing to take chances & stand up for what she believes in. I look forward to reading the 2nd in the series! ( )

Horrible, could not finish

A truly enjoyable book which kept me engaged from the most intriguing first two sentences of the book (hooks you right from the start) until the last page (lots of twisty turns in the plot and a few surprises that I didn't see coming). While the book is in essence a Victorian mystery, the formal working relationship between Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane takes an interesting turn and she is drawn to the mysterious Brisbane... but discovers that he has a dark and dangerous side to his personality. Is he battling a physical illness, a psychological warfare, or something even more sinister? We are given a few insights into Brisbane's life, but there is still much to learn. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Silent in the Sanctuary, to see how their obvious attraction for each other develops. ( )

Victorian era mystery sees Lady Julia Grey's husband die, not entirely unexpectedly despite his relatively young age. Private inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane, having been hired by Julia's husband, suspects foul play, but Julia ignores him. A year later, Julia discovers a threatening note sent to her husband, and rehires the enigmatic Brisbane.
This was excellent - but this is the first in a series and so the romance between Julia and Brisbane is annoyingly not resolved, although it this did fit within the events of this book.

In the tradition of the Grey family, Sir Edward Grey did not make old bones, but his collapse at the age of 34 on the floor of his music room in front of guests was totally unexpected, and at the time his wife Lady Julia accused him of playing a prank. It was one of the guests, Nicholas Brisbane, who pointed out that Edward was convulsing.

The year is 1886, the setting Victorian London. Julia Grey is the ninth child of Lord March, married over five years before to her childhood sweetheart.

In compliance with conventions made popular by Queen Victoria herself, the clocks are stopped at the moment of Sir Edward's death, everything is swathed and wreathed in black crepe, and Julia begins a year of mourning, wearing unrelenting black and avoiding "entertainments".

Edward had become increasingly unwell during the final year of their marriage, but even so Julia is unprepared for what Nicholas Brisbane comes to tell her a few weeks after the funeral: that her husband had feared for his life and had hired Brisbane to protect him, and that he thinks Edward was murdered. Julia discounts Brisbane's advice until just a year after Edward's death when she makes a startling discovery.

It was this book that I had in mind the other day in my post The Dangers of Genre Mixing, for this novel mixes history, mystery, and even more elements including the paranormal, and accepted social mores.
In addition SILENT IN THE GRAVE was Raybourn's debut novel, and I think she struggled to get the right mix of history and mystery. There is a lot of "setting of the scene" in the first year of the story, and the mystery element doesn't really get a chance for the first 80 pages until Lady Julia makes a discovery that leads her to taking Brisbane up on his earlier suggestion.

For me the first half of the novel was frustratingly slow going: it took me well over a week to read. I had meant to have it read in time for an online discussion at oz_mystery_readers and have had to play a sort of catch-up with the discussion. Even so the revelations of the last 100 pages or so caught me by surprise, and the finally revealed identity of Sir Edward's murderer was a character whom I had earlier discounted.

Lady Julia is at times rather self-centred, impulsive and vacuous, while Nicholas Brisbane is brooding control-freak in an almost Heathcliff fashion. They make an unlikely investigative team. But this partnership continues in two more novels.
1. Silent in the Grave (2006)
2. Silent in the Sanctuary (2008)
3. Silent on the Moor (2009)

At a hefty 500+ pages, SILENT IN THE GRAVE is a "solid" read in more than one way. The physical structure of the book actually contributes to its length: there are forty one chapters, and a dividing page between each chapter. Each chapter page has a classical quotation, the significance of which at times escaped me, while at other times they seemed particularly apt.

SILENT IN THE GRAVE was shortlisted for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 2007 ( )

Great book. Can't wait for the sequel. ( )

I quite liked this for the most part, though I'm not a huge mystery reader. It is set in London at the end of the nineteenth century, and features the newly widowed Lady Julia Grey, formerly Julia March, of the somewhat eccentric March clan. Julia was the most normal of her family and just wanted to marry and have a family like a proper woman of her age. But when she had her coming out, she was just a tad too intelligent and opinionated--her father had raised her and her many siblings to know about politics and finance and so on, regardless of their sex--and scared away most of the men. Fortunately, her childhood friend Edward proposed and they settled into what she thought would be a comfortable marriage. However, upon Edward's early death, Julia finds that she has altered terribly from the young woman she once was. Just as she thinks she might have put together a plan for recovering her own personality, Nicholas Brisbane shows up at her front door, suggesting that Edward was actually murdered instead of dying from the infirmity that had plagued his family for generations.

