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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I wasn't sure at first if this was not just a romance novel that I didn't want to be reading. There were some rather trite bits occasionally. But I started to really like Julia. The plot was also good--the murder is so personal and devastating that I was emotionally connected. Then it doesn't turn into a romance novel; Julia's and Brisbane's romance doesn't get off the ground. At the end I still wasn't sure if they whole romance wasn't just about lust--tumultuous lust at that-- with nothing more substantial behind it. Yet I liked it enough to know I wanted to read the second book. I also really, really liked Julia's family. They are real and wonderful and you want to be part of their craziness. I also really liked her dad--good to see a positive relationship with a parent in a book. It was a real relationship--Julia is very well aware of her father's faults and knows when to make up her own mind. However, she also really can rely on him for emotional support.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just love this author and how immersive her stories are. The perfect books to keep on my Kindle when I unexpectedly have a little time to read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
a bit plodding pace-wise, and the establishment of julia’s character flip-flops, i think, but the mystery is appropriately twisty with Much Drama! think this would make an excellent first season of a tv series
Read as part of [a:Felicia Day|3440476|Felicia Day|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1286499609p2/3440476.jpg]'s book club for Feb of 2012.
Overall I was rather unimpressed. While I didn't dislike the book, I also don't hold it in high regard. Part of the issue is surely my misconceptions going into the book. I had thought that I would be getting a Victorian historical novel, laced with Romance (cap R) with perhaps a little steampunk or fantasy for spicing. What this book was, however, was a capably handled Coming of Age story in the Mystery genre set in Victorian London with a extremely undetailed barely romantic attraction subplot. I will own that I have a slight irrational dislike of mysteries. IT is perhaps because I'm not widely read and therefore I haven't actually found a good one, but the genre as a whole seems to encourage authors to play the a game of leaving out names of characters, descriptions of items, etc. that known to the narrator/viewpoint character in an effort to draw out the suspense for the reader. Mostly this results in me being either annoyed because I know who the dark man is in the shadows because it is blatantly obvious or there is through the fault of the author little way I could know and they are playing a 'HAHA LOOK HOW SMRT I AM' game. It is unfortunate for [a:Deanna Raybourn|156327|Deanna Raybourn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224688660p2/156327.jpg] that I have read [a:Steven Erikson|31232|Steven Erikson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1219169436p2/31232.jpg], who is extremely intelligent and adroitly handles such melodrama to good effect rather than frustrating.
Further, again playing to my own baggage that I brought to the read, I was rather disappointed in the romance. In that... there really wasn't one and there was specifically no scenes that were even remotely heated. However, being a Harlequin novel as well as recommended as "Vaginal Mystery" lead me to believe there would be some physical relationship between the male & female lead. Their only true interaction of a physical nature was so vaguely detailed that I wasn't sure a kiss had occurred until spelled out several pages later.
All that aside, for a book I would not have read otherwise, this was put together in a decent package. Julia's transformation from a 'little mouse' to Lady Julia of the March family of ill repute was an interesting journey to tag along for. In the course of investigating her husband's murder (after a significant delay from the death and the start of the book), Julia finds well more than she bargained for. Though she was warned by her investigator Nicolas Brisbane (lifted directly from the pages of Sir Conan Doyle's great work but a much less intelligent man than Sherlock) that everyone has secrets and those secrets have a way of coming out even if unrelated to the murder, she continues through loss of innocence after loss of innocence. During this same time she is shedding the thoughts of who she should have been, and trying to figure out who to become. Not every scar transforms itself to mettle or even true learning but overall Julia grows over the course of the investigation.
Nicolas, however, is little more than a dark brooding foil for her to rail against, despise, be attracted to, worry over, hate, and aid by turns as necessary. He experiences no visible growth and his motives for taking and keeping the case while clearly related to Julia are never fully resolved. I recognize this a trilogy of the more standard variety with a romance that must span several novels, rather than a romance series where each book features a new couple, but even still his character is very much a paint by numbers dark brooding male with a dark past who is inscrutable. While this can work (see Angel in Buffy), it wasn't doing it for me here. The addition of 'the sight' seemed out of place.
