A Perilous Undertaking (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery)

Thouroughly enjoyed this second installment in the series. Took a little while for the plot to pick up and was a bit slow in a few places, but the excellent characters of Veronica and Stoker made it a worthwhile read.

I love Deanna Raybourn’s writing style and this book is everything you would expect from her. It is written with her signature wit, humor, and in my opinion is even better than A Curious Beginning (the first book in the series). With a plucky and clever heroine, a brooding pirate-like hero, and an intriguing mystery we get a story that is very difficult to put down. I cannot get enough of Deanna’s writing and I hope we don’t have to wait too long for Veronica’s and Stoker’s next adventure.

Veronica is a breath of delightfully fresh air!

I read a lot of novels set in the 19th century -- many mysteries, much steampunk, etc. There's much about it I enjoy, but it's a struggle to find heroines that aren't cookie-cutter. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the impoverished, timid, self-effacing, semi-educated virgin foundling who's nevertheless intelligent enough and passionate enough to unexpectedly win the heart of the brooding lord over the course of three volumes, interrupted along the way by lots of tears and concern about scandal and class, and "how will I ever survive now that Uncle So-and-So or Aunt Whoever has bassed away" ... it's just been done a LOT! What a delight, for a change, to find a heroine who's instead a brilliant autodidact, a capable professional with a career of her own, well-travelled and accomplished, and who possesses a lusty appreciation for the male of the species. She's cheerfully bawdy, utterly indomitable, and fiercely pragmatic. Stoker fits the bill of the brooding aristocrat with a bit more depth than most, and the rising sexual tension between him and Veronica keeps tantalizing the reader -- though their relationship progresses but slowly.

Their investigations, on the other hand, are briskly paced and the plotting is complex enough to be interesting. Secondary characters are nuanced and engaging. Worldbuilding is quick and sketchy but perfectly servicable. I'm looking forward to the next in this series!

Victoria Speedwell is a sharp lepidopterist who is back again to solve a new mystery with her natural historian/taxidermist buddy, Stoker. When Victoria is invited to a woman’s club that is like men’s clubs of the Victorian era in 1887, a place where women’s intelligence and interest in just about anything are allowed to shine and be shared. Victoria meets a formidable member, Lady Sundridge, who brings Victoria into a quiet room where she is scrutinized and queried by another woman. Victoria takes very little time to figure out that she is being addressed by a member of royalty. Now Lady Sundridge had already begged Victoria to assist in solving the mystery of the murder of a woman named Artemesia, the lover of a famous society art patron, Miles Ramsforth who is to be hanged for the murder in only two days. Not too much pressure! Add to the fact that Victoria she will meet her own father if she succeeds. Both sides of this quest have very different, unknown motives in resolving these mysteries with success!
Stoker and Victoria discover the more sordid side of royalty in a secret sex society and other mysterious places and people. As usual, Victoria receives a secret communication that threatens her life is he insists on continuing her investigation of the circumstances surrounding Artemisia’s death.
No spoiler’s here – we soon discover there are plenty of suspects who might have committed the murder. We also meet several high society and royal personages who are a part of the decadence so characteristic of this historical time. Add to that the mystery behind Victoria and Stoker’s relationship which seems slightly hot, growing hotter but never actually getting there, a frustrating conundrum for readers!
A Perilous Undertaking is a satisfying read that starts off slowly but gradually picks up momentum with plenty of twists and turns all the way to the surprising final page! Nicely done, Deanna Raybourn!

A Perilous Undertaking is one of the best books I have read recently. I loved everything about it: the cover, the characters, the setting, and the plot. Veronica Speedwell and Stoker Templeton Vane make the perfect pair, sleuthing and otherwise, and are truly entertaining; they are both forward thinking, eccentric, unusual, and highly intelligent. I have not read the first in the series, but I had no trouble leaping right into this installment.

Veronica Speedwell, a Victorian-era lepidopterist (an expert on butterflies), is summoned to the Curiosity Club, an all-female club for intelligent and inquiring women. She is introduced to Lady Sundridge who engages Veronica to solve the murder of a local artist, Artemisia. Artemisia was the mistress of Miles Ramsforth, who has been accused and tried for her murder and will hang in seven days. Lady Sundridge wants Ramsforth freed and the true murdered brought to justice. Speedwell and Stoker take the case which leads them down some very winding paths including a grotto with an interesting past. Even though I predicted the murderer long before the mystery was solved, I truly enjoyed both the mystery and the resolution. A Perilous Undertaking is such a fun read.

