Reviews - Silent in the Grave

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

610 reviews for:

Silent in the Grave

Deanna Raybourn

3.78 AVERAGE

bookhound36's review against another edition

2.0

I guessed the killer almost right away. Meh.

laurieanneh's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

cakt1991's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I picked up Silent in the Grave after much hemming and hawing, while waiting between Veronica Speedwell books. I had seen this series often recommended, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to another mystery series, especially given my uneven experience with the Veronica books. And while it wasn’t as good as Veronica Speedwell, I am willing to allow this series to grow on me, as this is a much earlier work.

Julia is an interesting character. I like that she comes from a bit of an eccentric family, with some of their antics coming into play as side stories. And it’s cool to dig into her backstory with her late husband, and that it was a marriage based around friendship and mutual convenience. It would be such a cliche for their marriage to be miserable, and I’m glad the book played against that.

I knew going in that Julia develops a romance with the inquiry agent Nicholas Brisbane. It’s not like I had heard they were the best ship ever, but that in comparison to Veronica and Stoker, the romantic pace is much quicker. However, I struggled to feel the chemistry, as it is still super subtle. And he didn’t really grab me in and of himself, as he’s kind of just your typical broody leading man. However, I’m open to my mind being changed.

The length of this one was a big barrier to me picking this one up, as I feel like just under 400 pages is the sweet spot for most romances and mysteries. However, while there are some moments where the pacing did feel a bit off, I also found myself really enjoying it purely for the sake of the writing style and voice.

There’s also a lot of “yikes!” elements that have not aged well. While I do applaud the fact that Julia and her family generally have progressive views toward race and sexuality (which, contrary to popular belief, are not anachronistic), it feels really out of place when you contrast it with some of the racist language and homophobic plot devices employed. I’m giving Raybourn some benefit of the doubt, as this book was published fifteen years ago, and she’s grown a lot as a writer since then. However, that does not undo the harm that this book could potentially do today as it continues to be read.

While I did have a lot of issues with this book, I am still optimistic to see where the series goes from here. And while I’m hesitant to recommend it to anyone without caveats, it is quite an interesting read for those who’ve only read Deanna Raybourn’s newer work, like I have.

suzze's review against another edition

4.0

Liked Julia. Sassy. Loved the raven. Loved the time period (Upstairs, Downstairs/Downton Abbey come to mind) I think I'm actually liking British mysteries!

kdailyreads's review against another edition

3.0

I would give this a 3.5. It was a little slow for my liking but I really enjoyed the historical aspect and it picked up a lot at the end. I would read more in this series.

the_discworldian's review against another edition

4.0

Utterly predictable in plot, but the heroine was engaging and I had the feeling that the author had a lot of fun writing the book. That's always something that appeals!

efride's review against another edition

3.0

This book was weird. It felt like a romantic fanfic at times, a well-written comedy others (the first crow scene still makes me laugh). The protagonist's personality is all over the place. Still, the combination of all the weirdness kept me interested until the last page.

jenniferntremblay's review against another edition

5.0

Originally I did not think that I was going to find this book as interesting as it turned out to be, but it ended up being a book that I could not put down. Now I find I'm itching to read the next book in the series, but alas! I have to wait until the local book store gets it in for me!

I was shocked at the end of this book, and that is all I'm going to give away so you will just have to read it yourself to find out! I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end!