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The Grey Beginning
Devastated by her husband's death, Kathy Malone has traveled to his childhood home, hoping to come to terms with the recent tragedy. Here in the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany, she seeks solace—and discovers something sinister instead. Befriending a lonely boy named Pietro—accepting the chilly hospitality of the aristocratic Contessa Morandini—Kathy begins to uncover the pieces of an ominous puzzle and hints of a deadly obsession. And now she has stumbled upon a murderous plot that could cost Kathy her life—for it was meant to stay hidden . . . forever .
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
47 people are currently reading
365 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Michaels
95 books693 followersBarbara Michaels was a pen name of Barbara Mertz. She also wrote as Elizabeth Peters, as well as under her own name.
She was born in Canton, Illinois and has written over fifty books including some in Egyptology. Dr. Mertz also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Egyptology.
She was born in Canton, Illinois and has written over fifty books including some in Egyptology. Dr. Mertz also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Egyptology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
April 20, 2020
More like The Grey Beginning, Middle and Almost to the Finish Line.
Kathy Malone, a young widow, travels to her husband’s childhood home in Tuscany, Italy to help her find peace. But inner peace isn’t in the cards for Kathy, at least not at the Villa Morandini. Between politely hostile relatives, a young boy in urgent need of a friend, and family secrets, Kathy is in more danger than she ever would have guessed.
This 1980’s era Gothic-style mystery/suspense novel lacks sufficient action. It's reasonably suspenseful and well written, but frustrating because of uneven pacing. Very little happens until more than three-fourths of the way through the book. I kept watching the percentage read creep up on my Kindle (a sure sign of boredom) and when ... stuff ... finally hit the fan at 78% I thought, "Finally! Some action!" So yeah, the last 22% was exciting and eventful, but it was too little, too late.
My search for a worthy successor to Mary Stewart continues.
Kathy Malone, a young widow, travels to her husband’s childhood home in Tuscany, Italy to help her find peace. But inner peace isn’t in the cards for Kathy, at least not at the Villa Morandini. Between politely hostile relatives, a young boy in urgent need of a friend, and family secrets, Kathy is in more danger than she ever would have guessed.
This 1980’s era Gothic-style mystery/suspense novel lacks sufficient action. It's reasonably suspenseful and well written, but frustrating because of uneven pacing. Very little happens until more than three-fourths of the way through the book. I kept watching the percentage read creep up on my Kindle (a sure sign of boredom) and when ... stuff ... finally hit the fan at 78% I thought, "Finally! Some action!" So yeah, the last 22% was exciting and eventful, but it was too little, too late.
My search for a worthy successor to Mary Stewart continues.
August 3, 2011
soooooo slow i barely got through it...i just kept hoping that it would pay off so I read on. I do think that the ending was pretty good, the last bit...but I realize now after reading two of her books that Barbara Michael's just isn't for me...I won't give up entirely, but only if I get desperate for reading material will I give her another try, but only just.
Her heroines seem to have one thing in common from what I can tell, they lack gentility, they seem brusque to me...that makes them difficult for me to identify with, as they do not react to situations in a way I find admirable...they seem crass, ill-mannered, common. Not only do I not imagine myself in their stead, I wouldn't even want one for a friend, lol!
Her heroines seem to have one thing in common from what I can tell, they lack gentility, they seem brusque to me...that makes them difficult for me to identify with, as they do not react to situations in a way I find admirable...they seem crass, ill-mannered, common. Not only do I not imagine myself in their stead, I wouldn't even want one for a friend, lol!
June 27, 2025
Plot twist makes no sense and spoils the whole book. I honestly enjoyed the first 80% of the book where nothing really happens, as opposed to the last 20% which makes no sense and felt rushed.
January 13, 2017
This is a good modern Gothic romance. It is set in Italy and there is plenty of local color. There are misleading trails for the reader and for Kathy, a young widow trying to get over her guilt over her husband's death. I love the major characters, especially David who is a literature scholar, Pietro who is a young boy who lost his parents, and Contessa Morandini who enjoys her aristocratic lifestyle. Throw in glowering servants, a hunchback, and a slightly decaying mansion, and you have the perfect setting.
I think this book deserves four stars because the ending didn't really play fair with the reader. As Gothics so often don't, it shouldn't matter, but this one was a truly unexpected surprise. As there was the hint of the mystery genre in the book, I think I should have had more of a clue.
If you like Gothics, you should definitely try this one. It isn't a bad book, just not a terrific book that cannot be forgotten.
I think this book deserves four stars because the ending didn't really play fair with the reader. As Gothics so often don't, it shouldn't matter, but this one was a truly unexpected surprise. As there was the hint of the mystery genre in the book, I think I should have had more of a clue.
