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jarvm's review against another edition
4.0
This is my McDonalds. This is the Milanos I eat in the middle of the night standing over the sink. Good? No. Delicious? Absolutely.
zbmorgan's review against another edition
5.0
At over 500 pages, this is not your average cozy mystery. It was wonderfully written, with so much interesting Victoriana woven in I was entranced, and felt as though I was back their on a grey rainy London street myself. The Protagonist, Lady Julia Grey, was a worthy heroine - flawed, but intelligent enough to earn my respect. This was the authors first published book - she's going to be a big name someday!
cekisha's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a huge fan of slow-burning HR novels spiced up with mystery and crime solving. This series is very similar to the author's new book [b:A Curious Beginning|28186322|A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)|Deanna Raybourn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459724348s/28186322.jpg|42706684] in a sense that the main characters are eccentric, peculiar and there is little or none romance involved. The writing is also the same - witty with the elements of dark humor that simply forces you to keep on reading.
Lady Julia Grey has spent her whole life caged like a bird - she is the calmest and most reasonable of all her family members. She is not prone to crazy and eccentric outbursts which has always made her feel like a black sheep; however, it is plain obvious that she loves her family and vice versa. She had married Edward, a childhood friend, and lived a content but rather boring life until he was murdered. They were friends but never lovers and Julia was unable to be who she really is. As a widow of almost 30, she decides to finally pursue her dreams after a year of mourning, until she stumbles upon a piece of evidence that proves that her late husband harbored some dark secrets.
Nicholas Brisbane is like a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Cam Rohan from [b:Mine Till Midnight|693016|Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1)|Lisa Kleypas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1380326170s/693016.jpg|679345]. As a private detective of 30 and something with Gypsy heritage, he remains a mysterious figure who, quite surprisingly, rarely enters the stage. Of course, it is obvious from the series title that the main focus is on Julia, but I found his frequent departures and disappearances quite annoying.
THE GOOD:
- The witty, rich and humorous writing is the best aspect of this novel. It engulfed me and made me go on and on.
- The character development (except Nicholas') is on point. I enjoyed all of the characters - Julia, her family members (her father with modern views, Portia the lesbian, Val the surgeon wannabe, crazy aunts), the pug, the viscous Gypsy maid etc.
- The mystery is really interesting and even though I predicted the murderer, I wasn't bored by the story at all. The author doesn't shy away from taboo and creepy themes such as male prostitution, venereal diseases, drug abuse etc.
THE BAD:
- Only one (Julia's) POV destroyed Nicholas' character development. He remains a shadowy figure throughout the whole novel and we are never able to guess what he thinks, feels or even does. This can be largely contributed to the fact that he is simply never there. Yes, the focus is on Julia; however, it is really annoying when Nicholas appears all almighty and arrogant with a new clue and then disappears for the next 20 pages. I also disliked that he never trusted Julia enough to tell her of his methods, plans or thoughts...even until the end. His omnipotence is very irritating and unrealistic.
He is still very interesting, dashing and so on, but he would be so better if only the author managed to develop him or give him his POV. Instead she turned him into a two-dimensional character that I wished was more engaged with the heroine.
- The book lacks in the romance department even though the chemistry between the main characters is great. I mean, they kiss only once. Hopefully that will be remediated in the sequel because it would be such a waste for these two to be depraved of good romance.
*SAFETY GANG note:
There isn't OW drama, but the heroine meets an old woman with whom he had a brief liaison in the past and remained her good friend. The heroine will become her friend as well. *snorts*
Lady Julia Grey has spent her whole life caged like a bird - she is the calmest and most reasonable of all her family members. She is not prone to crazy and eccentric outbursts which has always made her feel like a black sheep; however, it is plain obvious that she loves her family and vice versa. She had married Edward, a childhood friend, and lived a content but rather boring life until he was murdered. They were friends but never lovers and Julia was unable to be who she really is. As a widow of almost 30, she decides to finally pursue her dreams after a year of mourning, until she stumbles upon a piece of evidence that proves that her late husband harbored some dark secrets.
Nicholas Brisbane is like a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Cam Rohan from [b:Mine Till Midnight|693016|Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1)|Lisa Kleypas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1380326170s/693016.jpg|679345]. As a private detective of 30 and something with Gypsy heritage, he remains a mysterious figure who, quite surprisingly, rarely enters the stage. Of course, it is obvious from the series title that the main focus is on Julia, but I found his frequent departures and disappearances quite annoying.
THE GOOD:
- The witty, rich and humorous writing is the best aspect of this novel. It engulfed me and made me go on and on.
