⋙ Download Silent in the Grave Deanna Raybourn 9780778324102 Books

Silent in the Grave Deanna Raybourn 9780778324102 Books

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Silent in the Grave Deanna Raybourn 9780778324102 Books

Having just read both And Only to Deceive, by Tasha Alexander, and Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn, I wanted to compare the two, as they both begin with two newly-minted widows impatient with living in mourning and eventually deciding to investigate their late husbands' legacies. Lady Emily is the protagonist from And Only to Deceive, and Lady Julia is the protagonist from Silent in the Grave, but AOD contains many ancient Greek allusions, and its protagonist is also known as Kallista, so I'll call her that for the sake of clarity here.

Raybourn and Alexander's novels possess many similarities. Both authors do a fine job of evoking the social conventions and atmosphere of Victorian England. Neither one describes the setting so well that one suspects either is a literature or history professor, but both authors are gifted enough with description that the reader is able to feel comfortable in the time and place. Both main characters weren't particularly attached to their husbands, although interestingly enough one woman comes to dramatically despise certain aspects of her husband's character by the end of the novel, while the other woman comes to actually fall in love with her dead husband by the end of her story. One husband turns out to be a significantly more honorable human being than the other. Both widows, however, turn out to be rather similar. Both women aren't particularly thrilled about mourning husbands that they didn't particularly love, and both widows are wealthy and seek slightly more independence through choices of either friends, new clothes and hairstyles, etc.

As far as differences in plot and character change go, after the death of her husband, Kallista goes to the British Museum and discovers a newfound interest for ancient Greek art and literature. She cultivates this passion and accordingly makes scholarly friends, but her love interest, Colin Hargreaves, is always in the background running mysterious errands. Colin is an upper-class neighbor of hers who was her husband's best friend. Meanwhile, Lady Julia is contacted by the dashing but unpredictable Nicholas Brisbane and informed that her husband's death was murder. Lady Julia subsequently visits Brisbane several times in his rooms and endures several different interrogations. Both husbands, in the end, are (surprise!) found to have been murdered.

I found Kallista to be a more interesting character than Lady Julia, probably because I love most things to do with the ancient Greek world, and I liked how the Greek art and literature plot unfolded in Kallista's story. I thought that Brisbane was definitely a more interesting character than Hargreaves, however: it would seem that Alexander's female protagonist was more interesting than the love interest in her story, and Raybourn's male love interest was more interesting than her protagonist, at least in this first novel in the series.

What would Keats and Aristotle say? Both these novels were fun. I think the pace was a little better in AOD, but that novel also had a gaggle of anachronistic-sounding girlfriends that surrounded the protagonist as well, so there are points both for and against that novel's superiority. I liked how both authors genuinely attempted to show how both widows felt badly that they didn't mourn their husbands more, and that both women were able to become more themselves once their husbands were gone. Neither novel really seemed to contain magnificent greatness of either content or execution, but both were enjoyable and worth reading. If you're looking for a female protagonist in a series with more authentic period detail and somewhat better writing, as well as more humor but less depth, I'd suggest the Amelia Peabody series. That series, however, is set in Victorian British Egypt, not England.


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Silent in the Grave Deanna Raybourn 9780778324102 Books Reviews

For a first book, this moves slowly, but the situation is interesting enough. Lady Julia is as well, and she has friends and acquaintances with entertaining character. I bought the first four books of the series.

Being the first book, it is an Origin Story, a favorite genre. We see the proper Julia, the only member of her family not to have something outrageous in their history, ease into danger of both physical and societal kinds. You'll love the secondary character Fleur, but for some reason the rest of the series dubs her as "Hortense," a perfectly awful name. (I had the impression that the author forgot the original name and had to go back in either vol. 2 or 3 and insert one sentence reminding us that once Fleur had asked everyone to call her that.)

Gypsies seem to be fascinating to the author, and you'll find many of them in vols. 1-3.

These books are are VERY slow moving. You might find yourself checking to see where you are, as nothing has really happened though you're at the halfway point. Eventually ini the series the bold Brisbane becomes irritating, and Julia moreso. I've checked reviews and some people say the series jumps the shark in vol. 4. I say it's more like 3. But this is volume 1, so enjoy!
I believe this book was one of the first books I downloaded when I purchased my first a few years back. Can't believe I've never bothered to read it. When a reviewer I follow posted yet another review about Lady Julia Grey, I decided it was high time I began reading the series. I'm now a Fan! Big time Fan!

