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For Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane, the honeymoon has ended...but the adventure is just beginning.
After eight idyllic months in the Mediterranean, Lady Julia Grey and her detective husband are ready to put their 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.
Dark Road to Darjeeling is my first ever Deanna Raybourn read, and although I have no prior knowledge of the first three books in the series, I am looking forward to discover the undoubtedly thrilling books that began this series.
To say I've enjoyed the perfect mix of mystery and romance of this novel is to say very little of the wonderful elements of this book. Often when I read historical romance novels, the blend of romance and mystery is very poor, the mystery being much overshadowed by romance - not in this book. In Dark Road to Darjeeling, mystery and adventure is well ingrained within the romantic plot and vice versa - I doubt you can get better than this.
I personally loved the enigmatic, stubborn and unruly Julia - together with her sister Portia and brother Plum, they become a hugely entertaining trio which I don't think I can ever get tired of reading. Their banters are witty yet endearing, and they complement each other in a way only siblings can. Superb characters!
And while on the subject, let me also say that Brisbane - and Julia does refer to him by his last name despite being the new Mrs Brisbane herself - is another wholly engaging characters. I have not quite known him from the previous books, as I have mentioned, but he is undoubtedly magnetic, with a rough exterior of a man with secrets to protect. Julia and Brisbane are a gorgeous couple - they are, in many ways, an equal. Both stubborn, both brilliant and equally passionate, they often clash in wills and personality. Their marriage - no matter how in love these two are - is not a smooth road, despite their luxurious eight-month, around the world honeymoon. The adjustments that both have to make in the marriage is well portrayed, as well as their need to accept each other as they are. This realistic portrayal do nothing but highlight why these two fit together like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
While I thought setting was going to be a strong part of the book, the mystery and investigation seem to override this. While in India, Julia finds herself surrounded by eccentric people - and she cannot resist the lure to begin the hunt for the murderer, despite her husband being so adamant about her not doing so. It was engaging to have my suspicions raised in time with Julia's and to have some of it dashed and others renewed. The presence of the March siblings and Brisbane only added to the delight of solving the mystery - Dark Road to Darjeeling is a superb book for lovers of historical, romance and mystery alike.
I completely adored it!
Four Stars.
