A review by laurenjodi
Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

4.0

Silent on the Moor
4 Stars

Despite his admonitions to stay away, Lady Julia Grey accompanies her sister to Nicholas Brisbane’s recently acquired estate on the remote Yorkshire Moors. The former owners, the Allenbys, were once a great and powerful family, but centuries of keeping their bloodlines close and their secrets even closer have found them in reduced circumstances. Ensconced in the house with its unusual tenants, Lady Julia soon uncovers a heinous crime and finds herself struggling not only with Brisbane’s mysterious behavior, but with a gypsy witch and a malevolent murderer who will stop at nothing to attain their vengeance.

This installment in Lady Julia’s misadventures with its eerie overtones and gritty themes is my favorite in the series so far.

As with the previous books, the pacing is slow as Raybourn introduces the setting, the characters and the mystery. Nevertheless, the climax and resolution are quite exciting albeit rather obvious, and the egyptology elements are an added bonus.

Although it takes them some time to get there, Nicholas and Julia take that last inevitable step in their relationship as they are finally honest with one another. Nicholas can be an obtuse idiot, but Julia’s stubbornness is more than a match for his and her calling him out on his condescension is exceedingly overdue.

Ellen Archer’s narration is wonderful and she does a fantastic job of conveying the gothic nature of ramshackle house and the cold, desolate and creepy moors. It will be interesting to see how she handles the next book, which takes place in India.

In sum, the gothic setting and the troubling mystery alongside the developments in Julia and Brisbane’s romance make Silent on the Moor an entertaining addition to the series.