If you like Gothics, you should definitely try this one. It isn't a bad book, just not a terrific book that cannot be forgotten.
August 5, 2011
Great, gothic setting, bizarre ending. I don't think I can read many more of Michaels' books because I just can't stand her heroines. I get that these were written in the 60s and 70s, but her feminist characters go overboard into just being mean, rude, and abrasive. I'm also tired of reading the word "chauvinist." My god, did she love that word back then!
July 28, 2008
I liked the gothic setting in this one and the surprise ending. I figured out some of it, but not all. :) If you like Robert Browning, you will like this novel.
November 8, 2017
Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters) begins The Grey Beginning with a quotation from Robert Browning's Fra Lippo Lippi: "I know my own way back./ Don't fear me! There's the grey beginning." Lippi has just spent the night in debauchery and is returning to his monastic quarters. The grey beginning is, of course, the dawn; but will the day be sunny or cloudy and rainy? The setting is Fiesole, near Florence, where Kathy, the narrator, has traveled to see the mother of the man she married, tell her of the horrible burned body of her son to tie up that episode of her life. But rather than report and return, she gets sick; the aristocratic mother, the Contessa Francesca Morandini, thinks she is suffering morning sickness, and will soon be the mother of the future Count, and so unexpectedly she insists that Kathy stay with her.
In the gothic mansion, Kathy meets other unusual inhabitants, primarily Pietro, a lonely and haunted little boy who would be displaced in line for the inheritance of the Morandini estate by the child she might bear. There is a David, who is supposedly doing historical research in the attic. Emilia is the main servant who is married to a violent brute, Alberto, also a servant, who has a spastic, mentally and physically, helper.
Attempting to assuage her own guilt over her reaction to her husband, Bart's auto accident, and help Pietro find a more normal life, Kathy faces some sinister situations on the estate and faces some horrible conclusions about her husband's family. The plot is interesting, carefully developed, suspenseful, with many twists and turns--but each one makes the story more, not less, plausible. It is a page-turner but thoughtful enough to make one ponder each situation. The characters are all well-developed; they change as one knows more about them, but each change fits in to give more information about them, rather than to alter the reader's perception of them.
The setting is lovely, contrasting the beauty of the Italian countryside with the decrepit maze-like mansion.
It all fits well to make an enjoyable gothic romance/horror story.
In the gothic mansion, Kathy meets other unusual inhabitants, primarily Pietro, a lonely and haunted little boy who would be displaced in line for the inheritance of the Morandini estate by the child she might bear. There is a David, who is supposedly doing historical research in the attic. Emilia is the main servant who is married to a violent brute, Alberto, also a servant, who has a spastic, mentally and physically, helper.
Attempting to assuage her own guilt over her reaction to her husband, Bart's auto accident, and help Pietro find a more normal life, Kathy faces some sinister situations on the estate and faces some horrible conclusions about her husband's family. The plot is interesting, carefully developed, suspenseful, with many twists and turns--but each one makes the story more, not less, plausible. It is a page-turner but thoughtful enough to make one ponder each situation. The characters are all well-developed; they change as one knows more about them, but each change fits in to give more information about them, rather than to alter the reader's perception of them.
The setting is lovely, contrasting the beauty of the Italian countryside with the decrepit maze-like mansion.
It all fits well to make an enjoyable gothic romance/horror story.
January 8, 2026
What you get from Barbara Michaels is everything classic and the normal tropes of her long eras of writing.
What you gain is amusement from the original cozy mystery suspense writer.
The Grey Beginning is one of the best. The heroine barrels along making amateur guesses and tormenting herself with inaccurate assumptions (she is just 24 years old). By the time she realizes she doesn’t have all the tools or puzzle pieces, it doesn’t matter to her anymore. She has saved the one important person in this tale of subterfuge and murder and doesn’t give a fig about the rest.
Cozy writers amuse me, but Michaels (aka Elizabeth Peters) keeps me guessing and always holds one more card up her sleeve. That’s what keeps that Grand Master title firmly in place even in today’s reading market.
What you gain is amusement from the original cozy mystery suspense writer.
The Grey Beginning is one of the best. The heroine barrels along making amateur guesses and tormenting herself with inaccurate assumptions (she is just 24 years old). By the time she realizes she doesn’t have all the tools or puzzle pieces, it doesn’t matter to her anymore. She has saved the one important person in this tale of subterfuge and murder and doesn’t give a fig about the rest.
Cozy writers amuse me, but Michaels (aka Elizabeth Peters) keeps me guessing and always holds one more card up her sleeve. That’s what keeps that Grand Master title firmly in place even in today’s reading market.
