Mystery Authors You May Have Missed
Deanna Raybourn
Biography
Born in Texas, Deanna Raybourn grew up in San Antonio. She graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio where she majored in English and History. She married her college sweetheart and began to teach high school English and history. During one of her summer vacations she started her first novel. Deanna soon stopped teaching to start a family, but she always kept writing. Over a decade later (and after her fair share of rejections) she signed a multi-book deal with MIRA Books. She and her family now live in Virginia.
What she writes: Silent in the Grave, published in January 2007, was first in the Lady Julia Grey series which is set in Victorian London and follows Lady Julia Grey as she investigates the mysterious death of her husband. Along the way, Lady Julia enlists the help of private detective Nicholas Brisbane with whom she has a love/hate relationship.
The Dead Travel Fast, a mid-Victorian Gothic thriller, marks Raybourn’s departure from the Lady Julia series (not permanently). This novel follows novelist Theodora Lestrange as she travels from her home in Edinburgh to the unknown world of Transylvania.
| List of works |
|
| Lady Julia Grey series | |
| Silent in the Grave (2007) | |
| Silent in the Sanctuary (2008) | |
| Silent on the Moor (2009) | |
| Dark Road to Darjeeling (2010) | |
| The Dark Enquiry (2011) | |
| Other works | |
| The Dead Travel Fast (2010) | |
| Awards | |
| For Silent in the Grave | |
| Won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best First Mystery Won the 2008 RITA® Award for “Novel with Strong Romantic Elements” Nominated for the Agatha Award for best new mystery of 2007 Nominated for a Crimefest (Bristol, UK) “Last Laugh” award Nominated for a Dilys Award, given out by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association |
|
| For Silent in the Sanctuary | |
| Nominated for a Dilys Award, given out by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association | |
| For Dark Road to Darjeeling | |
| Nominated for a Romance Writers of America Kiss of Death chapter’s Daphne du Maurier award | |
| For The Dead Travel Fast | |
| Nominated for a Romance Writers of America Kiss of Death chapter’s Daphne du Maurier award | |
| What the critics say |
| Regarding Silent in the Sanctuary - "Fans and new readers alike will welcome this sparkling sequel to Raybourn's debut Victorian mystery, Silent in the Grave…a delightfully odd collection of characters and deft period details produce a rich and funny read." - Publishers Weekly |
| Regarding Silent on the Moor - "A sassy heroine and a masterful, secretive hero. Fans of romantic mystery could ask no more - except the promised sequel." - Kirkus |
| Regarding Dark Road to Darjeeling - "Raybourn skillfully balances humor and earnest, deadly drama, creating well-drawn characters and a rich setting." -Publishers Weekly |
| Regarding Dark Road to Darjeeling - "Raybourn expertly evokes late-nineteenth-century colonial India in this rollicking good read, distinguished by its delightful lady detective and her colorful family." - Kristine Huntley, Booklist |
| Regarding The Dead Travel Fast - "RITA award–winning author Raybourn (the Lady Julia Grey series) delightfully evokes the language, tension, and sweeping grandeur of 19th-century gothic novels." -Publishers Weekly |
| Regarding The Dead Travel Fast - "Atmospheric and lush, this appealing gothic romance offers more than a few surprising twists and turns." -Kristine Huntley, Booklist |
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