Beneath a Silent Moon

Beneath a Silent Moon (2003) Tracy Grant

This series is somewhat confusing, as the author has published it under two different names (Tracy Grant / Teresa Grant) and the main characters have two different names (Charles & Melanie Fraser / Malcom & Suzanne Rannoch).

It is, however, the same series.

Additionally, the books were written and published NOT in chronological order, so tidbits that appear briefly may have been / might be developed in another book.

That said, you don’t have to read the books in any order (which is good, because I’ve been reading them as they’ve gone on same, which is about as random a reading order as you can get).

In this book, taking place primarily in 1817, Charles & Melanie are in London, Charles’ home, when Charles’ father drops a shocking surprise on family and friends. Then Charles & Melanie receive another unpleasant surprise when they meet with someone who they they sometimes worked with on the Continent during the war.

Then they travel to Charles’ home, and things unravel further.

If you think that in the old days people were prim and proper and well-behaved, you’re in for a surprise. Secret after secret is uncovered.

“The passage was built in the sixteenth century,” he added a moment later. His voice sounded bizarrely normal, especially in contrast to the erratic breathing that underlay it.
“To smuggle priests in and out of the house?”
“In this family? Hardly. It connects to the lodge. The lord of the manor at the time was having an affair with the steward’s wife.”

There are also plenty of reminders that there were few love matches in British society.

She and Charles had knit themselves together in this small person in her arms. How odd that one could take a man into one’s body and create a new life with him and yet wonder if one really knew him in the ways that mattered.

It’s also an incredibly complex mystery, with two different threads tangled together.

I quite enjoy this series, even if I have to bookmark passages/pages to come back to later to sort out who’s who (and who is sleeping with whom).
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by NYLA

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