47-48 Silent in the Sanctuary and Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

I read the first book in this series, Silent in the Grave, about a year ago and liked it, even though I found Lady Julia Gray a bit annoying.  But she grew on me and I really like her in these two books.  She come from a very unconventional aristocratic family who isn't very well accepted in society because of its idiosyncrasies.  She is a much more interesting character than if she had been a typical upper-class Victorian lady.  The other main character is Nicholas Brisbane who helped Julia solve the murder of her husband and influenced her to actually start living instead of merely existing.  She insists on helping with his investigation and her meddling continues with the next two books.  I really like Brisbane.  He is good-looking, intelligent, and athletic, as you would expect in any hero.  But he also suffers from debilitating migraines, has a nasty temper; and is often unreasonably contrary.  Very interesting man. 

In Sanctuary, Julia returns from Italy to her family home at Christmas.  She is surprised to find Brisbane as one of the guests.  The chemistry between the two grows although both fight the attraction.  A murder takes place; and Julia and Brisbane investigate, sometimes by cooperating and other times by going their own way. 

Moor continues the story several months later.  Brisbane has bought a home in isolated Yorkshire and proceeds to ignore Julia; in fact, forbids her from visiting.  She ignores that and shows up on the doorstep with her sister and brother in tow.  The family who previously owned the manor still live there as they are destitute.  The oldest brother who spent the family fortune had died leaving a room full of Egyptian artifacts.  There is an attempt on Brisbane's life which almost succeeds and Julia nurses him back to health.  The mystery in this book is who tried to kill Brisbane.  It's not hard to figure out; but the Allenby family are so odd and twisted, that it made the book hard to put down.

I enjoyed both books and especially liked that the series concludes after three books.  I'm not sure the kind of emotional tug of war involved in this romance would continue to be entertaining after too many more books.  I think Raybourn ended it at the perfect time.  I don't know if she has written any other books.  I hope so because I would love to read them.
Rating for both:  4.5