The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn
387 pages

Started: December 3rd, 2011
Finished: December 4th, 2011

Series: Lady Julie Grey series #5
Favorite Quote: General Fortescue, to Lady Julia when she mentions she is investigating mediums, “Yours is the gullible gender. No fault of your own, it is how God made you, and glad we are of it. But you [women] haven’t the brains to think rationally. You must rely upon us [men] to discover the frauds and the mountebanks.” p. 170

Summary: Lady Julia and Brisbane settle into the everyday life of marriage and trade but their newfound peace is quickly shattered when Julia catches her brother Bellmont consulting Brisbane. Piqued that her husband refuses to share Bellmont’s trouble with her, Julia tails him to the lair of a mysterious medium and ends up witnessing Madame Seraphine’s terrible death. The papers term it an accident. Julia and Brisbane think otherwise, and embark on a most dangerous quest with consequences far beyond Bellmont’s rather domestic drama.

Comments: Once I caught the drift of the underlying mystery, I was worried Raybourn would get carried away explaining the historic details at the expense of her usually excellent plots. I needn’t have worried. Raybourn gives just enough background information to clue her readers in, without becoming over impressed with her research abilities. A wonderful read.