Like the second book, SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY, this one picks up - and transforms - a Victorian cliche: the setting is a dark, ominous, half-ruined estate in the northern moors of Yorkshire, capped by a rotting manor house, where dark family secrets fester. It's full of bleak landscapes, profound isolation, and country superstition. Nicholas Brisbane has acquired the estate, and his letters back to London indicate that something is very wrong - although he won't say exactly what.

Julia makes the journey north to investigate her relationship with Brisbane, and provide what help she can. She's soon caught up in a proper mystery, featuring a family of aristocrats gifted with great beauty and ruined by pride. Like in SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY, Julia eventually uncovers a nest of crimes, all wound together like a pile of snakes. Perhaps most shocking of all, this desolate location is the site of a critical turning point in Brisbane's past.

I found the trilogy satisfying at the end, but I admit that through most of SILENT ON THE MOOR I had little patience for Brisbane. There were times when I really wished the Julia would just give up and go home - at one point, she starts packing her bags and I was relieved. I am usually a big fan of brusque, domineering heroes and kept turning pages through the whole series, anticipating the next time Brisbane would appear. Yet, at the end of the day, I wished he could have been a little warmer.