The plot is a bit convoluted by the end, but the characters make up for it--each is so intricate with quite an intriguing past. Brisbane is particularly mysterious. This is the first in a series, and I assume more will be learned about him as the books progress, though I fear he might end up one of those characters that coincidentally knows all about whatever he needs to know to solve any given problem. Still, I liked him in this, and Julia is a nicely nuanced and layered heroine. ( )

Opening Sentence: "...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 on the floor..."

These opening sentences are the best I have read for a while - they hooked me at the very start, then the author wrote a brilliant story to ensure I stayed with it to the very end. No mean feat seeing as it was a large book.

Lady Julia Grey's husband, Edward, dies suddenly of the heart disease that has plagued his family. After the funeral she is visited by private detective Nicholas Brisbane, who reveals that Edward had hired him to find the source of some threatening letters and believes him to be murdered.

Julia is outraged and sends him on his way - but a year later she finds a note hidden in the back of a drawer "Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave." She soon discovers these words have been cut from a bible that was presented to her by young Queen Victoria.

She hires Brisbane to find out the truth - and, as in the case of all heroines, she decides to assist him. Together they interview doctors, servants, relations and a variety characters, and discover not only the truth about the murderer but truths about a husband she never truly knew and a world of deception, disease and sexual obsession she could never have imagined.

Lady Julie grows as a character from a intelligent but timid woman to a daring, risk taking woman - determined to get to the bottom of the truth and lead an independent life.

There were a number of red herrings - and I sort of, kind of, guessed who dunnit - but not how or even why. A big, but believable, twist got to the truth and it was very, very good. ( )

A real page-turner. The relationship between Nicholas and Lady Julia shines and I'm looking forward to the sequels. ( )

Lady Julia Grey and her husband Edward are giving a dinner party when he is suddenly struck with convulsions. One of the guests, Nicholas Brisbane, immediately rushes to help, but Edward dies later that night. Julia is unsure what to think or feel, especially when Nicholas comes to her door claiming that Edward feared for his life and that he may have been murdered. Julia has heard the coroner’s reports and dismisses Nicholas immediately. One year later, however, she finds an incriminating piece of evidence suggesting that Brisbane was actually telling the truth. The trail has gone cold, but she enlists his help to determine whether her husband was murdered and if so, who did it.

I loved this book, from the first word to the last, and usually that only happens with my favorite authors. I picked it up and simply did not want to put it down, ever again. I think it’s the way that Raybourn writes, very elegantly, carefully, but with a little twist of humor, exactly how I’d envision a Victorian lady thinking. Or perhaps it just suits me. Whatever the combination, I was immediately swept into the book and Julia came to feel like a close friend.

I’m not a huge fan of mysteries, but I definitely felt that this one was well within my comfort range. I always understood what was happening and why characters reached certain conclusions, but I could never have guessed the ending. In fact, it’s very cleverly done so that the culprit’s name isn’t said in the scene and I actually thought it was the wrong guy! I was ready to throw the book across the room until I realized who it was, and then I realized that Deanna Raybourn deserves serious accolades for making it so tricky yet so obvious once you “get it”, because then it all makes perfect sense. I guess I could just be slow (and indeed I am according to Amazon reviews), but I was genuinely surprised. I enjoyed all the little side plots and the quirky characters, even the sleazy ones, because they really created an atmosphere for the whole story.

In conclusion, fantastic book. I adored it. I want to read it again. It’s so much fun and so enthralling and it has an edge of cleverness which makes it all come together really well.

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=501 ( )

It may not be literature, but it's definitely entertaining! This is a mystery set in Victorian times: Lady Julia Grey's husband has just died, and private investigator Nicholas Brisbane suspects foul play. Julia wants to investigate, feeling stifled by her loveless marriage on the one hand and the eccentricities of her infamous family (the Marches) on the other. On her route to the truth, she stumbles across a lot of scandals, mostly involving same-sex relations. Secondary characters aren't given much attention or development, but who cares? Julia and Nicholas's problems (both separately and together) are the only ones that interest us. I have to admit I just enjoyed the ride; Raybourn writes well and at a good clip, so it's easy to keep entertained. My only quibble is that she tried a little too hard to be scandalous (See? They had sex in the Victorian era too, lots and lots of it! And let's not forget to be really PC about all the marginalized groups!). Did we really need to have quite so many eccentricities explored in the same novel? Be that as it may, I'm definitely planning to read Silent in the Sanctuary, the second in the series.