Raybourn vividly and wittily creates each and every character. I enjoyed immensely spending time with them all and cannot wait for the next installment. She also depicts the setting so descriptively that I felt like I was in 1870’s England. That always add to my enjoyment of a book.

I loved A Perilous Undertaking and highly recommend it. Thanks to First to Read for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As A Perilous Undertaking opens, it is 1887 and Veronica Speedwell and her colleague in natural history endeavors and crime-solving, Stoker, are engaging in a little knife-throwing target practice and amiable barbed repartee while they take a break from their duties creating a museum from the natural history collection of their benefactor, Lord Rosemorran . Life never stays peaceful very long for Veronica and Stoker, however, and the publisher’s description gives an excellent summary of the events that follow.
The plot of A Perilous Undertaking is appropriately exciting and slightly over-the-top, narrated by Veronica herself. The style conveys the formality of the Victorian era, but the tone has a wit and lightness that doesn’t take itself completely seriously. I loved exchanges like this between Veronica and art patron Frederick Havelock: “I presume you know who I am?”….”I do. You are my host .”….”Child, never call me such! Makes me sound like a sacrament.”
The protagonists are thoroughly unorthodox. Veronica is a very modern woman raised in a more straight-laced time, bursting with the urge for knowledge, adventures, and, “experience” of all sorts. Victoria is not romantic; she is joyfully libidinous, and, although her personal rule is to restrict her amorous dalliances to foreign lands and foreign men, this rule does not stop her from admiring the charms of her fellow English countrymen in fairly explicit terms. Except for one memorable encounter with a Galapagos tortoise named Patricia, Veronica does not engage in a lot of natural history activity in this book, but she compensates by peppering her narration with frequent references to pertinent species of lepidoptera. “Stoker” Templeton-Vane , the ear-ringed, tattooed, scarred rebel from an aristocratic family, is a fitting companion to Veronica. Veronica finds it “entertaining that such a hardened man of the world could have gained so much experience as a scientist, explorer, natural historian, naval surgeon, and taxidermist and still let himself be nettled by a woman half his size.“ In A Perilous Undertaking we learn a lot about Stoker’s complicated family relationships and emotions when his father dies, and the relationship between Veronica and Stoker gets more complex. There are colorful idiosyncratic cameo characters from the nobility and from a bohemian artists’ colony.
The writing is a delight without even considering the plot, but don’t worry, it moves along at a satisfying clip, with equally satisfying action scenes, appropriate but tasteful blood and gore, and a credible resolution that reveals all and saves the wrongly convicted man. The whole package adds up to first-rate entertainment.
Readers of the first Veronica Speedwell book will need no encouragement to read this book. For readers new to the series, though, much as I recommend A Perilous Undertaking, I even more strongly recommend that you get your introduction to Veronica and Stoker through A Curious Beginning to avoid spoiling the surprises revealed in that first book.
NOTE: I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an objective review.

As A Perilous Undertaking opens, it is 1887 and Veronica Speedwell and her colleague in natural history endeavors and crime-solving, Stoker, are engaging in a little knife-throwing target practice and amiable barbed repartee while they take a break from their duties creating a museum from the natural history collection of their benefactor, Lord Rosemorran . Life never stays peaceful very long for Veronica and Stoker, however, and the publisher’s description gives an excellent summary of the events that follow.
The plot of A Perilous Undertaking is appropriately exciting and slightly over-the-top, narrated by Veronica herself. The style conveys the formality of the Victorian era, but the tone has a wit and lightness that doesn’t take itself completely seriously. I loved exchanges like this between Veronica and art patron Frederick Havelock: “I presume you know who I am?”….”I do. You are my host .”….”Child, never call me such! Makes me sound like a sacrament.”
The protagonists are thoroughly unorthodox. Veronica is a very modern woman raised in a more straight-laced time, bursting with the urge for knowledge, adventures, and, “experience” of all sorts. Victoria is not romantic; she is joyfully libidinous, and, although her personal rule is to restrict her amorous dalliances to foreign lands and foreign men, this rule does not stop her from admiring the charms of her fellow English countrymen in fairly explicit terms. Except for one memorable encounter with a Galapagos tortoise named Patricia, Veronica does not engage in a lot of natural history activity in this book, but she compensates by peppering her narration with frequent references to pertinent species of lepidoptera. “Stoker” Templeton-Vane , the ear-ringed, tattooed, scarred rebel from an aristocratic family, is a fitting companion to Veronica. Veronica finds it “entertaining that such a hardened man of the world could have gained so much experience as a scientist, explorer, natural historian, naval surgeon, and taxidermist and still let himself be nettled by a woman half his size.“ In A Perilous Undertaking we learn a lot about Stoker’s complicated family relationships and emotions when his father dies, and the relationship between Veronica and Stoker gets more complex. There are colorful idiosyncratic cameo characters from the nobility and from a bohemian artists’ colony.
The writing is a delight without even considering the plot, but don’t worry, it moves along at a satisfying clip, with equally satisfying action scenes, appropriate but tasteful blood and gore, and a credible resolution that reveals all and saves the wrongly convicted man. The whole package adds up to first-rate entertainment.
Readers of the first Veronica Speedwell book will need no encouragement to read this book. For readers new to the series, though, much as I recommend A Perilous Undertaking, I even more strongly recommend that you get your introduction to Veronica and Stoker through A Curious Beginning to avoid spoiling the surprises revealed in that first book.
NOTE: I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an objective review.

