A Dark World of Intrigue: A Review of The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn

Title: The Dark Enquiry
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: MIRA 2011
Pages: 387
Challenges: Read Your Own Books Challenge; GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge
How I Came by This Book: This was actually one of the last books that I purchased from Borders before it closed. I had been anxiously awaiting it's release but was financially incapable of getting a copy until a few months after it came out.

About the Author: A sixth-generation native Texan, Deanna Raybourn graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a double major in English and history and an emphasis on Shakespearean studies. She taught high school English for three years in San Antonio before leaving education to pursue a career as a novelist. Deanna makes her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband and daughter, and is hard at work on the next installment in the award-winning Lady Julia Grey series.

Synopsis: Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in London. But merging their respective collections of gadgets, pets and servants leaves little room for the harried newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane's private enquiry business.

Among the more unlikely clients: Julia's very proper brother, Lord Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything concerning her beloved--if eccentric--family, spirited Julia soon picks up the trail of the investigation.

It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame Séraphine holds evening séances...and not a few powerful gentlemen in thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle trust.

Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines, bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must unite or fall. For Bellmont's sake--and more--they'll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to keep...

Review: I've gushed about Deanna Raybourn's novels several times on this blog (see especially my reviews of Dark Road to Darjeeling and The Dead Travel Fast), so I'll spare you yet another hagiography of the woman who has become my favorite contemporary female author. I'll just reiterate that she is an insanely talented writer whose novels transcend genres and transport the reader right into the heart of the worlds that she creates.

So it was again with The Dark Enquiry. This time, however, I felt that Raybourn's plot was a bit thin and her minor characters not as well fleshed out as they have been in the past. While I don't think any of her suspects could ever be as vivacious and detailed as they were in Dark Road to Darjeeling, the line-up of would-be murderers and the bit players in her recent murder mystery paled in comparison to any of the characters I'd seen before. They were, of course, unique and could have been fairly interesting had it not been that the nature of her story caused them to disappear soon after they were introduced. Instead of a complex tangle of competing motives that continued straight to the end, the murder suspects this time came and went almost as if this were a TV procedural.

There were some incredible new characters introduced this time around--most notably the mysterious Sir Morgan and Lady Julia's new footmen, Pigeon and Swan--and many of the returning characters, especially those in Lady Julia's own family, were welcome sights for those who have been following the series from the beginning. The Roma camp that plays an integral role in the novel featured some interesting characters from Brisbane's past as well. Still, after how deftly Raybourn juggled competing story lines in her last Lady Julia novel, The Dark Enquiry seemed a little flat, at least in the middle of the book.

The beginning and the end were both pure, unadulterated fun and were much more similar to the other novels. They featured the same witty banter, thrilling action, and gasp-worthy surprises that I've come to expect. Beginning with a literal explosion and ending with a figuratively explosive unveiling of secrets, this novel held my attention for most of the narrative. It was just some of the middle bits that I felt dragged. This time around I really had no idea who was behind the nefarious plot and when it was revealed I was more shocked than I ever have been by a Raybourn novel. Everything about the ending was satisfying (except for one or two things that I can't get into here) and I found myself coming to appreciate some of the things that had seemed superfluous in the rest of the book.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that The Dark Enquiry is a bit of a quagmire. The somewhat-dragging middle contains a lot of things that are essential for the ending, which shows that Raybourn hasn't lost her touch. It's imperative that readers keep this in mind because otherwise they may find their attention flagging a little. While I won't say that on the whole this is her best novel, I will say that what happens in the latter part of the book makes it well worth reading.

I think if I could raise any real issue with the novel, it was that Lady Julia was more than a little aggravating at times. Her desire to be a part of Brisbane's life and work while not realizing how important she is to him made her say and do things that were, frankly, obnoxious. I found myself wishing I could hit her upside the head a few times, to be honest. She is such an amazing character and I would hate to see her devolve into one of those silly female characters who thinks of herself only in relation to the man to whom she is married. Brisbane remains one of the strongest male characters I've come across in years and I don't want Lady Julia to lose the strength that I've come to associate with her.

Another novel is hinted at on the last page of The Dark Enquiry and I'm yet again anxiously awaiting it, as well as any other book that Raybourn has kicking around in that brilliant head of hers. I'd like to reread this one again sometime, knowing what I know now about where it all ends up, just so that I can fully appreciate the intricacies of the text. I think this is one of those books where a second read is called for (much like Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, which I didn't like as much the first time as I did the second).

I'm giving The Dark Enquiry 4 out of 5 Gabriels. While there are better novels in the series, I still can't rate this one too low because, honestly, it's still one of the best mystery/historical fiction novels on the market today.

-Gabe

People Aren't Always What They Seem: A Review of Deanna Raybourn's Dark Road to Darjeeling

Title: Dark Road to Darjeeling
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: MIRA Books (2010)
Pages: 388
How I Came By This Book: I've been following Deanna Raybourn's career ever since shortly after her first novel, Silent in the Grave, was published. I finally purchased this novel earlier this year at Borders and am only now getting around to it (despite the fact that her latest novel was just released and I'm dying to read it).
Challenges: Read Your Own Books Challenge; GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge

 
Synopsis: After eight idyllic months in the Mediterranean, Lady Julia Grey and her detective husband are ready to put there investigative talents to work once more. At the urging of Julia's eccentric family, they hurry to India to aid an old friend, the newly widowed Jane Cavendish. Living on the Cavendish tea plantation with the remnants of her husband's family, Jane is consumed with the impending birth of her child--and with discovering the truth about her husband's death. Was he murdered for his estate? And if he was, could Jane and her unborn child be next?

