Deanna Raybourn: Silent in the Moor (Lady Julia Grey Novel)

I won't be reading any "Moor"

This is the third in the Lady Julia Grey series - I read it for two reasons, firstly because it was a heavily discounted e-book, and having read #1 and #2 I wanted to finally see a passionate relationship develop between Julia and Brisbane.

I had to wait through to the end for the latter to happen and it really was an anti-climax. In between Brisbane was even more enigmatic and elusive and any lady in their right mind would have walked away a long time ago.

This time Deanna Raybourn takes us to the most remote parts of the Yorkshire moors where Brisbane has surprisingly bought a run-down house from a family with aspirations to royal blood going down the ages. Not only is the house run-down but a strange mix of survivors of the original impoverished, and run-down family are still living in the house.

The plot again takes in gypsies and poison but this time Egyptian artifacts and mummies. We also have to put up with the strange animal kingdom of ugly dogs and pet raven that accompany Julia and her sister wherever they go. Of course Julia gets involved in some sleuthing but it is far from compelling reading.

I started reading the Lady Julia Grey series after really enjoying Raybourn's breakout adventure-romance A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS and seeing how many reviewers had a hard time coming to grips with the change from their favourite Lady Julia series. This book had the opposite effect on me and I won't be reading any more in this series, despite Brisbane and Julia finally coming together as partners.

Deanna Raybourn: Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey)

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An interesting but not outstanding Victorian "melodrama"
This is the second book in Deanna Raybourn's successful historical romantic/sleuth series about Lady Julia Grey, a rich Victorian widow, who stumbles into a "career" as a private investigator when her husband dies. In the first book she met enigmatic and potentially very sexy Nicholas Brisbane, a part-time private investigator for the aristocracy, who told her that her husband has been murdered and asked for her help in finding the culprit.

Julia has just spent a year abroad in Italy recovering from a fire which destroyed her home and her husband's murderer and nearly took her life. During that time she hasn't heard a word from Brisbane and when she returns to home for Christmas to Belmont Abbey she is surprised to find Brisbane there as a guest of her father. She is more surprised to find that he is to become Lord Wargrave and she is even more surprised to find that he is accompanied by his fiancé, Mrs Charlotte King.

What follows is a very interesting house party of family and friends. Julia's family, the Hart's, are known for their eccentricity but the addition of murder and theft make this a most unusual house party. Of course Julia teams up again with Brisbane to find the culprits and there is some sexual tension, but not as much as I would have expected.

All in all this turned out to be something of a Victorian "melodrama", with potential villains everywhere, all played out in a Victorian country house party environment, with family, friends with unknown backgrounds, ghosts, secret passages, gypsies, poisoning and jewel theft set against a background of Victorian manners and behaviours.

While this series is a little outside my normal reading stream I enjoyed the first book because I was left with anticipation of what would happen next. At the end of this book I was disappointed that the relationship between Julia and Brisbane had not developed as fast as I expected and there was a lot of the same. I am not sure if I want to keep reading to see where the relationship heads.

Deanna Raybourn: Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia Grey Novel)

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Good start to the Lady Julia Grey series
My attention was gripped from the start by a great first paragraph. "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." This is the start of Deanna Raybourn's bestselling Victorian murder mysteries about Lady Julia Grey and her enigmatic companion (later lover) Nicholas Brisbane.

Last year I admired Raybourn's work in A SPEAR OF SUMMER GRASS, an Out of Africa style romantic adventure set in 1920's Kenya. Some of her dedicated Lady Julia Grey fans bemoaned the change of style so I was fascinated to see what they loved. SILENT IN THE GRAVE is an excellent debut novel set in Victorian England in 1886 written by a talented American who must have studied the era and the locations closely to produce this book.

After the death of Sir Edward Grey, Lady Julia Grey, who is only in her late twenties, becomes an extremely rich widow.  As she gets immersed in the Victorian ritual of morning, including wearing full black and not attending any public functions for a year, she starts to realise how much of her independence she had lost when she was married.

She is jolted into reality when Brisbane tells her that Edward had hired him to investigate letters threatening his life. Brisbane is convinced that Edward was poisoned and tries to recruit Julia to help him find the murderer. At first Julia is not convinced that Edward has been poisoned until she finds evidence of the source of the threatening letters. Brisbane is very much a man of mystery, dark and threatening, often difficult to relate to, and subject to violent moods, giving the book a somewhat melodramatic feel.

Raybourn introduces us to one of the most macabre characters I have found in fiction - Aunt Ursula, the "Ghoul" - who could only exist in the Victorian era. Her sole purpose in life is to follow every deathbed and funeral of her family and friends with her trunks of mourning clothes and memorabilia. She keeps a scrapbook of funerals, rating them by the number of mourners, desirability of  the gravesite and even the quality of the food. She moves from one family tragedy to the next, with an inexhaustible supply of black margined writing paper on hand to cover all eventualities.

