A Cure for the Mondays

Mondays are always the worst, aren't they? Fortunately, I feel better than I have in the past two weeks. Colds are such a sucky double whammy considering they hit you in the head first and then move on to your chest. And if you're anything like me, that means they take up residence for an abnormally long amount of time, defying every over the counter syrup, powder, lozenge, and supplement you can find. Yeah. Seems to be moving out now, but it always requires extreme patience on my part.

I just finished Deanna Raybourn's latest Lady Julia Grey mystery, Dark Road to Darjeeling, a luscious indulgence that can make anyone forget their woes.

In this fourth of the series, the newlyweds are enjoying their honeymoon when fellow Marches Plum and Portia arrive. Seems Portia's ex, Jane, has been widowed in the final months of her pregnancy and now fears for her life. Her husband, Freddie Cavendish, died suddenly, but the death was deemed a terrible accident. Jane thinks that someone may have their eye on the Cavendish estate, a successful tea plantation in India. If Jane gives birth to a son, he would inherit, making Jane and her unborn a target for whoever may have killed Freddie. Brisbane agrees to investigate and Julia is eager to prove her usefulness as a parter in the practice, causing a bit of an argument between the couple.

Ah, Julia and Brisbane. One of my favorite fiction couples. I love seeing how they progress as characters together. I do have to admit that some of the gothic atmosphere I love about Raybourn's books was missing in this one. Otherwise, a fun Victorian mystery and a wonderful addition to this ongoing series.