For a little change of pace, I decided to tell you about one of my favorite authors.  Deanna Raybourn writes historical mysteries with a bit of romance thrown in for fun.  I got hooked on her books through the “Lady Julia” series.  The first of which is “Silent in the Grave.”

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

For fans of Victorian era mysteries, these books are a must read.  I think there are about 7 in the series so far, and I’m hoping for more.  I heard her speak at Malice Domestic this past year, and she dropped the bombshell that a British television studio is adapting this for the small screen.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get it over here in the good ol’ US of A, because I would be IN TO IT!

Her newest series follows strong, independent Victoria Speedwell.  An adventurous woman who happens to study butterflies, she is thrown into a mystery head first and must work her way to the truth.  A truth that is a bombshell of Victorian England.  The first in that series, “A Curious Beginning”

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Through a website that I found through my following of publishers on Twitter, I got to read the second in the series before it was even published!  NetGalley.com is a site to request advanced copies of books.  I read the second in the series, “A Perilous Undertaking” and came away an even bigger fan.  The mystery in that book was even better!  It definitely reminds me of ‘Miss Fisher’s Mysteries” and the character of Phryne Fisher.  Doesn’t need a man in her life, and the men she does have in her life aren’t the be all, end all.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they are attractive men.

Not only being one of my favorite published authors, her twitter feed is super fun too!  I feel like we’d be friends….she’s sarcastic, but seems genuinely nice as well.  At the Malice convention, her panel with Christine Trent and other historical authors was my favorite of the convention.  They were so funny and genuinely love the era they write about.

I seriously can’t wait for the next bunch of books in both her series!