Goood evening and welcome back to my corner of the internet. The blog schedules been a bit scattered lately hasn't it? Apologise! I'm finishing up this blog post in the comfort of a new flat that we moved into this weekend. So it's fair to say things have been a bit hectic the last few weeks in order to get everything sorted. One thing that's kept me calm and collected has been escaping into a fab book, and for this post I want to speak about Malia Zaidi's book, The Study of Silence. 

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?

Jumping into Malia's books you definitely get some cosy vibes which for this time of year on a cold night has been the perfect pick me up.  With the book being a period crime novel, it definitely ticked all the boxes for me when I received the email about this tour and having read it, it's certainly not disappointed! 

As I mentioned above, The Study of Silence is a period novel set within 1920's Oxford. The novel follows Lady Evelyn Carlisle while she returns to Oxford in order to complete her studies. Along the way you get to meet a variety of characters which keeps you on your toes as to who the killer is. Compared to recent books I've read, the pacing did feel slower to them but with enough clues to sway you between who was the murderer it did leave for a satisfying ending with a character who ended up making a lot of sense. 

One aspect of this book that I very much respected, especially as it being the third in the series, was the character development. I've not read the first two instalments to this series but I was still given enough background and information that led to this being an enjoyable read. Throughout this chapter of the series, you get to meet a variety of new characters as well as some that I imagine you learn more about in the initial two books. Focusing on  Lady Evelyn Carlisle solely, I found it interesting the complexity her character has which is not unlike any women growing up in modern society. Constantly battling between her own ambitions and what she should "traditionally" be doing, it gives a lot of thinking points but also shows how much has changed between almost 100 years ago and now. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was refreshing and gave me a break between some harder going crime and thrillers, it's definitely more a pick for cosying up in a blanket with a cuppa in hand. I would also state that even though it is the 3rd in a series, definitely check it out on it's own. As someone who's not heard of this series before the characters and story line made sense and I didn't feel like I was missing any major background to the characters or story. So definitely make sure to check it out if you want a lighter crime novel to read or you fancy jumping into a new series altogether. 

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