The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn

It's no surprise why Raybourn is one of my favorite authors.  Her characters are engaging, her plot twists intriguing, and her prose is as rich and delectable as a warm chocolate souffle.  Her first book, the first in the Lady Julia Grey Series, Silent in the Grave is still my favorite--I find it hard to imagine topping that perfectly crafted story--but The Dark Enquiry, LJG Book 5, is a solid addition to the series.  The author is taking a break from the series to write something else next, so I am reading slowly to savor my time with Julia and Brisbane, since I will not likely read anything new of them again until 2014. 

Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in London. But merging their respective collections of gadgets, pets and servants leaves little room for the harried newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane's private enquiry business.

Among the more unlikely clients: Julia's very proper brother, Lord Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything concerning her beloved—if eccentric—family, spirited Julia soon picks up the trail of the investigation.

It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame Séraphine holds evening séances…and not a few powerful gentlemen in thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle trust.

Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines, bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must unite or fall. For Bellmont's sake and more they'll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to keep….