Silent in the Sanctuary (Lady Julia Grey #2) by Deanna Raybourn

From Goodreads

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, one man she hoped to forget 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.  

My thoughts

A well deserved 4 stars or 8/10 from me.

It's around at least six years ago since I read Silent in the Grave, the first book in the Lady Julia Grey series.  I have had this one on my TBR ever since then and a few weeks ago I decided that it was time to read this one, I also have the next one in the series on my TBR ~ Silent on the Moor.  I don't aim to leave the third one as long between reading as I did the first two.

I really enjoyed this one and I soon settled back into the tangled lives of Lady Julia and Brisbane.  In this story both Lady Julia and Brisbane have other partners in tow, but once in one another's company it's plain to see that they have feelings for each other.

It's not long before Lady Julia and Brisbane are attempting to solve a murder, to find out if they are successful in their detective work you'll have to read this story.

If you like a detective read with romance thrown in, then this is the perfect read for you.  Grab a copy and a cuppa or a glass of wine and settle down in your comfy chair to be taken back into the late 1800's.