Review: Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

Title: Silent on the Moor (Lady Julia Grey #3)
& Midsummer Night (Lady Julia Grey #3.5)
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: March 1 2009 by Mira
ISBN: 1426829396 (ISBN13: 9781426829390)
Pages: 558 pages (3.5 novella 50 pages)
How We Read It: Amazon kindle ebook
Genre: historical fiction, romance, mystery
Our Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis: 
Despite his admonitions to stay away, Lady Julia arrives in Yorkshire to find Brisbane as remote and maddeningly attractive as ever. Cloistered together, they share the moldering house with the proud but impoverished remnants of an ancient family: the sort that keeps their bloodline pure and their secrets close. Lady Allenby and her daughters, dependent upon Brisbane and devastated by their fall in society, seem adrift on the moor winds, powerless to change their fortunes. But poison does not discriminate between classes.... 
 
A mystery unfolds from the rotten heart of Grimsgrave, one Lady Julia may have to solve alone, as Brisbane appears inextricably tangled in its heinous twists and turns. But blood will out, and before spring touches the craggy northern landscape, Lady Julia will have uncovered a Gypsy witch, a dark rider and a long-buried legacy of malevolence and evil. 

Our thoughts:

Deanna Raybourn provides a third installment in the wonderful story of Lady Julia Grey. Silent on the Moor is another interesting, mysterious, romantic tale. Julia risks traveling to the far reaches of Yorkshire to find what has become of the troubled Nicolas Brisbane. Julia is a woman not of her time (l9th century) and goes about breaking society's rules. She is intelligent, fallible, rich and loves a good mystery. Brisbane is the brooding hero, and set on the Yorkshire Moors, images of Heathcliff quickly come to mind.

Julia finds Nicholas in trouble and dealing with his past as this tale reveals more of his story, which we thought was great. The author continues to build solid characters that are not only multifaceted but exhibit real emotions, allowing you to become a part of not only the history of the time but also the growing connections that exist between them.

At the heart of each of book has been the growing relationship between Julia and Brisbane. This installment will not fail to deliver:

“I sagged against him in relief, and his arm came around to catch me close to him. I could feel the beat of his heart under my ear and it was the pulse of all the world to me”.

How will it all resolve itself? If you haven't read the first two books in the series, you'll want to do so as you become absorbed in the lives of these fascinating characters.

“I was the daughter of an earl…born to privilege and wealth most people could not even hope to imagine. And in that moment, I would have happily traded places with a little maid who had everything I did not”.

The novella - Midsummer Night - is short and well-paced tale of Brisbane and Julia’s wedding - inclusive of all the wonderful, colourful characters and historical details that we know and love from this series. We fully appreciate and approve of novellas in this series as it fills in the life gaps of the larger stories with incidentals that were not included in earlier books.  Fans will want to know about their wedding, and with all of the hilarious and eccentric March family involved in the day, the short story is a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Our Rating: