Cinnamon's Reviews > Dark Road to Darjeeling

DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING is the fourth book in the Lady Julia series by Deanna Raybourn. Now, I haven't read any of the previous books in this series, so I can't compare this to them. I can, however, tell you that I found this to be an entertaining read and really didn't feel like I lost much from jumping into the middle of the series.

DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING starts strong, with a mystery and the appearance of some strange happenings. Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane are told than an old friend, Jane, is having some troubles at her home. Pregnant and widowed, it's no wonder that Jane is feeling sad and lonely. Her fears, however, go beyond that of a new mother trying to figure out how to raise a child on her own. It seems that somebody might be out to get rid of Jane - the question is, why?

Lady Julia and Brisbane make a cute little investigative team. The romance between them coupled with Julia's desire to help in the investigation adds some intense drama to the story that I really wasn't expecting. Ms. Raybourn uses this drama to entice the reader into the story and then allows it to ebb and flow, hooking us quite firmly. For me, drama is something that is either done really well or kind of poorly. Sometimes you get one of those books that almost tries too hard to inject drama into the story. It ends up feeling forced and flat. DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING, however, has the perfect touch of drama to it. What makes it so compelling is the way Ms. Raybourn adds realism to it. The troubles between Julia and Brisbane are completely believable as is the journey and consequences. This was a book that was very easy to follow because the reader was really able to become part of the story.

The second aspect of DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING that made it a winner for me was definitely the characters. Here I'm mainly going to focus on Julia and Brisbane. Ms. Raybourn managed to create two characters that fit together beautifully. Not only is there romantic tension in this book (won't spoil what I know of previous books), but there are a couple personality conflicts as well. It just so happens that this is typically the case in most relationships. Not every couple can share the exact same interests and do things in exactly the same way. Ms. Raybourn allows for this by giving Julia and Brisbane their own personalities; however, she does so in such a way that the connection between the two is very believable. Robust characters creating real connections with the reader make this a great book.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good romance combined with a great mystery.