At the end of her year of mourning Julia emerges as a beautiful, rich and independent woman, dressed in the height of fashion with bold colours and décolletage strongly emphasising and exposing her cleavage. She also has the makings of a super sleuth - but that is one of the reasons for the rest of series.

This is not my normal genre but from time to time I need an interlude between heavier and more action-packed thrillers. The rest of this series may give me enjoyable interludes when I need them.

Deanna Raybourn: Twelfth Night

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"Remember me" and "Repositioning" Novella
It is clear the Deanna Raybourn has written this short novella as a "remember me" story so that her many fans won't forget her Lady Julia series after a bit of a gap when she was writing a different style of books with the memorable "A Spear of Summer Grass" and the less memorable "City of Jasmine".

This novella is also a brief interlude about the early days of marriage between Julia and Brisbane which cleverly covers a "repositioning" story about their future  life together, both personally and professionally. Of course there is a mystery to be solved and it is one that will affect their personal lives for a long time.

It was an easy reading but minor story about Julia and Brisbane that undoubtedly will whet their fans' appetite for more adventures.

Deanna Raybourn: City of Jasmine

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Last year Deanna Raybourn wrote "A Spear of Summer Grass", a delightful story about notorious socialite Delilah Drummond's escapades in mid Africa in the 1920's. "City of Jasmine" has a similar theme about a strong willed independent female travelling in the 1920's. The promo novella "Whisper of Jasmine" introduced us to  Evangeline (Evie) Starke and her whirlwind elopement with adventurer Gabriel Starke after they meet at a New Year's Eve party in 1914 held by matchmaker Delilah Drummond. Unfortunately the book itself didn't live up to the expectations in the novella.

Fairly quickly Evie's hasty marriage to Gabriel has turned sour and during their travels they parted company in China after a huge argument. Shortly afterwards Evie hears of his death with the sinking of the Lusitania. Five years later Evie has transformed herself into a famous adventurous aviatrix flying solo around the Middle East [She was actually taught to fly by Ryder Whitey, Deliah's love interest in Summer Grass.] Eve is in Rome and she is stunned when she receives a mysterious photo of Gabriel which seems to be taken recently. She tracks the source of the photo to Damascus and travels there (by train not plane) with her larger than life adventurous Aunt Dove and her pet talking parrot Arthur (whose favourite expression is to tell the Kaiser to bugger off).

The story then gets immersed in a travelogue for 1920's Damascus, a polyglot of mostly amateur and titled archaeologists exploring the ruins of a Caravanserai in the Syrian Desert led by enigmatic rude, ugly and grubby Oliver Rowan. Evie quickly gets involved in a host of strange adventures, including escaping into the desert to get away from dangerous enemies, being shot at, hiding in a cave and eventually living with a tribe of local Bedouins. It is only in the last few chapters that the story becomes interesting and a bit exciting and Evie has the chance to use her flying skills to chase down her enemies.

The middle of the book is enlivened by a few amusing and strange things. At a quiet time Aunt Dove is found reading the Q'uran to Arthur because "it's only fair because he heard Mass in Rome".  A couple of interesting characters are also introduced. Bedouin Sheikh Hamid ibn Hussein who just happened to go to school at Eton at the same time as Gabriel and mythical Saqr-al-Sahara who played a similar role to Colonel Lawrence in the war in southern parts of the desert.

It is always difficult for an author to keep up momentum on a new theme and unfortunately "City of Jasmine" was a bit of a disappointment after Summer Grass. Apart from the last few chapters I found this book didn't have the pizazz that made the previous book so enjoyable. The ending leaves an opening for a sequel and I don't think I shall be as keen to read it when it is eventually released.

Deanna Raybourn: Whisper of Jasmine:

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Delilah Drummond - Matchmaker
Last year Deanna Raybourn diverted from her Lady Julia Grey series and gave us the delightful "Spear of Summer Grass" set in 1920's mid Africa featuring notorious socialite Delilah Drummond. In this prequel to her next book "City of Jasmine" Raybourn brings back an earlier Deliah in 1914 when she was married to  her beloved Johnny, who was about to go to fight in WWI. Not to be deterred by the war and Johnny's impending departure, Delia decides to throw a New Year's Eve party designed to be the event of the year.

When sending out the invitations Deliah has matchmaking intentions for Evangeline (Evie) Merriweather, an impecunious granddaughter of a Earl who seems to have no clear future. What Deliah doesn't know is that Evie has always dreamed of a life full of adventure, encouraged by her vivacious Aunt Dove whose life was full of scandalous affairs. Aunt Dove takes Evie under her wing and converts an old designer dress into a daring outfit for the party and sprays her with a scent jasmine "one of the most seductive scents imaginable".

What follows at the party is love at first sight, but is this the match that Deliah has planned? At the end a very changed Evie returns a book on "Practical Applications in Lovemaking ...." to Aunt Dove with the comment "It was a kind thought but not needed. At all."

All in all a charming and amusing prequel novella to whet our appetites for when we next meet a very different and adventurous Evie several years later in "City of Jasmine".

