Dark Road to Darjeeling

September 1, 2010

It's 1889. Lord Nicholas and Lady Julia Brisbane are in Egypt, the last stop on their wedding trip, when Julia's siblings, Plum and Portia, appear. Portia would like Brisbane to assist her dear friend Jane by investigating the death of Jane's husband, Freddie Cavendish. Freddie was a wastrel, but his death will allow someone to inherit a valuable tea garden at the foothills of the Himalayas. If Freddie was murdered, could the next victim be Jane or the baby she carries? In such a small community in a faraway place called Valley of Eden, can the search for knowledge uncover anything but painful secrets? VERDICT Fans eagerly awaiting the newest Lady Julia Grey novel (after Silent on the Moor) will be thrilled by the chance to continue their acquaintance with these evermore endearing characters, foibles and all, and the mystery is peppered with plenty of intriguing misdirections that allow a number of secondary story lines to blossom. A great choice for readers of historical fiction, mystery, or romance.--Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2010
The fourth Lady Julia Grey mystery (following Silent on the Moor, 2009) finds Julia happily married to handsome, brooding detective Nicholas Brisbane. Their honeymoon is interrupted by her sister Portia and brother Plum, who want Julia and her new husband to come to India, where Portias former lover, Jane Cavendish, is living on the tea plantation her recently deceased husband, Freddie, inherited. Freddie died under mysterious circumstances, and Jane suspects he may have been murdered for his inheritance. Jane is pregnant, and she fears her child will be in danger if it proves to be a boy. Despite her husbands objections, Julia decides to investigate Freddies murder, getting to know the potential suspects, including Freddies spinster aunt, his cousin Harry, several neighbors, and a mysterious man known as the White Rajah. As Julia closes in on the killer, she uncovers more than a few family secrets. Raybourn expertly evokes late-nineteenth-century colonial India in this rollicking good read, distinguished by its delightful lady detective and her colorful family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

August 16, 2010
Set in 1889, Raybourn’s sharp, surprising fourth Lady Julia Grey novel (after Silent on the Moor) finds Julia thoroughly enjoying her honeymoon with her detective husband, Nicholas Brisbane, in the Himalayas, where her brother, Plum, and sister, Portia, show up unexpectedly with startling news. Portia’s former lover, Jane Cavendish, is convinced that her husband, Freddie, has been murdered in India. Brisbane, who reluctantly joins his wife and her siblings in their search for Freddie’s killer, gets quickly drawn into a web of intrigue that’s long on suspects and short on evidence. The mystery deepens as Grey and Brisbane explore India’s colonial tensions and realize that everyone has a motive for murder. Raybourn skillfully balances humor and earnest, deadly drama, creating well-drawn characters and a rich setting. New readers may want to go back and start with the series debut, Silent in the Grave, which won an Agatha Award.