March 20, 2021
I got a slow start and it took days to get through the first half of the book and into the storyline, but once I reached the halfway point, I couldn't put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed the denouement. What a story! Peters has an understated way of developing a romance, so the reader doesn't always know that a romance is occurring until nearly the end!
February 15, 2025
Barbara is an amazing author and story teller .. this is the second book by her I've read .. the first was Watcher in the shadows I think?? Sorry I'm not well and am having a hard time remembering names and titles .. but amazing anyway
July 12, 2017
It grew on me ... but the Peabody series will ALWAYS be my VERY MOST FAVOURITE thing ever.
This is not the Peabody series.
This is not the Peabody series.
February 15, 2018
Kind of a wild story with all of the twists and turns at the end, but I'm totally hooked on Barbara Michaels - no matter how crazy the story gets.
May 24, 2021
As I always state, her books are all good.
May 30, 2021
Finished a few days ago and can’t remember much about it without reading the blurb. Never a good sign.
November 13, 2022
Eh. It was ok.
April 22, 2025
This book reminded me of a Harlequin romance until the last two chapters then it became very exciting. It does have a good twist at the end.
December 20, 2025
Read this years ago
August 22, 2025
A gothic romance mystery set in "modern" times.
May 18, 2018
I give this book a low rating because it wasn't especially well written, in my opinion. However, I did enjoy reading it the whole way through. For about 80% of the book, it felt like there was no plot; we read a story about a woman going about her days and doing things, and other people also doing things. Nothing felt connected in any real significant way, and I was honestly in a lot of suspense as to what the plot would even end up being at the very end of the story. The ending was the most disappointing part, unfortunately, and it felt close to nonsensical.
Overall, reading it wasn't a waste of my time, but I wouldn't really recommend it either.
Overall, reading it wasn't a waste of my time, but I wouldn't really recommend it either.
June 25, 2014
I was about the give up on Barbara Michaels, trying to recreate the magic of last summer where I read all the Mary Stewart books I read Greygallows and Vanish With the Rose and didn't think that Barbara Michaels was going to work out for me. The Grey Beginning started out slowly but about halfway through it really picked up speed. Reminded me in many ways of Nine Coaches Waiting. I am willing to give Barbara Michaels another chance. I do wish that the clues to the story would become clear a little earlier on in this book and the other Barbara Michaels books that I have read.
December 22, 2013
Wonderful author.
Barbara Michaels is my favorite author. Every book I read of hers is more exciting than the previous book. This book, "Grey Beginning" was terrific just like all of her other books. I hope she will go on writing her wonderful stories for ever!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a book that they cannot put down.
Barbara Michaels is my favorite author. Every book I read of hers is more exciting than the previous book. This book, "Grey Beginning" was terrific just like all of her other books. I hope she will go on writing her wonderful stories for ever!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a book that they cannot put down.
February 5, 2015
Gothic romances have been a fav genre of mine even though i haven't read many. Barbara Michaels' Patriot's Dream was such an intriguing novel that i really wanna read all her books.
Well, this didnt disappoint either. But would have surely loved a little more mystery and suspense.The setting is really spooky but the pace is little slow!!
Well, this didnt disappoint either. But would have surely loved a little more mystery and suspense.The setting is really spooky but the pace is little slow!!
March 25, 2014
A slow but enjoyable read. One of those I'm glad to have read, but it lacked compelling enough suspense and atmosphere and the ending - although a nice surprise - seemed rushed. This could have benefitted from more time and heart invested.
June 4, 2014
I have read this book many times and am always sorry to say goodbye to the characters at the end… nothing new in this book (except, I suppose, the setting, which is Florence and the Tuscany countryside, but really, there isn't much "travelogue"), but it's an old favorite anyway.
February 11, 2015
I liked this book for the first 3/4. It had good gothic tones and some fun Jane Eyre references. However, the last quarter of the book got a little too dramatic and one of the major plot twists felt very dated. Overall I enjoyed the book, but the ending was disappointing.
August 31, 2015
Awesome!
As always, I highly recommend this book. I think Barbara Michaels is an incomparable author. No matter what she writes, her books are engrossing and hard to put down. Be prepared to be captivated and to spending a couple of hours of enjoyable entertainment.
As always, I highly recommend this book. I think Barbara Michaels is an incomparable author. No matter what she writes, her books are engrossing and hard to put down. Be prepared to be captivated and to spending a couple of hours of enjoyable entertainment.
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April 14, 2008Suspense
October 27, 2008
Slow reading for me because I wasn't overly inspired to pick it up over the weekend. Once I got into it though and got down to the last 75 pages, the plot picked up.
January 10, 2011
Love Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters)
April 21, 2009
Md author of romantic suspense.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews