Deanna Raybourn scores a winner with her newest Victorian
mystery, a sequel to 2007’s SILENT IN THE GRAVE. The action
emanates from a stately country manor outside London. The March
family’s Sussex estate is a former abbey, home to a
cloistered order of Brothers. Earl March and his children, ribald
and eccentric, have occupied the estate for several
generations.

A recent widow, daughter Lady Julia Grey, accompanied by brothers
Plum and Lysander, recuperates in southern Italy from physical and
emotional trauma. Raybourn’s debut novel was Lady
Julia’s intriguing story of solving her husband’s
murder. Now, recovering from her harrowing experiences, she puzzles
over her lack of mail. Nicholas Brisbane, her consort in solving
the crime, has ignored her for five months.

Lysander’s sudden engagement to a fiery Italian beauty,
Violante, triggers March’s unexpected request for their
return to England for the Christmas holidays. Plum adds to the
traveling party when he invites his Italian friend, Count
Alessandro Fornacci, a wealthy young man who adores Julia.

March has assembled a house party that brims with intriguing
personalities, including two eccentric maiden aunts; orphaned
cousins Lucy and Emma; the local vicar’s curate, Lucien Snow;
daughter Portia; and Sir Cedric Easley, a wealthy tradesman. Sir
Cedric has become Lucy’s fiance, despite a wide gap in their
ages. Lucien exhibits his flirtatious nature, an uncommon trait in
a religious trainee. Ultimate shock jars Julia when her father
re-introduces her to Lord Hargrave, formerly known to her as
Nicholas Brisbane. In turn, he adds a twist to her perplexing
emotions with the introduction of his fiancée, Mrs. Harriet
King, a widow. Overwhelmed, Julia’s composure remains stoic.
The abbey’s spacious hallways can be useful in prevention of
more than chance meetings.

In fact, the abbey’s religious history maintains a volume of
traditions long ago forsaken but possible to reincarnate. Late one
night the guests are awakened by a shriek that slices the quiet
hallways. In the former chapel chamber, a morbid scene plays out.
Lucien’s body lies on the cold stone floor. Above him, Lucy
clutches an iron candelabrum that drips slow, heavy crimson drops
of blood.

In the pandemonium following the discovery, a bewildered Lucy
staggers toward Father March, grabs onto an iron ring attached to
the wall and declares, “My lord! In this holy place, I claim
the right of sanctuary!”

“Child, what have you done that you would invoke
sanctuary?’

“My lord,” she continues. “You cannot take me for
murder. Under the law I am given forty days.”

The girl collapses but is joined by her sister, Emma, refusing to
leave the holy room where sanctuary from immediate prosecution is
protected. March responds with compassion and allows the scenario
to continue. But he enlists Julia and Nicholas to sort out the
mysteries of the alleged murder before he contacts London
authority. Lucien’s body will remain in the cook’s
larder until a later date. Julia and Nicholas delve into the crime
with vigor but find themselves often at odds in their methods.
Revelations abound, with dirty secrets unveiled that connect
numerous guests besides Lucy with a motive for murder.

Each chapter is prefaced with a quote from Shakespeare that
delineates the content to follow. Raybourn tantalizes the reader by
inference before she develops the ensuing action, and
Victorian-scrolled artwork further illustrates the chapter title
pages, which is a clever touch. Although not familiar with the
first book in the Silent series, I am an enthusiastic
reader and will anticipate SILENT ON THE MOOR, scheduled for
release in 2009.