Silent in the Sanctuary
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Average rating3.7
Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns home to Sussex to find her father's estate crowded with family and friends; but dark deeds are afoot at the deconsecrated abbey, and a murderer roams the ancient cloisters. Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget, the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas Brisbane, is among her father's houseguests... and he is not alone. Not to be outdone, Julia shows him that two can play at flirtation and promptly introduces him to her devoted, younger, titled Italian count.But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel, and a member of Lady Julia's own family confesses to the crime. Certain of her cousin's innocence, Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and deliciously intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane, setting out to unravel a tangle of deceit before the killer can strike again. When a sudden snowstorm blankets the abbey like a shroud, it falls to Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane to answer the shriek of murder most foul.
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4 primary books6 released booksLady Julia Grey
Lady Julia Grey is a 6-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2006 with contributions by Deanna Raybourn.
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This book was definitely better than the last. To a point I did enjoy [b:Silent in the Grave 267869 Silent in the Grave (Lady Julia, #1) Deanna Raybourn http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173284547s/267869.jpg 259684], but the solving point I felt ruined what could have been a perfectly great mystery. But that's enough about that. I really enjoyed this one. This was not just one mystery, but several wrapped up in one. There was some romance and extreme feelings between various persons and trying to see them was a task. I enjoyed this story, and it makes me anxious to read [b:Silent on the Moor 4728979 Silent on the Moor (Lady Julia, #3) Deanna Raybourn http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1228758053s/4728979.jpg 4793486], because I believe it will be even better. The first book I would not recommend to certain audiences, but I believe that most people could read this one without much affect in a negative sense. It is much more tasteful and enjoyable. I felt as if I could see clues and piece them together, when with the first novel it was more of a jolt of information here and there. In my opinion, this author is getting better and better.
Contrary to many of the reviews that I read on Amazon.com, I really liked this book precisely because the continued love-hate relationship from the previous book, Silent in the Grave, was in no way resolved, and in a way that was true to the characters. That's genius, if you ask me, because it keeps the true fans of the series panting for more. This book is funny, charming, and portrays High Victorian Society oh so well. The setting is well-written without overtaking the plot, the characters are snappy, and my favorite device is used: giving tertiary characters their own subplots that affect the whole.
Read this book for a sophomore attempt that was as good (if not better) than the first, for a lesson in creating characters that don't fit in their own society and yet seem genuine to the reader, a true puzzle of a crime, a charming and funny narrator, a passionate romance with no real sense of a happy ending (must continue to read the series!), and the only series in a long time that has an alpha romance lead that doesn't make me want to shoot him.
Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2008/03/book-silent-in-the-sanctuary/
