Lady Julia and her husband Nicholas Brisbane have now returned from their honeymoon and are ready to start living their proper married life together in London. Julia has begun to tinker with substances and, as you would expect, stick her nose into Brisbane’s business once again. This time, under the guise of worrying about him and his mysterious associations with her brother, Julia tags along to a seance dressed as a man. She doesn’t find anything as simple as communion with the spirits; instead, she finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery, spy plot, and tangled love affairs between other people.
A new Lady Julia Grey novel is an intensely exciting event for me – this declared itself as one of my favorite series in book 1, Silent in the Grave, and has never budged from that position. Dark Road to Darjeeling only came out about six months ago and I am loving the shorter wait in between books of this series. The Dark Enquiry certainly did not disappoint and I am thrilled that the standards for this series haven’t dropped at all, even though we’re now on book 5.
One of the differing aspects of this particular book was the new-ish supernatural element. We’ve always known that Brisbane’s migraine headaches are a result of him refusing to see visions which are a result of his gypsy birthright. I can’t really remember them rising to the fore like they have in this one, though, perhaps because Julia was not so intimate with him when they did strike previously. Here, though, they serve a pivotal plot point, and we’ve even visited a gypsy camp with Julia and Brisbane, to explore a bit further into his past. These seem like tantalising little glimpses of a world we have yet to enter, though, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about Brisbane’s past and his visions in subsequent volumes. An interesting new character is introduced as well who I also suspect will play a prominent position in books to come.
One other aspect that I picked out of this one and particularly enjoyed was the fact that ever-impulsive and headstrong Julia comes into contact with a few less free-thinking men of her time during her investigations. As many have observed before me, Julia is very peculiar for a Victorian woman, and though it’s easy for me as a modern woman to relate to her, I think a real woman of her type would have run into this problem very quickly. The men in question don’t play a pivotal role in the story but Julia’s reaction to them and their thoughts was another added layer to a story I already enjoyed.
The Dark Enquiry is another excellent installment in the Lady Julia Grey series that I and many other readers have come to love. I would definitely recommend this series to mystery and historical fiction fans alike.
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book for free for review from Netgalley.
I have the first book in this series, but haven’t yet read it. It sounds like when I do it won’t disappoint and I am eager to try them out. Glad to hear that the series continues to impress and that the fifth book was such a delight for you!
zibilee´s last post …Miss Timmins’ School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy — 512 pgs
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this one as well. Every time I pick one of these up, I’m worried that I’ll find it disappointing, but so far they have been great! Thank you so much for introducing me to this series!
S. Krishna´s last post …Book Review: Best Kept Secret – Amy Hatvany
This is my first Lady Julia Grey novel, and even though I don’t like to read books in a series out of order, I loved this one. I’ll be going to back to read the rest.
Amy´s last post …Book Blues
I haven’t been able to get a hold of any of the Julia Grey novels since the “Silent” trilogy, and really need to rectify this one way or another. Have you read Raybourn’s The Dead Travel Fast? I’m curious about her writing away from Julia and Brisbane.
Kate´s last post …A root vegetable for your thoughts
I was under the impression Dark Road to Darjeeling was the last book in the series. Nice to know it’s not!
Lisa Kleypas wrote 2 books that offered a peek into gypsy life in the 19th century; both were really fascinating.
One of these days I am going to try this series…
Kailana´s last post …Book Recommendations
I always feel a little bit guilty when I finish one of these books because it is basically guaranteed that I will already be looking for the next one. They just keep getting better and better.