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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Skated a bit too closely to romance in several parts (for me anyway) and seemed a bit obvious with regards to some things, but nonetheless a good read. I enjoyed the characters who were well drawn and interesting. Will read the next two I'm sure.
I'm hesitant giving this book three stars. While it was an interesting read,(and I liked the main characters), it drrrrrrrraaaaaagggggggeeeddd on and on, at various points. What was worst, it wouls happen, just as something relevant to the mystery was discovered.
Hopefully, now that A LOT of ground work was laid in the first book, the series will get better.
Hopefully, now that A LOT of ground work was laid in the first book, the series will get better.
2.5 stars
Meh. It was just barely interesting enough to keep me listening through to the end. Rather than being a true mystery novel, it's more of a "lifestyle of the rich and widowed in Victorian England" story, which is interrupted at the end by the climax of the minor plot of the murder mystery. I never grew to like Lady Julia---she's one step up from a typical Too Stupid to Live heroine. Anytime she's told: "DON'T DO THE THING," of course she has to immediately run out and do the thing. And because it's written in first-person, from her POV, I never grew to like Brisbane all that much, either, because I was so disconnected emotionally from her and from everything she did and thought.
So, at least I avoided getting sucked into yet another series.
The narrator, Ellen Archer, annoyed me with her fake British accent (repetitive mispronunciations and accent slippages made it VERY obvious) and pauses/breaks in odd places in the middle of sentences and paragraphs. I've heard samples of other books she does in a regular (generic American) accent, and she sounds much better--with a better rhythm--in those. (She also does commercial voiceovers, like this one for Met Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYi-wXk7eA) I'd actually purchased this audiobook back in 2008, before the boom, and before there was much information available about the narrators online. I might have enjoyed the book much more had it been narrated by Charlotte Parry, who did the other book of Raybourn's I've listened to twice and enjoyed both times: The Dead Travel Fast.
Meh. It was just barely interesting enough to keep me listening through to the end. Rather than being a true mystery novel, it's more of a "lifestyle of the rich and widowed in Victorian England" story, which is interrupted at the end by the climax of the minor plot of the murder mystery. I never grew to like Lady Julia---she's one step up from a typical Too Stupid to Live heroine. Anytime she's told: "DON'T DO THE THING," of course she has to immediately run out and do the thing. And because it's written in first-person, from her POV, I never grew to like Brisbane all that much, either, because I was so disconnected emotionally from her and from everything she did and thought.
So, at least I avoided getting sucked into yet another series.
The narrator, Ellen Archer, annoyed me with her fake British accent (repetitive mispronunciations and accent slippages made it VERY obvious) and pauses/breaks in odd places in the middle of sentences and paragraphs. I've heard samples of other books she does in a regular (generic American) accent, and she sounds much better--with a better rhythm--in those. (She also does commercial voiceovers, like this one for Met Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYi-wXk7eA) I'd actually purchased this audiobook back in 2008, before the boom, and before there was much information available about the narrators online. I might have enjoyed the book much more had it been narrated by Charlotte Parry, who did the other book of Raybourn's I've listened to twice and enjoyed both times: The Dead Travel Fast.
Was ultimately disappointed in this because did have some real potential and some interesting characters. Liked the plot twists but just wanted more depth and complexity.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4.5 stars.
Why did I never know that Victorian-set mysteries were a thing? Specifically ones that exclusively followed the heroine’s point of view, in first-person? It’s like everything I love in urban fantasy minus the paranormal, plus everything I love in historical romance minus a lot of the romance. Note that I didn’t say “minus the romance”, I’m hoping for more of that. Soon. But for now, I NEED the next book! As fast as I can get to it!
Lady Julia. What to say about our heroine? Well, she grew a lot just in this first book. She started out quiet and just wanting a normal life, away from the craziness of her family. But throughout this story, Julia ended up investigating her husband’s death, and that led to some major changes on her part. She started caring less of what society would think of her actions, and began considering her relationship with servants more. Plus, Julia was simply intelligent and relatable. She only had a few dumb moments, but I could sort of understand them. I just generally liked her, and for the most part I would have acted in the same ways she did.