Amid the lush foothills of the Himalayas, dark deeds are buried and malicious thoughts flourish. The Brisbanes uncover secrets and scandal, illicit affairs and twisted legacies. In this remote and exotic place, exploration is perilous and discovery, deadly. The danger is palpable and, if they are not careful, Julia and Nicholas will not live to celebrate their first anniversary.

Review: I first read a Deanna Raybourn novel, Silent in the Grave, back in 2007, shortly after it was first published. I'm not sure what caught my eye (perhaps the title?), but when I plucked it from my hometown library's shelves and perused the first page, I knew I had to read it. The first two sentences of her first novel embodied everything that I've come to love about her as a writer:

To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor. (p. 13)

Since then I have devoured every one of her novels, including her first (and currently only) stand-alone, The Dead Travel Fast. 

Raybourn has managed to become, in a relatively short period of time, my favorite contemporary female writer. I will admit that I'm not a fan of historical fiction, mysteries, or romance novels, of which her novels contain an element of each. Yet, her skill as a writer, her unique voice, her twisting plots, and her endearing and unforgettable characters shatter every preconceived notion that I've ever held about these genres. Dark Road to Darjeeling stays well within the realm of mind-blowing fiction that I have come to expect from her.

I was actually reluctant to read it at first. It's why, I think, I took so long to purchase it and even longer to read it. It wasn't that I was worried that Raybourn would disappoint (I'm not sure she's capable of it), it was that at the end of Silent in the Moor, the third book in the Lady Julia Grey series, something happened that I was afraid would throw a wrench into the series: Lady Julia finally married Nicholas Brisbane. The sexual tension, snippy/snappy dialogue, and the frustration each of these characters caused in the other was one of the main reasons why they have become one of my favorite pairs in literature. Raybourn's ability to maintain this dynamic even after they had come together at last is due, I believe, to two factors. One, Raybourn knows these characters and has superbly shaped them into who they are through careful progress during the first three novels. Two, Julia and Brisbane's unconventional natures and their mild lack of disregard for social mores would make it almost impossible for them to be changed simply because they share a last name.

As with the rest of the series, Raybourn's characters, even her minor ones, are unimaginably complex, realistic, and memorable. Each one is given a voice, a history, a goal, a purpose. No one is extraneous and no one is thoroughly unlikable. Some of the standouts in Dark Road to Darjeeling are the mysterious White Rajah, the odd Cassandra Pennyfeather, and the inebriate Dr. Llewellyn. My favorite, however, is Cassandra's nature-loving son, Robin. Reminiscent of L'Engle's Charles Wallace (A Wrinkle in Time), the young Robin quickly endears himself to the reader because of his intelligence, his maturity, and his sweet nature.

Of course, some of Raybourn's usual characters show up, namely, Julia's sister Portia, her brother Plum, and Portia's ex-lover, Jane. These familiar faces are welcome in such a strange land with such a strange cast of characters and the plot line focusing on Jane's widowhood, impending motherhood, and reconnection with Portia is beautifully written. Having always been a fan of Portia and Jane's relationship, especially in such an uptight era as the Victorian age, I was devastated to learn that Jane had left and even more so to discover that she had married. Watching the two of them together again was comforting and the fact that I personally cared about Jane's well-being made the mystery of who had murdered her husband even more of a pressing issue than if it had been a new character or one that I didn't particularly like.

While we are on the subject, I will reiterate again what I think is one of Raybourn's biggest strengths: she always keeps you guessing. I stopped reading mystery novels when I started being able to tell, within the first half of the book, who had done it. After four Lady Julia novels, I have gotten better at discerning who the killer might be...but usually only about ten or twenty pages before it's revealed. Even still, I am never quite sure until it's finally confirmed. The end of Silent in the Grave had me literally gasping because I had never suspected the real killer for an instant. Dark Road to Darjeeling had me silently begging that my guess was wrong...which, sadly, it wasn't. In all of her novels, Raybourn deftly assembles a cast of characters, each with a possible motive, and then tangles their stories up in knots as Julia and Brisbane try to figure it all out, leaving the reader anxious to know because he or she seriously has no idea. It is telling of her skill that this is the case, especially in an age of cookie cutter murder mysteries and episodes of crime dramas where it's usually the first or second person that they interrogate. Anyone looking for a real mystery should definitely give these novels a try.

Everything about this novel is enjoyable: her sense of humor, her ability to juxtapose the lightness of life and the darkness of death, her vivid descriptions that create the locations her characters visit in your head as clearly as if you were standing beside them. You can smell the mountain air, taste the pungent tea, hear the roar of the tiger. Very few authors immerse you so fully into an environment without long, wordy descriptions; Raybourn is one of the most skillful at doing so.

The last thing I would like to note is how well she follows tragedy with comedy within this novel. It has a truly tragic ending, one that I didn't foresee and which touched me deeply. Yet, only about five pages later she has you laughing again, not forgetting what you have just read but allowing you a respite from the grief that the characters (and the reader) feel. It is the resolution of the catharsis that gives the reader a satisfying feeling even after such a crushing blow has been delivered.

I'm giving Dark Road to Darjeeling 5 out of 5 stars. This is one series which I believe anyone (regardless of age, race, gender, or reading preferences) can enjoy. If a sci-fi-loving guy like me can fall in love with these books, I'd bet that most people could, too.

-Gabe

PS: Here's a link to Deanna's website and blog. I'm also giving her her own tag because, let's face it, she's one of the only authors other than Neil Gaiman that I talk about on a regular basis.