Lady Evelyn Carlisle has returned home to England, where she is completing her degree at St. Hugh’s, a women’s college in Oxford. Her days are spent poring over ancient texts and rushing to tutorials. All is well until a fateful morning, when her peaceful student life is turned on its head. Stumbling upon the gruesome killing of someone she thought she knew, Evelyn is plunged into a murder … investigation once more, much to the chagrin of her friends and family, as well as the intriguing Detective Lucas Stanton. The dreaming spires of Oxford begin to appear decidedly less romantic as she gathers clues, and learns far more than she ever wished to know about the darkness lurking beyond the polished veneer. Can she solve the crime before the killer strikes once more, this time to Evelyn’s own detriment?
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The Study of Silence is the third book in the ‘Lady Evelyn Mystery’ series written by Malia Zaidi. A cross between historical fiction and a cozy mystery, readers will find themselves whisked away to a time nearly a century ago when life was quite different. Solving murders was more complicated without the internet, cell phones, and other modern technology. Lady Evelyn must rely on her strong sense of intellect and intuition, and even then, people weren’t as direct as they are today.
In this installment, Lady Evelyn has returned to England with Daniel to complete the next phase of her education. While taking classes at a local women’s college, and living in a house with several other young ladies, she struggles to decide her future. It’s too soon to marry Daniel, and she wants a different kind of life than tradition. Unfortunately, she’s born many years too soon for what she wants (and deserves). Transitioning back to the lifestyle of an unmarried English girl is made easier when her cousin, Briony, and her four children, also return from Crete. As does a murder that happens the morning after Evelyn attends a party at another professor’s home. Who killed the man? While it shouldn’t matter to her, it does… so Evelyn does her best to search for the criminal while getting involved in all sorts of situations at her boardinghouse, with her missing niece, with some family matters, and finally, the actual murder.
Zaidi’s writing style and tone will absolutely make you feel like it’s the 1920s. Between her vivid descriptions, on-point dialog and tone, and slow yet methodical approach to solving the crime, readers can sit back and just let things unravel. It’s not a suspenseful hunt-down-the-killer novel. It’s a conversational approach to learning what you can and theorizing options, then looking for clues. As much as it is about the murder, it’s also about how a woman lived in the 1920s. Zaidi admits to taking a few liberties to make the story-line work better (totally okay with me!), but nonetheless, it was still a harsh life at the time. Zaidi navigates you down that path with ease, letting readers soak in the painful pressures on a woman in her 20s — you must get married, you must not do anything bad, you must look innocent at all times! Yikes… how is that even possible?
Silence is key in this book. The reasons for the murder unfold with each chapter, and you’ll never guess the killer or the reason why. It was buried too well, but in some ways, it was also quite obvious. That’s the sign of a smart author — it’s believable yet you will be shocked. Kudos to Zaidi for bringing out the best in Lady Evelyn. I’ve purchased the fourth book in the series which recently came out this year. I’ll be reading it next month, so I’m fully caught up in this excellent series.
Lady Evelyn is back in England. Both she and Daniel have returned to England after a long vacation and much excitement. She’s in Oxford and he is in London. They see each other on sporadic weekends. He returned for his family business and she to attend a women’s college in Oxford. All is copacetic until a murder takes place involving a professor and Evie can’t help but look for and track down clues. It is in this quest where the story tension and conflict arises and the author involves the reader in all the antics we, the fans, have grown to love about Lady Evelyn’s way of tackling life. And murder. The levity enters with the way in which she interjects herself into “her” investigation and I laughed out loud as a giant rat ran across her foot as she’s practicing being very stealth. The writing is rich in historical reference and held me wanting to know how the mystery would be solved. And even when it’s solved another mystery and revelation occurs to add an icing to the luscious storytelling. This is a timely novel in that it tackles women’s issues: in the twenties women were in the minority in colleges international, the challenges post-graduation, and the struggles of the working class woman. These themes run deep and resonate contemporary which adds to the depth of the read. Evie struggles with her own issues, namely that of her deceased parents, taking during a fire, what does she do with the family estate that is too painful for her to return to and her other family members feel the same forcing her to confront letting go, and then there are issues with committing to Daniel. The writing is tight and intriguing with the big picture mystery: the murder; and the smaller mysteries: how will Evie sort out her own issues. The scenery and dialogue flow like honey from chapter to chapter. The characters are authentic, none perfect or without the human struggle we all can relate to. A delightful, enjoyable read right down to the surprising ending.
Wonderful cozy mystery that takes you back in time… Which I am really starting to love these types of books! Event though this book is part of a series and as always I always recommend to read a series in order you can read this one as a stand a lone and be able to follow with no troubles.
The Study of Silence is baffles me as to what the true plot is. Though, it is good read. I know there a murder in the book. Why, the person is murdered, you will not by no mean until the end of the book.
I know the story is somewhat told in a third person i believe anyway. I was wondering if was more about human nature or if the story was more set to be about Evelyn. Why someone is after her when she not does much to find out. Evelyn seems to get sucked into the murder and danger accidentally.
I do enjoy the fact that we learn about women’s rights a bit during England era though this book. The story is set in the era of 1926 England. We experience or learn about Oxford and that time period and customs. That part of the story give the author a swell of job.
She touches a bit of things that might go one during this time that we do not like in our modern day time. The cause of this murder and the unlikely will be surprise of the reason for it. Was the professor living a double life or a secret life. Who is the murderer? To find out you will have to read the book.