There were plenty of side characters. I went through so many changes regarding my feelings for many of them, and I just think that was great skill on Deanna Raybourn’s part. I hardly ever change my views on people. Firstly, there was Val. Val was Julia’s younger brother. I came to view him as a great person and brother, though I did have my doubts at times. I liked Portia, Julia’s outgoing sister as well. I really liked that Portia’s partner was a woman. Another great character was Fleur. She was so charming and nice, I thought she stole all of the scenes in which she was featured. Simon, the cousin of Julia’s dead husband, was certainly a deeper character than I thought. My views on him vary widely from the beginning of the book to the end. I really hated Dr. Griggs who represented the prejudiced, sexist men of the time. And I loved Dr. Bent for his open mind. Lastly in this long list is Mr. Brisbane. I LOVe my mysterious characters. And boy was he ever!!! An investigator of many talents and languages, I was desperate to know more. And even now that I do know more of his character and past? Well, I’m still not satisfied.
This story was engaging from beginning to end. There was the mystery of Julia’s husband’s death. Julia herself went through a great deal of changes. Plus, there was all the crazy antics of her very large family, some of whom we still need to meet. Finally, Julia found out some things about her late husband that were a bit different from the man she thought she knew. The writing style was extremely well-done. I always had to read just one more chapter. My feelings on characters changed drastically, and I always wanted to know more.
Mystery has never been a favorite genre for me. But given my current love of all things historical, and the fact that I love series that follow one main character, of course I was going to check this out!! And I’m SO glad I did! Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t figure out who the villain was until Julia did. Yes, I suspected many people. But the author was really, really clever about what she put in to this book. I love failing to guess who the bad guy is in stories, and this story was just a great chance for me to be just as confused as the narrator. I just thought it was all great, in general. Maybe it was a bit long, but that’s a minor drawback that I hardly even noticed. I highly recommend this book if you like mystery even a little, and if you love great heroines and the Victorian era.
Why did I never know that Victorian-set mysteries were a thing? Specifically ones that exclusively followed the heroine’s point of view, in first-person? It’s like everything I love in urban fantasy minus the paranormal, plus everything I love in historical romance minus a lot of the romance. Note that I didn’t say “minus the romance”, I’m hoping for more of that. Soon. But for now, I NEED the next book! As fast as I can get to it!
Lady Julia. What to say about our heroine? Well, she grew a lot just in this first book. She started out quiet and just wanting a normal life, away from the craziness of her family. But throughout this story, Julia ended up investigating her husband’s death, and that led to some major changes on her part. She started caring less of what society would think of her actions, and began considering her relationship with servants more. Plus, Julia was simply intelligent and relatable. She only had a few dumb moments, but I could sort of understand them. I just generally liked her, and for the most part I would have acted in the same ways she did.
There were plenty of side characters. I went through so many changes regarding my feelings for many of them, and I just think that was great skill on Deanna Raybourn’s part. I hardly ever change my views on people. Firstly, there was Val. Val was Julia’s younger brother. I came to view him as a great person and brother, though I did have my doubts at times. I liked Portia, Julia’s outgoing sister as well. I really liked that Portia’s partner was a woman. Another great character was Fleur. She was so charming and nice, I thought she stole all of the scenes in which she was featured. Simon, the cousin of Julia’s dead husband, was certainly a deeper character than I thought. My views on him vary widely from the beginning of the book to the end. I really hated Dr. Griggs who represented the prejudiced, sexist men of the time. And I loved Dr. Bent for his open mind. Lastly in this long list is Mr. Brisbane. I LOVe my mysterious characters. And boy was he ever!!! An investigator of many talents and languages, I was desperate to know more. And even now that I do know more of his character and past? Well, I’m still not satisfied.
This story was engaging from beginning to end. There was the mystery of Julia’s husband’s death. Julia herself went through a great deal of changes. Plus, there was all the crazy antics of her very large family, some of whom we still need to meet. Finally, Julia found out some things about her late husband that were a bit different from the man she thought she knew. The writing style was extremely well-done. I always had to read just one more chapter. My feelings on characters changed drastically, and I always wanted to know more.
