Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Silent in the Grave is billed as a murder mystery, but it is more about style and relationships than about solving a crime. Julia's husband dies after a seizure at a party the couple were hosting. Her reaction is surprising until we learn how little passion there was in their union. Her relationship with a detective, Nicholas Brisbane, is a different story, which is evident as they start to work together to determine if her husband was murdered and, if so, by whom. The detective work in the plot seems weak. Suspects are dismissed on intuition and clues are found through luck, but the way Julia learns more and more about Nicholas makes the book worth reading. They are drawn to each other's strengths, but fearful as they learn their flaws.

Raybourn's language is wonderful and pulls the reader into the eloquence of the wealthy class in 19th century England. Here is a description of Julia listening to Nicholas play a violin.

His eyes remained closed as his fingers flew over the strings, spilling forth surely more notes than were possible from a single violin. For one mad moment I actually thought there were more of them, an entire orchestra of violins spilling out of this one instrument. I had never heard anything like it--it was poetry and seduction and light and shadow and every other contradiction I could think of. It seemed impossible to breathe while listening to that music, and yet all I was doing was breathing, quite heavily. The music itself had become as palpable a presence in that room as another person would have been--and its presence was something out of myth.

This book is the first in a series. I would like to read more.



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