DEANNA RAYBOURN'S BRILLIANT LADY JULIA GREY

Last week I finished reading the first in Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia series: Silent in the Grave. I wrote a review of the second book, Silent in the Sanctuary, here.

If you like mysteries or Victorian historicals or both, then I highly recommend this wonderful read.

From Lady Julia's eccentric family, to the swarthy, mysterious Nicholas Brisbane the plot thickens, twists, turns and thickens again!

The historical detail is sumptuous, the characterisations exact and the mystery of who killed Lady Julia's husband will keep you guessing until the end.

Here's the opening line:

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor. 

Isn't that a punchy opening?

On finishing this book I wanted to read it all over again, to find the clues I had missed and to just luxuriate in the wonderful world Deanna Raybourn creates.

I have read other reviews that liken this series to Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily series. There is definitely some truth in that, but both these talented authors have such unique and powerful voices that, for me anyway, they are incomparable. They are both great reads, and both series are taking pride of place on my book shelf as I slowly collect them. And with Christmas just around the corner, I know my collection is going to grow. (Thanks to a wonderful hubby!)

WRITING NEWS:

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. It only dawned on me yesterday that November starts THIS WEEK! I was so sure I had another week to prepare. Eek! Right, time to put the computer away and get my plan of attack sorted.

Are you NaNo-ing?

DEEP FRIED MORO BAR

I'm having an odd week. The dreaded lurgy is knocking us down one by one. Son #2 is on his third sick day, hubby is on his first and I've been fluctuating between feeling fine or tired and fluey. Right now I'm somewhere in between.


I've been wading through a pile of books from the library and most of them have been hurled at the wall. Does that ever happen to you? I'm torn between deciding whether it's my state of mind or that I  chose badly. No doubt it will be a bit of both.


And what is it about these books that is turning me off reading them? Vastly different reasons, really. There's the gratuitous sex scenes that go nowhere and have no relevance to the story, the plotless stories, the plain boring stories and just badly written stories.


But that is enough grumbling from me. I've also read some excellent books lately. Here's a couple of the highlights so far this year:

A POISONED SEASON by Tasha Alexander.
    Book 2 in the Lady Emily series.  History, mystery and intrigue. Victorian fashions and etiquette, archeological treasures, and a smattering of Greek all wrapped up in a little romance. I can't recommend this highly enough.
You can read my review of Book 1 here.

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley.
     Book 1 in the series. Eleven year old Flavia is the youngest of three daughters yet her intelligence and maturity outstrip her siblings by years.  Murder, stamp collecting, chemistry and 'old school' boys, set in 1950s rural England. A great read.

THE DEVLIN DIARY by Christi Phillips.
     This follows on from The Rossetti Letter, but is a stand alone. Murder in present day Cambridge University and murder and intrigue in the era of Charles II. I enjoyed the really strong characterisation in this book along with the mystery and history. I haven't read the Rossetti Letter yet, but I certainly plan to.






But the highlight of the week was my first taste of a deep fried Moro! Hubby grabbed takeaways one night and the fish n' chip shop he went to sold this incredibly decadent treat. For those of you who don't live in New Zealand, a Moro bar is fluffy, chocolate flavoured nougat, a layer of flowing caramel all smothered in chocolate. A bit bigger and denser than a Mars bar. A very rich an incredibly delicious treat without being coated in batter and deep fried!


Now I know many of you will be thinking "GROSS" and you'd be right. I stared at my small portion as a chocolatey, caramelly mess oozed from the split batter. There was no way I was going to eat any of it, but I found myself dipping a finger into the hot centre and scooping out a mouthful. A moment of pure chocolate bliss!


Three mouthfuls later and the batter lay limp and empty on my plate; the kid's plates however were scrupulously clean!

AND ONLY TO DECEIVE BY TASHA ALEXANDER

Yet another book that sat on my shelves collecting dust, until finally I picked it up. Of course, now I'm kicking myself for delaying the pleasure of such an absorbing read.

Lady Emily Ashton, newly widowed, is finding that Victorian society allows her more freedom than if she were married. Despite her guilt at feeling no grief at the demise of her husband she throws herself into learning about his life and interests. Which leads her to a study of Greek, the Antiquities and Homer.

But she also unearths mysterious goings on at the British Museum, falls foul of burglars in Paris and meets impressionist painter Renoir. To tell you any more is to give the plot away.

This book has been described as Jane Austen meets The Da Vinci Code and I couldn't agree more. Here is a heroine who is completely at home in the drawing rooms of high society, yet does not flinch in immersing herself in dangerous mysteries.

I enjoyed this book immensely and look forward to reading the next five books about Lady Emily Ashton.

This review is an entry in the Historical Reading Challenge 2011