Book Description: Veronica Speedwell returns in a brand new adventure from Deanna Raybourn, the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries…
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. Together with her natural historian colleague Stoker, Veronica races against time to find the true murderer a ruthless villain who not only took Artemisia s life in cold blood but is happy to see Ramsforth hang for the crime.
From a Bohemian artists colony to a royal palace to a subterranean grotto with a decadent history, the investigation proves to be a very perilous undertaking indeed….
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let me first start by saying I absolutely love this cover! It was what instantly drew me to looking at this book on NetGalley and was super excited when I was granted the opportunity to read it. I have not read the first one, but did not need to have read it in order to follow along with the story. I do want to read the first one though now!
I love that this is set in Victorian times and that the feel of the time was put into the story and I could just picture it as I read. I think the two main characters Veronica and Stoker are very well developed and I love how they interact together, the humor, the obvious romantic tension that you just sit there saying oh give in already and kiss each other! I love that Veronica can be very blunt and forward and no matter how many times she does that Stoker still gets all uneasy about what she says.
The fact that Veronica is related to royalty was pretty interesting, again obviously we learned this in the first book but I haven’t read it so it was a fun surprise for me. I think the whole plot was well thought out and I was guessing the whole time on who I thought the murderer might actually be. I thought there were some good twists to keep you on your toes and wondering what was going to happen. I also love the humor that was thrown in and hearing about their hobbies like Veronica catching butterflies and Stoker with his taxidermy.
I think the writing was well done and the story well thought out. I thought all of the supporting characters were well developed as well, you got to know them and see how they fit into the story. I thought it was quite interesting just seeing how everyone of the characters connect in some way and who actually knows who Veronica really is, even when she doesn’t know they know who she is. I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but definitely recommend this book.
Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
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