Dark Road to Darjeeling

By: Deanna Raybourn

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

Lady Julia Grey travels through India, accompanied by her sister, Portia, her brother, Plum, and occasionally her husband - Brisbane. Along the way, Portia becomes convinced of a murder, and all four are pulled into the dark underbelly of 19th-century India.

©2010 Deanna Rayburn (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Ellen Archer dives into the story with abandon and is clearly enjoying herself with the rich cast of characters, including an upper-crust English spinster, a disheveled Welsh doctor, and the White Rajah, a charismatic hermit who lives in a nearby monastery. Archer also offers a thoughtful, rich performance as Julia, who slyly competes with her husband to solve the case." ( AudioFile)

Mesmerizing

I have listen to 4 of the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries and I am mesmerized. I have the 5th book ready for listening and I can’t wait to begin.

Too tragic

If you liked the earlier novels you’ll probably like this one but some of the events are terrible tragic.

funny romance mystery

I realize that Deanna Raybourn is not up there with Virginia Woolf but I love her Lady Jane Grey mysteries. I guess they are published by Harlequin but while they have a love story angle they are definitely not a poor woman's porno like some books in the romantic genre. Raybourn does a good plot, her characters are richly drawn and very appealing (or hateful as the case may be or the story calls for) and she has a witty, tongue in cheek style.
I'm amazed at the comments criticizing Ellen Archer. For me she strikes just the right note for these stories. I believe that at one time a different narrator was tried for one or two of this series but there must have been a big outcry because they redid them with Ellen Archer which I found a big relief. I would be very sad if they tried to replace her again.

Superb 4th book in series

The only negative was the reader's mispronunciation of R. Tagore at the beginning of each chapter.

Way too close to an abusive relationship...

The narrator is excellent in this series. That said...

Let me say that I have really liked this author, and I actually started with her other series, and began this series after "catching up" with that series. While I enjoy her writing on the whole, I am thinking I really should have stopped reading this series at the end of the third book Silent on the Moor, or the novella Midsummer Night.

This time around both of the main characters are behaving like spoiled children who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions or the consequences of those actions. There is manipulations, lies, verbal abuse, denigrating /attacking the essence of who the other person is, locking the other in a separate room, using sex to shut down dialogue, and a threat of divorce.

The whole idea that gets perpetuated in romances--including this series--that one partner might hurt other people, but never the "beloved". This belief is what keeps people in abusive relationships. Since domestic violence is one of the major causes of death for women in the U.S. I really, really dislike this trope, and wish Ms. Raybourn had not perpetrated it in this series.

Really not as pleased with this novel compared to previous books (which I rate as 4 or 5 stars) .

Very enjoyable

I am enjoying this series. I think that it is very well written and entertaining. It is not War and Peace, but it is thoughtfully written with good characterization and intelligent plots. Lady Julia does have some moments where she is unlikable, but who says that all protagonists must be likable? Plus, sometimes she acknowledges that she sees the world through a selfish, privileged lens; that's more than I can say for some real-world characters. And while I have many bodice-rippers in my library, I am pleased that Lady Julia & Brisbane dismiss us readers when they retreat to their bedroom for the night -- and I don't have to lunge for the volume on my earphones as my family gives me the side-eye.

Another Good Installment

I enjoyed listening despite a few annoyances. The descriptions of India and the people are good. The mystery is interesting and a little surprising in its resolution. It kept me guessing although Lady Jane's conclusion-jumping was irritating. I wanted to scream at her. It was a distraction from the facts, but maybe the author wanted that effect on us.

Oddly, I found myself asking how the two main characters managed to get through life at all, much less as a couple. Their personal flaws were certainly brought to light in this story. But I liked them less.

The narrator did her usual fine job. Some words were mispronounced and some I couldn't understand the without backing up and replaying. Ophelia's voice has an irritating pitch and the narrator uses a tone that doesn't always seem to match the intent of Ophelia's words. For instance, the character always sounds like she's having a silly, breezy, offhand conversation even when she's saying things which are dead serious, or sad. I think the narrator had to do this to maintain the "voice", which is a shame. Maybe the narrator needed to select a different voice from the very first book. I wish they'd practice these voices more and listen to themselves before recording the first book! Or that someone in preproduction would help by telling them a voice could annoy some listeners so they could choose another.

Overall, it's a good listen if you can adjust to Ophelia's voice. Definitely go for it if you have Audible Escape. Be forewarned if this is your first book in the series and listen closely to the samples. I think these are worth the credit.

Once Again, Ellen Archer Mangles a Good Story

Deanna Raybourn hasn't disappointed in this 4th installment of Lady Julia/Nicholas Brisbane series. The story is intriguing and absorbing, set in a rather exotic setting [India] and with a cast of characters, each of whom has a motive for murder, a "White Rajah" who isn't exactly who he seems to be, and a man-eating tiger.

But Ellen Archer, who is an American actress faking a British accent, is inadequate, as she has been in the previous 3 books. She badly needs a speech coach. Her attempt at being "elegant" results in numerous mispronounced words, the wrong syllabic emphasis for no reason, strangled vowels that sometimes make it very difficult to understand her. She doesn't do regional accents very well; indeed, the only two characters who sound normal are Americans! [Ms. Archer, however, has a lovely singing voice] I think Barbara Rosenblat [Amelia Peabody novels], also American, is the exception that proves the rule: if a story is being told in the first person by a British narrator, get a Brit to do the narration. If Lady Julia hadn't sounded as if she was being choked to death a number of times, I'd have given this book 5 stars.

It was a decent book." I reflected.

I love this series! I truly enjoy the character of Lady Julia. Yes, she may be a little bit spoiled and can be at times whiney, but I cannot seem to turn the mp3 player off. The plot was engaging. This story has quite a few turns and twists, at one point I even held my own breath waiting for … well, you’ll just have to read/hear that part. Her discriptions of the area made me want to go there. I hope to find a quaint bead and breakfast close to Darjeeling to visit some day.
All the positives done with, I have a few issues with this story. I felt as though there was a book missing between the previous one and this one. The closeness between Julia and Brisbane was just not there. Over all it was a good story, but the chemistry was missing. It felt like a form letter. Most of the story was predictable, untill close to the end. Another issue I have is the overuse of some words. Reflected, waspish, remonstrated, peevish, melancholia, and countered were a few of the words I listened to over and over and over again. I felt the area must have been full of mirrors for all the reflecting that was done. Doesn’t she have a thesaurus? Bottom line I enjoy this series in spite of Ms. Raybourn's lack of words.

Pretty good mystery, but very selfish heroine

I've listened to all the books in this series so far, and I find myself disliking Lady Julia more and more. She is stubborn and selfish and cannot get it through her thick head that she's the one that causes all the trouble. Brisbane is a good person, but he does not trust her, and although in the first three books that mistrust was all his on his end due to his own demons, by this book, his mistrust of her is all Julia's fault. Even after she is told outright that she is selfish, she still stubbornly trudges on, doing whatever she wants, and never really appreciates everything that Brisbane does to try and protect her. This romance is supposed to be about two people who love each other very much, and although that love is obvious, it is also obvious that they are NOT partners. They are constantly at odds with each other, they are ALWAYS keeping secrets from each other, pride always seems more important than trust, and all of it is because Julia is too obtuse to realize how inept she really is.

Despite the fact that the heroine is becoming more and more unlikeable, the mysteries are usually pretty good. In all of the stories so far, there is definitely some kind of twist at the end that you don't see coming, but Lady Julia is becoming so spoiled and infuriating that I'm not entirely sure that I want to bother with the next book.