In this first book, there's a bit of foundation to set up, so the book may appear a bit slow to those new to the series. The first mystery to be solved is "Who Might Have Murdered Lady Julia's husband, Edward?" Actually, she never considered there might actually be foul play until a certain intriguing character, Nicholas Brisbane, who was present when Edward died, calls upon her and lets her know Edward had engaged his services because he thought someone was attempting to do him in. Julia pooh poohs Brisbane's suggestion that there may have been foul play and offends him in the process.

One year later, Julia finds a note in Edward's desk and decides she must call upon Brisbane, who by now wants nothing to do with the "cold" case. Julia persists and manages to re-engage Brisbane's interest. Brisbane is one of the most intriguing Main Guys I've ever had the fun of encountering within the pages of a historical romance. He's definitely got something more going on that meets the eye. Handsome, mixed blood with a bit of sexy darkness thrown in. His origins are revealed before the end of the book. He's also got a strange illness that he can't seem to overcome - he's currently trying to get through the attacks by using Absinthe - deadly though it is. Plus, there's the mention by Magda, the gypsy gal that works for Julia who has brought up a woman's name that has something to do with Brisbane's past.

So, not only must the murder of Edward be cleared up, there's also enough mystery about Brisbane, his origins, the "Moriah" reference - lots going on here. It's obvious from the beginning Brisbane and Julia will soon be a couple - not only in joint mystery solving, but perhaps in a relationship also. The attraction is there - the fun is in the slow buildup as their lives become further intertwined. I'm in over my head. I'm currently reading Silent in the Sanctuary (A Lady Julia Mystery Book 2). I obviously need to get a library card so my bank account won't get blown out of the water.

This mystery contains some dark themes, including some that I strongly dislike reading about. No explicit sexual details thus far, however.
Having just read both And Only to Deceive, by Tasha Alexander, and Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn, I wanted to compare the two, as they both begin with two newly-minted widows impatient with living in mourning and eventually deciding to investigate their late husbands' legacies. Lady Emily is the protagonist from And Only to Deceive, and Lady Julia is the protagonist from Silent in the Grave, but AOD contains many ancient Greek allusions, and its protagonist is also known as Kallista, so I'll call her that for the sake of clarity here.

Raybourn and Alexander's novels possess many similarities. Both authors do a fine job of evoking the social conventions and atmosphere of Victorian England. Neither one describes the setting so well that one suspects either is a literature or history professor, but both authors are gifted enough with description that the reader is able to feel comfortable in the time and place. Both main characters weren't particularly attached to their husbands, although interestingly enough one woman comes to dramatically despise certain aspects of her husband's character by the end of the novel, while the other woman comes to actually fall in love with her dead husband by the end of her story. One husband turns out to be a significantly more honorable human being than the other. Both widows, however, turn out to be rather similar. Both women aren't particularly thrilled about mourning husbands that they didn't particularly love, and both widows are wealthy and seek slightly more independence through choices of either friends, new clothes and hairstyles, etc.

As far as differences in plot and character change go, after the death of her husband, Kallista goes to the British Museum and discovers a newfound interest for ancient Greek art and literature. She cultivates this passion and accordingly makes scholarly friends, but her love interest, Colin Hargreaves, is always in the background running mysterious errands. Colin is an upper-class neighbor of hers who was her husband's best friend. Meanwhile, Lady Julia is contacted by the dashing but unpredictable Nicholas Brisbane and informed that her husband's death was murder. Lady Julia subsequently visits Brisbane several times in his rooms and endures several different interrogations. Both husbands, in the end, are (surprise!) found to have been murdered.

I found Kallista to be a more interesting character than Lady Julia, probably because I love most things to do with the ancient Greek world, and I liked how the Greek art and literature plot unfolded in Kallista's story. I thought that Brisbane was definitely a more interesting character than Hargreaves, however it would seem that Alexander's female protagonist was more interesting than the love interest in her story, and Raybourn's male love interest was more interesting than her protagonist, at least in this first novel in the series.

What would Keats and Aristotle say? Both these novels were fun. I think the pace was a little better in AOD, but that novel also had a gaggle of anachronistic-sounding girlfriends that surrounded the protagonist as well, so there are points both for and against that novel's superiority. I liked how both authors genuinely attempted to show how both widows felt badly that they didn't mourn their husbands more, and that both women were able to become more themselves once their husbands were gone. Neither novel really seemed to contain magnificent greatness of either content or execution, but both were enjoyable and worth reading. If you're looking for a female protagonist in a series with more authentic period detail and somewhat better writing, as well as more humor but less depth, I'd suggest the Amelia Peabody series. That series, however, is set in Victorian British Egypt, not England.