Fresh from a six-month sojourn in Italy, Lady Julia returns home to Sussex to find her father’s estate crowded with family and friends— but dark deeds are afoot at the deconsecrated abbey, and a murderer roams the ancient cloisters.

Much to her surprise, the one man she had hoped to forget—the enigmatic and compelling Nicholas Brisbane—is among her father’s houseguests… and he is not alone. Not to be outdone, Julia shows him that two can play at flirtation and promptly introduces him to her devoted, younger, titled Italian count.

But the homecoming celebrations quickly take a ghastly turn when one of the guests is found brutally murdered in the chapel, and a member of Lady Julia’s own family confesses to the crime. Certain of her cousin’s innocence, Lady Julia resumes her unlikely and deliciously intriguing partnership with Nicholas Brisbane, setting out to unravel a tangle of deceit before the killer can strike again. When a sudden snowstorm blankets the abbey like a shroud, it falls to Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane to answer the shriek of murder most foul.

Since last we met over Lady Julia and Brisbane I have discovered that Deanna Raybourn is a gorgeous woman with delightful taste in shoes. What bearing does that have on my review? None, actually, it’s just that I wanted to plug her blog, which is fantastic and has become a daily reading must for yours truly. You never know what you’ll find there: a cadaver calculator {surprisingly fun}, shopping links {trouble, trouble}, or the knowledge that she’d take a bullet for a cup of tea {ah, but what kind?! Are we talking a smoky Lapsang or a mellow Ceylon? It totally makes a difference.} So, when you have a few spare moments – after you’ve read Silent in the Sanctuary, of course – go check it out. Here’s the link.

In a manner of speaking I was lucky; I didn’t get to read Silent in the Grave, the first book in the Lady Julia Grey mystery series, until the week before the release of Silent in the Sanctuary. And while Grave definitely delivered, Sanctuary took things to a whole new level. I couldn’t stop reading and ended up polishing it off in about a day. {And I’ve since plagued kimb8 to read it so that we can discuss. I know you’re reading this kimb8 – get to it! 🙂 }

The characters continue to progress and the new additions are fantastic; I’ve yet to meet a member of Lady Julia’s family that I wouldn’t enjoy sitting down with were they real. Plus, this one is just as tightly crafted; if anything, there are even more twists to spice things up.

I don’t want to say too much because the joy is truly in the reading, but if you have read them – or do so in the future – stop by! I’d love to talk about this wonderful new series!