Where this book shines is in the setting. Raybourn brings to life Victorian London very well. While the Marchs are modern in their views to the point of disbelief, they give the modern reader a gateway to this alternate time and space. The proper decorum of a lady, the gossip of the well to do, the codified class structure that even Julia cannot completely get over, the incomplete medical knowledge of the time and the racism rampant in the gentry is all well done. I am not an expert of the time period nor a history aficionado, but this felt right enough for me to enjoy the book based on my experience at Dicken's fair and other historical re-enactment societies.
The secondary characters also shine, honestly more than the male lead. Monk, Portia, Father, Fluer and the household staff all have depth to some degree or other and do more than mirror back Julia's whims.
I would not have read this book if not for the book club, and I don't intend to read further in the series. But if you are a reader who enjoys Mysteries set in Victorian London with a very slight romantic subplot and can come to this novel without my pre-conceptions, it seems like a decent romp.
Overall I was rather unimpressed. While I didn't dislike the book, I also don't hold it in high regard. Part of the issue is surely my misconceptions going into the book. I had thought that I would be getting a Victorian historical novel, laced with Romance (cap R) with perhaps a little steampunk or fantasy for spicing. What this book was, however, was a capably handled Coming of Age story in the Mystery genre set in Victorian London with a extremely undetailed barely romantic attraction subplot. I will own that I have a slight irrational dislike of mysteries. IT is perhaps because I'm not widely read and therefore I haven't actually found a good one, but the genre as a whole seems to encourage authors to play the a game of leaving out names of characters, descriptions of items, etc. that known to the narrator/viewpoint character in an effort to draw out the suspense for the reader. Mostly this results in me being either annoyed because I know who the dark man is in the shadows because it is blatantly obvious or there is through the fault of the author little way I could know and they are playing a 'HAHA LOOK HOW SMRT I AM' game. It is unfortunate for [a:Deanna Raybourn|156327|Deanna Raybourn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1224688660p2/156327.jpg] that I have read [a:Steven Erikson|31232|Steven Erikson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1219169436p2/31232.jpg], who is extremely intelligent and adroitly handles such melodrama to good effect rather than frustrating.
Further, again playing to my own baggage that I brought to the read, I was rather disappointed in the romance. In that... there really wasn't one and there was specifically no scenes that were even remotely heated. However, being a Harlequin novel as well as recommended as "Vaginal Mystery" lead me to believe there would be some physical relationship between the male & female lead. Their only true interaction of a physical nature was so vaguely detailed that I wasn't sure a kiss had occurred until spelled out several pages later.
All that aside, for a book I would not have read otherwise, this was put together in a decent package. Julia's transformation from a 'little mouse' to Lady Julia of the March family of ill repute was an interesting journey to tag along for. In the course of investigating her husband's murder (after a significant delay from the death and the start of the book), Julia finds well more than she bargained for. Though she was warned by her investigator Nicolas Brisbane (lifted directly from the pages of Sir Conan Doyle's great work but a much less intelligent man than Sherlock) that everyone has secrets and those secrets have a way of coming out even if unrelated to the murder, she continues through loss of innocence after loss of innocence. During this same time she is shedding the thoughts of who she should have been, and trying to figure out who to become. Not every scar transforms itself to mettle or even true learning but overall Julia grows over the course of the investigation.
Nicolas, however, is little more than a dark brooding foil for her to rail against, despise, be attracted to, worry over, hate, and aid by turns as necessary. He experiences no visible growth and his motives for taking and keeping the case while clearly related to Julia are never fully resolved. I recognize this a trilogy of the more standard variety with a romance that must span several novels, rather than a romance series where each book features a new couple, but even still his character is very much a paint by numbers dark brooding male with a dark past who is inscrutable. While this can work (see Angel in Buffy), it wasn't doing it for me here. The addition of 'the sight' seemed out of place.
Where this book shines is in the setting. Raybourn brings to life Victorian London very well. While the Marchs are modern in their views to the point of disbelief, they give the modern reader a gateway to this alternate time and space. The proper decorum of a lady, the gossip of the well to do, the codified class structure that even Julia cannot completely get over, the incomplete medical knowledge of the time and the racism rampant in the gentry is all well done. I am not an expert of the time period nor a history aficionado, but this felt right enough for me to enjoy the book based on my experience at Dicken's fair and other historical re-enactment societies.
The secondary characters also shine, honestly more than the male lead. Monk, Portia, Father, Fluer and the household staff all have depth to some degree or other and do more than mirror back Julia's whims.
