Silent in the grave - Deanna Raybourn

"Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. "

London, 1886

For Lady Julia Grey, her husband's sudden death at a dinner party is extremely inconvenient, not to mention an unpardonable social gaffe. Once the shock has passed, however, things take rather a turn for the worse. Her eccentric relations descend en masse (and her odious Aunt Ursula clearly intends to stay until another relative expires elsewhere), and Julia is forced to drape the mirrors in crepe and herself in endless widow's black.

But when swarthy, inscrutable private investigator Nicholas Brisbane tells her that her husband's death may not have been due to natural causes, Lady Julia finds herself thrust into surroundings she could never have imagined, from the elegant home of a renowned courtesan, to a volatile boxing match in a gypsy camp.

As the truth begins to emerge, Julia discovers that she has much to learn; about her husband, herself and the infuriating, mysterious and very attractive, Mr Brisbane

Set in the extravagant surroundings of upper-class Victorian England, and introducing the compelling, charismatic Lady Julia Grey this is a must read!