“A Perilous Undertaking” is Deanna Raybourn’s second in her series featuring lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell, a champion of women's rights who speaks her mind at the most inconvenient times, and natural historian, former naval surgeon, and taxidermist Revelstoke Templeton-Vane (Stoker). In “A Curious Beginning,” the two teamed up to solve a murder. Now, it is 1887, and a figure in the royal family asks the pair to investigate the killing of a gifted artist, Maud Eresby, who renamed herself Artemisia. The victim's married lover, Miles Ramsforth, has already been convicted of the crime. Unless Victoria and Stoker can prove that Miles is innocent, he will be hanged.

Raybourn' s writing is witty, literate, sassy, vividly descriptive, and a bit naughty. She cheerfully pokes fun at the affectations and and haughtiness of individuals who believe that their social inferiors exist to serve them. Although they are close friends and colleagues, Veronica and Stoker are sarcastic, ill tempered, and impatient with one another. They carry heavy emotional baggage; both had difficult childhoods and were saddled with cruel relatives who treated them contemptuously.

The mystery, alas, is not as compelling. The investigators interviews witnesses and risk bodily harm searching for clues behind locked doors and in hidden compartments. Since we never meet either Miles or Artemisia, they remain ciphers, gossiped about but never becoming quite real in our minds. Raybourn's characters are, by turns, hilarious, peculiar, obnoxious, and deceitful. One scene has a self-important female sculptor posing a nude Stoker as Perseus holding the head of the Gorgon. Red herrings abound, and after much fuss and bother, our sleuths close in on the culprit. One inducement to read this book is what it reveals about Stoker’s past (undoubtedly there will be additional surprises to come); the poor man has suffered greatly and has good reason to walk around with a permanent scowl on his face. “A Perilous Undertaking” stands out for its amusing and literate dialogue and the ways in which the author exposes the hypocrisy of Victorians who feigned respectability in public, but behaved scandalously in private.

Sequels. Whether in books or movies you never quite know what to expect. Traditionally the sequel doesn’t meet the same expectations of it’s predecessor. Take the original Star Wars trilogy for example. Some of the absolute most popular films in history and yet that second one, The Empire Strikes Back, is typically considered the most lowly of the three. The curse of the sequel.

I read the first book of Raybourn’s Speedwell mysteries, A Curious Beginning, a few months back and very much enjoyed every page. When I spotted A Perilous Undertaking at the library I was excited to jump back into it’s Victorian era mystery but at the same time apprehensive. Would it live up to the first book or would I be left wanting?

I should never have doubted Raybourn. A Perilous Undertaking is every bit as good as A Curious Beginning. Shame on me.

We return to the story with Veronica Speedwell, a lepidopterist, some months after having learned that she was a bastard child of the royal family. A family that would never, and could never, claim her. She accepted this and was quite content going about her own life in pursuit of scientific inquiry of butterflies. She and her companion (not in the connubial sense) Stoker have planned a new expedition and are excited to leave London behind in search of adventure.

Their plans are thwarted when one of their party (the one with the deep pockets) falls ill and they are forced to put their expedition on hold. In the meantime, Veronica has found herself at a club in the company of one of the royal princesses. Princess Louise asks for Veronica’s help in correctly solving a murder and clearing the name of the man currently blamed for the deed.

