Audiobook Review – Silent in the Grave (A Lady Julia Grey Mystery, Book 1) by Deanna Raybourn, Narrated by Ellen Archer (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Mystery
Length: 13 hours and 2 minutes (448 pages)
Publisher: Harlequin Books S.A.
Release Date: January 5, 2007
ASIN: B000MGTPX0
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, Sir Edward collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.

Prepared to accept that Edward’s death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that Sir Edward has been murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers the damning paper for herself, and realizes the truth.

Determined to bring her husband’s murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward’s demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.”

This is the first book in the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries. This was a good read and I enjoyed it, nothing really all that special here but decently done. This book was a Victorian mystery with a hint of romance. It was decently written but got a bit long at points and was a bit predictable.

I listened to the Audiobook and the narration was very well done. Archer got all the accents right and did an excellent job overall. I would recommend listening to this on audible if you like audiobooks.

I enjoyed the mystery and how Lady Julia slowly learned to enjoy her independence after her husband died. I did feel like parts of the book were pretty slow. The mystery involved a lot of secret societies, brothels, and poisons. Nothing supernatural really in this series just good ole’ Victorian mystery.

Overall I enjoyed this book but wasn’t intrigued enough by the characters to continue the series. If you enjoy Victorian mysteries, this one was well done and entertaining. However I prefer my Victorian novels to have a bit of fantasy, supernatural, or paranormal in them.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge