This latest entry in the series finds Julia, post honeymoon, journeying with her new husband, Brisbane, to India alongside Julia's sister, Portia, and their brother, Plum. The reason for their visit is a letter Portia has had from her ex-lover, Jane, saying that Jane is pregnant and depressed and her husband has recently been found mysteriously dead. Julia and her intrepid companions of course travel to the tea plantation where Jane has been living and attempt to determine what, or rather, who, caused Freddie's death. Along the way they meet some old acquaintances and a few new ones who turn out to be connected to Julia and Brisbane in different ways.
I'm a big fan of mysteries and these books are definitely that-- mysteries. They do have some light romantic elements, but the mystery occupies the main focus of the book and not the relationship between the characters. For me, this was the source of a lot of my frustration with this entry in the series. The mystery itself was very interesting and well done. You spend a lot of the book wondering if Freddie was murdered at all and, if he was, who could have possibly done it. The supporting cast is well-fleshed out and the Indian setting was drawn with beautiful detail.
That said, I wanted a little more from this book. Especially after Silent on the Moor, which focused equally on the investigation and Julia and Brisbane's tempestuous relationship, I wanted more of a glimpse of what their marriage would be like. Instead they're apart for long stretches of the book and, when they're together, they squabble like small children over silly things. For example, Julia hides her investigative notebook under the mattress so Brisbane won't know her ideas about who the suspects are. This is beyond childish, and not something I expect to see in a supposedly happily married couple. Most of the book was like this, and there were a few moments of serious jackassery on both of their parts. Highlight for mild spoilery example: At one point, they argue and Brisbane locks her in their dressing room for the night so she won't storm off... and in the morning she forgives him!
Mainly I wanted Julia and Brisbane to act like adults who loved each other. When they had disagreements or did something stupid, I wanted them to apologize and work through it, not gloss over the event like it had never happened.
If I was reading this book just for the mystery elements, I would have been very satisfied. However, the romantic and characterization angle left me feeling frustrated. I almost felt like she was using a kind of comic shorthand when portraying the characters, rather than investing in real emotional depth. These books have always had a comic angle (the March family is so anachronistic that it's almost silly at times), but that is usually balanced by the way she gives her characters realistic emotions. This time I felt that she wasn't doing that, and what I was left with instead was an almost farcical portrayal of Julia and Brisbane.
I hope that the next book in the series improves, because her mystery elements were excellent and I really love these characters. I am worried that these novels will go the way of another series I have loved that's jumped the shark: Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series.
Two final caveats:
One: what is going on with the Twilight-esque cover? It's everywhere, I'm telling you...
and, two: One of the things that really got on my nerves (and this is just nitpicking) was the way Brisbane and Julia's phsyical relationship was portrayed. Every time she referred to them having sex, she called it "marital affections." As in, "then we engaged in marital affections!" (Slight exaggeration) I mean, if you don't want to write a sex scene, just do the whole "Walls of Jericho" thing and fade to black. But please, do not write, "Then he proceeded to apply himself to marital affections." It sounds like something your maiden aunt would say, and it's not very romantic... and it makes me want to laugh out loud.
Verdict: Borrow this book!
I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series and anyone who likes a well-written mystery, but to be honest, this one and The Dead Travel Fast have knocked Raybourn off my auto-buy list. She is still a good writer, but unless the next book is jaw-droppingly good I will be checking her books out from the library from now on.