~“The hardest lesson I had learnt upon my travels was patience. There are times when every muscle, every nerve, screams for movement, when every instinct urges escape. But the instinct to fly is not always a sound one. There are occasions when only stillness can save you.”~

Going through some other reviews of this book on Goodreads and the store and such I’ve noticed several people commenting that it takes this story a while to get going. I don’t agree. Every act, every moment in the first few chapters is important. You are reacquainted with the cast of characters, given information on their current lives as they do differ slightly from the first book, and are introduced to the mystery at hand. I didn’t think it was slow moving at all but instead necessary information to make the story complete.

Of course Veronica takes up the mystery with the aide of dear Stoker and once again they find themselves investigating a murder. I was, as I was the first time, thrilled with Veronica’s decidedness to be her own woman. She did not allow the social aspect in the Victorian era of letting the male oppress the woman rule her. I love what a strong, intelligent, willful character she is.

The investigation takes the duo to some very interesting places. A vast private home being used to house and teach budding artists, an opium den, Scotland yard, the royal palace, and a grotto on a piece of private property which was obviously used as a salacious sex den. All the while Veronica and Stoker keep up their witty banter which I quickly fell in love with in the first book. They are both highly intelligent people on a mission and their dialogue is marvelous. The dynamic between those two is so entertaining that they could be having a discussion about the common house fly and make it interesting.

If you enjoy a good mystery or have an interest in Victorian era historical fiction I highly recommend giving this series a shot. The story was thoroughly engrossing and while I suspected the eventual murderer it was still a joy to watch the duo come to the same conclusion. As a side note, while I am not particularly squeamish I know that some topics can be delicate for folks and would like point out that the murdered person was a pregnant woman. I’m sure it would be a touchy subject for some people and prefer to give readers a heads up.

I hope that if you do choose to pick up these Veronica Speedwell mysteries that you enjoy them as much as I do. The third book featuring these characters, A Treacherous Curse, is due out in January of 2018.

A fantastic addition to the Speedwell series, this volume adds to the original and builds on our lead’s pasts to create stronger characters. Along with a character chemistry that is second to none and for the most part solid mystery component, Raybourn’s new series has a future that never looked brighter.

Favorite part hands down our Veronica, Stoker, and their relationship. I've never read a pair who have so much chemistry on the page and such intriguing interactions. Alternating between hilarious exchanges and heated UST scenes, these two banter their way across London as they encounter artists, royals, and an abandoned sex club. The intensity and hilarity never lightens up.

The mystery aspect wasn't as original as book one but still enjoyable. Reading more like a mystery than the previous book, this one delves into an enigmatic secret behind a murder in an artist circle's mansion. I wasn't as surprised at the eventual who done it as I might have been. Yet, the journey through the various clues and discussions was pleasurable nonetheless.

What I did enjoy about the mystery part was how much it added to our leads pasts again. While touching lightly on Veronica and her familial connections, the best part we got was more exploration on Stoker’s past. We get to see the family circumstances that develop his character and personality, getting to see how the bitterness developed when it comes to his family. Since most of book one was devoted to developing Veronica, these peeks into Stoker’s past helps develop him more fully.

And that's what makes this series so unique and special. Every aspect of the story, even the mystery itself, always builds and supports our leads personalities and pasts. It's not totally about the mystery itself; it's about the people involved: investigators, allies, suspects, and victim. I think that's what makes Veronica, Stoker, and their relationship so extraordinary. The author concentrate so much on building them up, then centering the mystery around them rather than the other way around.

Even though the mystery itself wasn't as enthralling as the first one, this book is still a solid five for me. The leads, how they play off each other, and the overall story carry the day. I can't help but find myself drawn into Veronica's and Stoker’s chases across London, reveling in their hysterical sniping banter and heated UST scenes. The mystery flows smoothly, if a bit predictably, yet it also enhances our leads and their backgrounds. If you're a fan of book one, definitely look this one up. If you haven't read book one and now this one, where have you been hiding?!?! Go read the series now! I can't recommend it highly enough.

The second book in the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries is just as much a tour de force as the first. Veronica and Stoker are set upon yet another adventure, attempting to clear a man of murder, someone close to the royal family. Veronica is determined to step up to the challenge and prove herself, Stoker faithfully by her side. But will their meddling put them on the wrong side of the law, or piss off someone else who's trying to cover something up?