I would not have read this book if not for the book club, and I don't intend to read further in the series. But if you are a reader who enjoys Mysteries set in Victorian London with a very slight romantic subplot and can come to this novel without my pre-conceptions, it seems like a decent romp.
It's been sometime since I went hunting for the sequel to a book before I finished the first volume, but Ms. Raybourn had me hooked from the first chapter. This is the best series debut mystery I've read since Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice, and Lady Julia Grey may prove to be one of the best literary creations since Mary Russell.
I would recommend reading [b:Rebecca|12873|Rebecca (VMC)|Daphne du Maurier|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327871977s/12873.jpg|46663] and [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Brontë|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388212715s/6185.jpg|1565818] before reading this delightful Gothic mystery, seeing as Raybourn pays rather amusing homages to the two in her debut book (perhaps unintentionally for Rebecca). I got a big kick especially out of Raybourn's dramatic wink to Rebecca there at the end. Might as well throw in a few Austen books, too, if one is not already acquainted, specifically [b:Northanger Abbey|50398|Northanger Abbey|Jane Austen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388201718s/50398.jpg|4039699], since Austen's Catherine could be somewhat compared to Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey. Having a handful of Shakespeare under one's belt is further icing on the bibliocake, as Raybourn favors Shakespeare in most of the epigraphs that precedes each chapter. (According to her bio, Raybourn is a bit of a Shakespeare scholar.)
Fear not though, close familiarity with these other books are certainly not required to enjoy Silent in the Grave, although passing knowledge does add another layer of amusement on top of the already entertaining narrative. And my, my what an interesting first-person narrative Julia creates! That hook of a first line and Julia's unexpected reaction to her husband's dying moments certainly create the most intriguing opening I have read in a long while. Indeed, the incongruity of the elements forming that beginning is so provocative that I could scarcely stop flipping the pages to discover more about Julia's true character.
Then, of course, there is the private detective Nicholas Brisbane as well. In truth, I was rather wary of him, since I feared he would be too similar to Wuthering Heights's Heathcliff, who I despise and have repeatedly stabbed in my mind. Fear not again to those whose hatred of Heathcliff is as strong as mine, Brisbane is a unique character altogether, although there are similarities which I cannot note for fear of giving spoilers. He's definitely the "twist" in the series, and I imagine some readers might disapprove of his revelations. However, while I surely did not expect, I somewhat just went along with it. We will have to see what comes of it in the next book [b:Silent in the Sanctuary|1943742|Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia, #2)|Deanna Raybourn|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1266933194s/1943742.jpg|1946375].
Overall, Silent in the Grave has a lovely, Gothic ambiance, an engaging mystery, a large cast of diverting characters, and a modern bent to the several commentaries on the morals and etiquette of that Victorian era, which, though some have thought too "preachy" for lack of a better word, I more appreciate than not.
As an aside, I am truly impressed with the those who figured out the mystery early on in the book. I had guessed from the beginning that, but the other elements--well, I did not see that one coming.
Fear not though, close familiarity with these other books are certainly not required to enjoy Silent in the Grave, although passing knowledge does add another layer of amusement on top of the already entertaining narrative. And my, my what an interesting first-person narrative Julia creates! That hook of a first line and Julia's unexpected reaction to her husband's dying moments certainly create the most intriguing opening I have read in a long while. Indeed, the incongruity of the elements forming that beginning is so provocative that I could scarcely stop flipping the pages to discover more about Julia's true character.
Then, of course, there is the private detective Nicholas Brisbane as well. In truth, I was rather wary of him, since I feared he would be too similar to Wuthering Heights's Heathcliff, who I despise and have repeatedly stabbed in my mind. Fear not again to those whose hatred of Heathcliff is as strong as mine, Brisbane is a unique character altogether, although there are similarities which I cannot note for fear of giving spoilers. He's definitely the "twist" in the series, and I imagine some readers might disapprove of his revelations. However, while I surely did not expect
Spoiler
the actual validity of his "sight"Overall, Silent in the Grave has a lovely, Gothic ambiance, an engaging mystery, a large cast of diverting characters, and a modern bent to the several commentaries on the morals and etiquette of that Victorian era, which, though some have thought too "preachy" for lack of a better word, I more appreciate than not.
As an aside, I am truly impressed with the those who figured out the mystery early on in the book. I had guessed from the beginning that