338 pages
English language
Published Jan. 4, 2017
"London, 1887. Victorian adventuress and butterfly hunter Veronica Speedwell receives an invitation to visit the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment for daring and intrepid women. There she meets the mysterious Lady Sundridge, who begs her to take on an impossible task saving society art patron Miles Ramsforth from execution. Accused of the brutal murder of his artist mistress Artemisia, Ramsforth will face the hangman's noose in a week's time if Veronica cannot find the real killer. But Lady Sundridge is not all that she seems, and unmasking her true identity is only the first of the many secrets Veronica must uncover."--
An awful, boring, overly sexed, a disaster.... but, otherwise it might have been fine. I made it to almost 50% before having to run and hide.
Much fun..
Veronica Speedwell is the victorian english lady of my heart (I was this close of giving it 5 stars)
This was a delight to read ! Veronica Speedwell and her colleague Stoker (there is a great companionship btw the two and also.. a delicious slow burn^^) are asked by a royal princess to solve the murder of an artist, who was a pregnant mistress of a lord..
I forgot how witty and humorous the characters were, let me search for a quote by my dear Veronica..
“We are educated out of common sense, curiosity, and any real merit. We are made to be decorative and worthy of display, with occasional forays into procreation and good works, but nothing more.”
Anyways we have :
- Amazing main characters
- Interesting secondary characters
- A murder mystery
- Victorian London setting
- Tons of humor
- Slow burn
Need I say more …
Veronica Speedwell is the victorian english lady of my heart (I was this close of giving it 5 stars)
This was a delight to read ! Veronica Speedwell and her colleague Stoker (there is a great companionship btw the two and also.. a delicious slow burn^^) are asked by a royal princess to solve the murder of an artist, who was a pregnant mistress of a lord..
I forgot how witty and humorous the characters were, let me search for a quote by my dear Veronica..
“We are educated out of common sense, curiosity, and any real merit. We are made to be decorative and worthy of display, with occasional forays into procreation and good works, but nothing more.”
Anyways we have :
- Amazing main characters
- Interesting secondary characters
- A murder mystery
- Victorian London setting
- Tons of humor
- Slow burn
Need I say more ?
Closer to a 3.5. I didn't 100% care about the mystery but I enjoy Veronica and Stoker.
I'm not a mystery fan, I've come to realize after reading three of Deanna Raybourn's books (one Julia Grey book, two Veronica Speedwell books). I'm sure this is a fun example of the genre but I didn't engage with the book much until after the mystery was resolved, I came into this thinking it was closer to the romance genre but it's not really. The best part for me was the last chapter after the mystery was resolved and the characters were discussing their relationships.
For me, I'd call this 2-stars, I won't be continuing in the series, but that's entirely a reflection on me not gelling with the genre than the book. I hope in the future I'll come to enjoy mystery genre more and will revisit Raybourn's books.
