Silent in the Grave

It is well known that European aristocracy holds a fascination for Americans, unfortunately very few of them show any real appreciation of their hierarchy, attitudes and lifestyle. At last, in Texan writer Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave we have someone who has taken the trouble to do sufficient background research to produce not only a good page turning mystery but one which reads as though it were written by an Englishwoman. I can give no higher praise. (Patronising Bastard!) The novel begins with the death of Sir Edward Grey, a well known figure in London Society in the penultimate decade of the nineteenth century. Sir Edward comes from a familly with a history of illness and the familly doctor promptly issues a death certificate stating natural causes. However, his widow Lady Julia, receives a visit from Nicholas Brisbane who her late husband had commissioned to investigate a series of threatening letters that had been sent to him. Brisbane suggests that Sir Edward's death may be suspicious. Lady Julia is outraged and dismisses Brisbane but later she is forced to realise that her husband had a life of which she knew nothing and which could indeed have lead to his murder. Determined to find the truth however painful she visits Brisbane and engages him to undertake an investigation though by now the trail is cold. Their search for answers is difficult and dangerous and brings them face to face with unpleasant truths about her late husband and the Grey familly that are difficult for her to accept. Nonetheless Lady Julia presses on to a dramatic and surprising conclusion to this excellently told story. Silent in the Grave is Miss Raybourn's first novel and I look forward eagerly to her next though I must warn her that here she has set a standard that it will not be easy to maintain.