Mystery has never been a favorite genre for me. But given my current love of all things historical, and the fact that I love series that follow one main character, of course I was going to check this out!! And I’m SO glad I did! Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t figure out who the villain was until Julia did. Yes, I suspected many people. But the author was really, really clever about what she put in to this book. I love failing to guess who the bad guy is in stories, and this story was just a great chance for me to be just as confused as the narrator. I just thought it was all great, in general. Maybe it was a bit long, but that’s a minor drawback that I hardly even noticed. I highly recommend this book if you like mystery even a little, and if you love great heroines and the Victorian era.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hat mich mit dem ersten Satz schon überzeugt:
"to say that i met Nicolas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the Floor."
Vielversprechender Start der Reihe, ich bin gespannt wie es weiter geht.
Veeeery slow burn
Spice Level: a kiss and closed doors in the Future.
"to say that i met Nicolas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the Floor."
Vielversprechender Start der Reihe, ich bin gespannt wie es weiter geht.
Veeeery slow burn
Spice Level: a kiss and closed doors in the Future.
I sat on this since I bought it the year it came out. Finally got around to reading it.
I've always been of the belief that books benefit more from concise writing and brevity than they do overwriting. This one has not made me alter my position. I see that, after the next book in this series, it appears that Raybourn does bring her books down to a more reasonable length and the ratings for them improve quite a bit.
I am also in agreement with Agatha Christie. For the most part, romance does not belong in a mystery. It simply bogs the story down. Once again my opinion is not altered after reading this. But Raybourn does do a pretty good job at weaving the two strands together. Her dialogue is believable, her descriptions evocative of the times. The overall story is quite a good one and Raybourn does write well when she's not hammering out her positions or at least those of her characters.
But she is guilty of the dreaded over-writing, which some refer to as literature. A good editor would've made her chop about 30% of this and it would've made for a 5 star read. It just about merits a 4.
I've always been of the belief that books benefit more from concise writing and brevity than they do overwriting. This one has not made me alter my position. I see that, after the next book in this series, it appears that Raybourn does bring her books down to a more reasonable length and the ratings for them improve quite a bit.
I am also in agreement with Agatha Christie. For the most part, romance does not belong in a mystery. It simply bogs the story down. Once again my opinion is not altered after reading this. But Raybourn does do a pretty good job at weaving the two strands together. Her dialogue is believable, her descriptions evocative of the times. The overall story is quite a good one and Raybourn does write well when she's not hammering out her positions or at least those of her characters.
But she is guilty of the dreaded over-writing, which some refer to as literature. A good editor would've made her chop about 30% of this and it would've made for a 5 star read. It just about merits a 4.
This book was disappointing to me. It started off well and I was totally engaged in the plot until it became a tawdry mess. I LOVE the Lady Emily series by Tasha Alexander and thought this might be somewhat similar. It is not. There is way too much feminism in this book that is inappropriate for the times. The heroine is a little more believable than the hero, but both are still much too progressive for the times. I should have read the reviews before getting this at the library.
The prejudices in this book are also unrealistic. While the sister's sexual persuasion is wholly accepted, the son is shunned for wanting to be a doctor. Go figure.
The mystery was also predictable. I was hoping the author would surprise me in the end, but she didn't and while I didn't fully guess the reason why the murderer was the one, I pegged it from early on. The book was never really suspenseful which in my mind is the very essence of a good Victorian gothic. There were many lost opportunities that could have added so much more to the mystery. It seemed the author was more into shocking us and being provocative rather than writing a good mystery.
So, if your looking for a good historical mystery, I recommend the Lady Emily series. It is not tawdry and actually has compelling mysteries.
The prejudices in this book are also unrealistic. While the sister's sexual persuasion is wholly accepted, the son is shunned for wanting to be a doctor. Go figure.
The mystery was also predictable. I was hoping the author would surprise me in the end, but she didn't and while I didn't fully guess the reason why the murderer was the one, I pegged it from early on. The book was never really suspenseful which in my mind is the very essence of a good Victorian gothic. There were many lost opportunities that could have added so much more to the mystery. It seemed the author was more into shocking us and being provocative rather than writing a good mystery.
So, if your looking for a good historical mystery, I recommend the Lady Emily series. It is not tawdry and actually has compelling mysteries.