- The character development (except Nicholas') is on point. I enjoyed all of the characters - Julia, her family members (her father with modern views, Portia the lesbian, Val the surgeon wannabe, crazy aunts), the pug, the viscous Gypsy maid etc.
- The mystery is really interesting and even though I predicted the murderer, I wasn't bored by the story at all. The author doesn't shy away from taboo and creepy themes such as male prostitution, venereal diseases, drug abuse etc.
THE BAD:
- Only one (Julia's) POV destroyed Nicholas' character development. He remains a shadowy figure throughout the whole novel and we are never able to guess what he thinks, feels or even does. This can be largely contributed to the fact that he is simply never there. Yes, the focus is on Julia; however, it is really annoying when Nicholas appears all almighty and arrogant with a new clue and then disappears for the next 20 pages. I also disliked that he never trusted Julia enough to tell her of his methods, plans or thoughts...even until the end. His omnipotence is very irritating and unrealistic.
He is still very interesting, dashing and so on, but he would be so better if only the author managed to develop him or give him his POV. Instead she turned him into a two-dimensional character that I wished was more engaged with the heroine.
- The book lacks in the romance department even though the chemistry between the main characters is great. I mean, they kiss only once. Hopefully that will be remediated in the sequel because it would be such a waste for these two to be depraved of good romance.
*SAFETY GANG note:
Spoiler
there is a mention of Nicholas' past, but there is no romance whatsoever in the book, they kiss only once. However, the chemistry is strong.There isn't OW drama, but the heroine meets an old woman with whom he had a brief liaison in the past and remained her good friend. The heroine will become her friend as well. *snorts*
bbckprpl's review against another edition
4.0
Rereading this series, because I finally got the last two books. Like it more on the reread: Lady Julia Grey is pretty kick-ass.
ms_morri1's review against another edition
3.0
I think for me, the book felt a little too much like a romance novel than a mystery series with a romance in it. I think at the heart of my reason for not being as into this series as I am with the Veronica Speedwell series is that I’m not particularly fond of the main characters. For me, it was the side character that kept me going through this series, Julia’s sister, father, and brother. But, at the heart of it, I just don’t really like Brisbane. I just don’t know if I feel like his lifestyle really justifies the way he acts towards Julia. I understand that she’s very naive, but even so I find it a bit hard to excuse his treatment of her.
Also, the mystery wasn’t as compelling for me as some of Raybourns other stories. Not bad, it was just fairly easy for me to guess the outcome.
Also, the mystery wasn’t as compelling for me as some of Raybourns other stories. Not bad, it was just fairly easy for me to guess the outcome.
wyvernfriend's review against another edition
4.0
The opening lines amused me, "To say that I met Micholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor." and drew me in. Lady Julia Grey loses her husband at the beginning of the book and disbelieves Nicholas Brisbane when he suggests that in fact the death wasn't natural. It isn't until a year later that she finds clues to suggest that maybe things aren't as they seem and she joins forces with Brisbane to hunt for clues.
I found it quite an interesting read, enjoyed the characters and the interaction, while there were some slightly "modern" moments it really didn't jar too much for me.
I also loved the Lady Julia Drop Caps designed by Juliana Kolesova.
I found it quite an interesting read, enjoyed the characters and the interaction, while there were some slightly "modern" moments it really didn't jar too much for me.
I also loved the Lady Julia Drop Caps designed by Juliana Kolesova.
jba0930's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not the ending I thought it would be, but so amazing.
winemakerssister's review against another edition
4.0
A charming Victorian mystery with interesting, complicated MCs and a wealth of quirky secondary family members. Moving on to volume 2 right away!
Cover: Lovely!
Narrator: I really like her
Hogwarts Sorting Hat: Nicholas is a Slytherin with strong Ravenclaw tendencies. I'm going to withhold sorting Julia until I've read more. She grew and changed so much in this book, that I'm just not sure if she's completely come into her own personality yet. She was definitely a Hufflepuff while married, but that was more about being under her husband's thumb than actually being a Hufflepuff.
Themes: late Victorian era, quirky family, syphillis, Roma, murder
Cover: Lovely!
Narrator: I really like her
Hogwarts Sorting Hat: Nicholas is a Slytherin with strong Ravenclaw tendencies. I'm going to withhold sorting Julia until I've read more. She grew and changed so much in this book, that I'm just not sure if she's completely come into her own personality yet. She was definitely a Hufflepuff while married, but that was more about being under her husband's thumb than actually being a Hufflepuff.
Themes: late Victorian era, quirky family, syphillis, Roma, murder
jesscerre's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75