Monday, February 11, 2008

Sat-is-fying

I was really looking forward to Deanna Raybourn's second book, Silent in the Sanctuary. Of course, I was also a bit nervous because "sophomore" books can be good...or disappointing. But Raybourn didn't fail me; I'm happy!

First of all, GORGEOUS cover! It definitely sets the mood for the book. It's a Victorian mystery, with gothic elements, and romance.

Lady Julia Grey, at the end of Silent in the Grave, was off to Italy with her brothers Plum and Lysander. The siblings receive a summons from their eccentric father, demanding they come home for Christmas. They do, bringing home a hot Italian who just may be in love with Julia. Then, suprise, Nicholas Brisbane is there for the holidays, too--with a fiancée! A murder disrupts the family's Christmas and Brisbane and Julia work together again to solve it.

I was thoroughly satisfied by the developments between Brisbane and Julia. Raybourne does a great job with secondary characters and overall plot action. I'm not sure if the mystery aspect itself is her strongest point, since I almost figured it out, but it was still very good, with twists and shocks.

My only complaint is that is was too short--write more next time, Raybourne! I'm not sure when the third book will come out, but I'm looking forward to it already.

Rating: 10/10

3 comments:

Jennie said...

Ooh, nice to see such a good review of this. I liked the first one, and have this one in the TBR. I will get to it one of these days. ;)

I want to see some more Brisbane/Julia interaction. Is there a lot in this book?

rachel said...

Jennie, there's a bit more interaction between the two. They have some nice, biting conversations and you get more of Brisbane's backstory, too. Definitely a good book!

Angiegirl said...

Yep, loved the further "interaction" between Brisbane and Julia. Nice review. I like the "bringing home a hot Italian" bit. :)