Deanna Raybourn: Midsummer Night (A Lady Julia Mystery)

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Amusing introduction to the Lady Julia series
Earlier this year I really enjoyed and highly recommended Deanna Raybourn's latest and very memorable adventure romance book "A Spear of Summer Grass" set in 1920's Africa. Some reviewers had difficulty in adjusting to her change of style from the Victorian sleuth adventures of Lady Julia Grey so I was intrigued to read this novella which introduces all of  Julia Gray's adventures by way of an amusing tale of her wedding to her partner, Nicholas Brisbane.

Lady Julia is not your normal Victorian lady. She is a widow of a loveless marriage and has found in Brisbane "someone who always preferred a more direct and physical demonstration of his affections than the written word". Brisbane is not your normal Victorian man. He is part gypsie from his mother and part "giorgo" from his father and he has inherited his mother's Romany "sight" that has helped him to solve many mysteries (increasingly with Julia's help). Some of his Romany family are not happy with his life in the giorgio world.

Julia's family and friends are a mixture of larger than life and very amusing characters.  Her family plans for a huge wedding are disrupted at the last moment by an unwelcome visitor from one of her investigations. How this disaster is overcome makes amusing and entertaining reading.

I recommend this 56 page novella as a quick and amusing introduction to the main characters and their romantic adventures.

Deanna Raybourn: A Spear of Summer Grass

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Once in a while I come across a memorable book - "A Spear of Summer Grass" by Deanna Raybourn is one of the best books I have read this year.

In a few pages Raybourn conjures up a wonderful picture of the environment and social atmosphere of colonial East Africa just after WWI. This is a different type of love story -it is about love of East Africa and love between Ryder and Delilah. The central theme that makes this book so memorable is how Delilah tries not to fall in love with life in that part of Africa.

The prequel - Far In The Wilds - introduces us to Ryder White, brought up in the wilds of the Canadian Yukon who is more at home in the wilds of the African bush and chasing the charms of lonely married women than being part of the pleasure-seeking white colonists of Kenyan society. He is a bit like Robert Redford in "Out of Africa".

"Spear in the Summer Grass" introduces us to Delilah Drummond, from an unconventional Creole family from the US South who has been brought up in both the US South and Europe by her similarly unconventional mother. After losing her first husband in WWI Delilah becomes a notorious and emancipated woman with several ex-husbands. She is encouraged to move to Africa for a spell to escape her latest marital and legal problems after her last husband commits suicide.

Delilah is a complex character who at first sight seems to be a spoilt, rich socialite. In Africa she shows that she is an independent, emancipated, smart, strong willed, brave, kind and sensitive person who can face up to the dangers and challenges of Africa. She is promiscuous but very selective, and ignores the excesses of the colonial social scene. She reminds me a lot of one of my favourite fictional heroines, Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher from late 1920's Melbourne.

On her arrival in Nairobi the males in the white settlers' club open a fifty pound betting book on the first man bed Delilah. When Delilah asks Ryder who he had put his money on he replied with grin "Why, myself of course."

Delilah's first night in the African veld opens her eyes to a new world - "I took in a deep, long breath, drinking in Africa, strange and wonderful Africa." She arrives at Fairlight, her ex-stepfather's estate in the Kenyan bush - "The estate was, in kindest terms, a wreck". The house and farm are totally run down. Delilah sets about making it habitable and sustainable. In the process she establishes a close rapport with the local natives, especially the proud and remote Masai and the Kikuyu who work in the home and the farm. This rapport fuels the climax to the book.

Unlike some other reviewers I haven't been distracted by comparing this to other works by Deanna Raybourn's in completely different settings. All I can say is that I really enjoyed this emotional story by a talented author and strongly recommend it.

Deanna Raybourn: Far in the Wilds

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This is the best prequel novella I have read for a long time. In a few pages Deanna Raybourn was able to conjure up the atmosphere of colonial East Africa just after WWI both socially and environmentally. In the same space she created a great character in Ryder White who is more at home in the wilds of the African bush and chasing the charms of lonely married women than being part of the pleasure-seeking expat colonists of Kenyan society. Raybourn also finds time to sketch out the fascinating character of Ryder's best friend, Jude, who is mourning the loss of her husband in the war.

Ryder was brought up in the wilds of the Canadian Yukon but "Africa chose me....it's a hard place and you can't ever tell when someone comes out if they are going to make it or not." Ryder has made it his world, hunting game. Reluctantly he agrees to take a spoilt Danish Prince and his mistress on safari to kill a rogue black leopard.

This prequel was an introduction to Ryder but it also had a couple of preview chapters of A Spear Of Summer Grass to be released in May which will also feature Delilah Drummond, a notorious and emancipated woman with several ex-husbands who moves to Africa to escape her latest marital problems.

Ryder White reminded me so much of Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) in the movie "Out of Africa", especially his love of the bush and the Masai. His lover, Baroness Blixen (Meryl Streep)finds that Denys is as impossible to own or tame as Africa itself. I wonder if this will happen to Delilah and Ryder.