I've been really enjoying Veronica's tales. As a lepidopterist (butterfly collector), and of late, amateur detective in Victorian England, Veronica has a lot of spunk, particularly for a woman of her time. She's unconventional, witty, and fearless, a perfect counterpart to Stoker—taxidermist by trade, black sheep of his family, and adventurer in his own right. The two are the perfect alchemy, even if they don't know it yet. Sure, they're best buds, but the sexual tension between them has become quite palatable and though I'm not much of a romanticist, I'm hoping they'll just get it on soon! ;)

I love how the author has been slowly peeling back the layers of our two main characters rather than fully reveal them in the first book. In this second book, we learn even more about Veronica and Stoker, particularly Stoker and his background with his family. Coming to know them in this way is akin to getting to know a friend, a bit at a time, and I'd definitely love to have either or both of these two as friends. They just seem so fun!

I'll definitely be on the lookout for future books in this series as they're published.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Veronica Speedwell returns for her second adventure with Revelstoke Templeton-Vane, known to all (except his family) as Stoker. Veronica, who has made a career of sorts of lepidoptery, is the natural daughter of a Very Important Person, as revealed in the first book, A Curious Beginning. Stoker is a viscount's younger son, who fled his unhappy home as a young man, became a doctor in the Royal Navy, and now has a significant reputation as a naturalist. (He also practices taxidermy, which makes for a couple of fairly gross scenes.)

Veronica and Stoker are true soul mates, minus the romance (mostly). In the first book, Veronica mused, “I recognized his nature as my own. It was as if we were two castaways from a far-off land, adrift among strangers whose ways we could not entirely understand. But something within us spoke the same language, for all our clashes of words.” Both are committed non-conformists who disdain the rules of Victorian society. They are witty, highly intelligent, fearless, strong, and loyal, and they have come to trust one another. In a neat role-reversal, however, Veronica is the more plain-spoken, logical one, while Stoker is reticent, more emotional, and more easily embarrassed. Although he agrees to pose nude for a sculptor/suspect, Veronica often shocks him with her forthright attitudes about sex. Their conversations, and frequent arguments, crackle with intelligence and plenty of humor.

Both of these books are mysteries, but the stories are really about Veronica and Stoker and the emerging personal and professional relationships between these brilliant, eccentric people. Don't get me wrong – the mystery here is quite good and full of palace intrigue, decadent noblemen, bohemian artists, gothic secret societies, and politics.

The characters, however, drive the story. After an inauspicious beginning in the first book, Veronica and Stoker are now fast friends and colleagues. Their patron, Lord Rosemorran, has employed them to catalogue his vast collection of “art, artifacts, natural history specimens, [and] mementos.” They live in separate out-buildings on Rosemorran's Marylebone estate and work in the Belevedere, “built as a sort of freestanding ballroom and storehouse for an eccentric Rosemorran ancestor.”

Even though they spend their days together, neither Veronica nor Stoker has opened up to the another about their past lives. Each has many secrets, and Raybourn gradually reveals bits and pieces to the reader. Nor have they acknowledged the underlying sexual attraction, although there are baby steps in that direction in this book. We yearn to know more, but she gives us enough to satisfy, at least until the next book.

When Veronica insists upon investigating the murder for which Miles Ramforth has been convicted, despite Stoker's deep reservations, he goes along, mostly out of a sense of protection. I won't go into the twists and turns in the plot; there are so many and, besides, the book will be more enjoyable not knowing what happens next. I did not figure out the truth on my own, and I caution readers that some characters are hiding a lot more than you think.

Raybourn also populates her book with a roster of characters who are, well, characters. She excels at this, and I am always entertained by the unusual people surrounding the main couple. Lord Rosemorran is eccentric, but not nearly as colorful as his elderly visiting aunt, Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk. She is not exactly the dragon aunt often found in historical novels – she's clearly fond of Veronica and flirts with Stoker – but she is fierce nonetheless. Scotland Yard's Special Branch is ably led by the secretive Sir Hugo Montgomerie, who finds Veronica infuriating, while the “charmingly ambitious” Inspector Mornaday finds her alluring (and Stoker does not like it). The coterie of artists surrounding Sir Frederick Havelock, the greatest painter of the day, are appropriately unusual. Along with the murder victim, they all live at Havelock House, so Veronica and Stoker have lots of suspects to investigate.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but could not give it five-stars for one simple reason: Veronica was incredibly irritating, and it isn't always her fault. I think that Raybourn overdid it in her effort to show how much of a non-conformist she is. Everyone reacts to her, so we hear too often about her professional achievements, her subtle beauty, and her shocking behavior. This is not a major criticism, and indeed a reader who has not read <b>A Curious Beginning</b> might not notice it. I expect Raybourn was attempting to include sufficient detail for new readers; I simply found it more than sufficient.

That minor quibble aside, this is a delightful book. Deanna Raybourn is an excellent writer has become one of my auto-buy authors. Readers who enjoy mystery with a touch of romance definitely should give this series a try.

This review first appeared at Romantic Historical Reviews -- Where History Meets Passion.

First of all, I really enjoyed this book, the second in a series, and I liked this one even more than the first, A Curious Beginning, which I liked a lot.

Deanna Raybourn is a gifted stylist, an accomplished writer whose erudite prose flows with seemingly effortless glisten, glitters with sly and subtle wit, all the while propelling clever and fast-paced plots which are full of surprises and period detail both fascinating and informative.

Veronica Speedwell, Butterfly Hunter, is an irresistible character, independent of spirit, steely of spine, with an intense appetite for life, and she does not suffer fools. Her cohort, Stoker, tattooed, eye-patched, long-haired, hot-bodied historian, is equally intriguing. Both have mysterious (though, eventually, revealed, at least to each other) heritage and stubbornly intense opinions and ethical-behavioral codes which sometimes conflict and clash, but just as often coalesce, all of which serve to confound each other and the reader --- or, at least, this reader, who wants nothing more than for the two of them to finally strip naked and make Victorian whoopee.

Like I said, I enjoyed this book immensely, but not just because of all those reasons I've cited. It also struck a very personal note with me. Let me try to explain as succinctly as I can.

Other than reading, one of the things I do to maintain my sanity --- and I will not, here, be drawn into a debate about the success of those efforts --- is to collect on Pinterest and Tumblr photos and documentation documenting and celebrating the presence of LGBTQ people throughout history.

We have always been here, we've just been rendered mostly invisible or, when seen, portrayed as other, perverted, criminal, outside the norm by a culture ruled in large part by a white-male-hetero-normative christian partriarchy, near fascist in its insistence on what constituted normal, what was allowed and approved.

In my youth, the prevalence and repetition from media, my church, and my community and family of the message that being not quite male enough --- which later transferred into being gay --- made me other and was, somehow, wrong and rare and outside the norm, distorted the way in which I saw myself, the way in which I approached life. I have always thought of myself as less than, an outlier, in danger because of who I am and how I behaved and loved; and even now (hell, especially now since November 8) I must be on guard every day, every moment, and work to remind myself I am enough.

I wish that in my youth I had had examples in media, in life, in the thousands of books I read, of queer people who were not criminal or mentally ill or villains. I wish I'd had access to a literature in which queer people were just queer people, living their lives, a part of the world not hidden or other.

We existed. Throughout history. Throughout time. And, too, so did strong, independent women with healthy appetites for life and sex and adventure. Women who made their way being strong, being themselves, and were not burnt as witches or tarred and feathered.

Deanna Raybourn has written just such a woman. And, not only that, she's given her (and Stoker) live and let live, enlightened attitudes about queer love. In a Victorian setting. And reading it today gave me hope. Reading it today reminded me the world has always had people in it of expansive mind and attitude. Reading it today made me appreciate even more Deanna Raybourn's gifts as writer (and human being) because she sees and writes Light. She sees and writes and makes visible the hearts and characters who have not been seen and written nearly as much as they ought to have been throughout history.

Deanna Raybourn manages to write power in a way not polemical or preachy, but simply truthful and robustly human and real. I wish I had had this to read when I was younger, and I am ecstatic that it exists now.

(I was not sent a pre-publication copy of this book; I got it for myself. While I follow Deanna Raybourn on Twitter, and she follows me, we have never met and rarely interact, in fact, often when I comment she does not reply --- nor should she, that's not a criticism, merely me letting you, the reader, know I am not a shill, just a fan of a gifted writer. Thanks for reading.)

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele

A Perilous Undertaking is the fabulous follow up to A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. Full of quirky characters, witty banter, an interesting mystery, and plenty of sexual tension, this is really a fine work of historical fiction.

Full disclosure time: I am a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn so I had high expectations for this sophomore entry in the Veronica Speedwell series. As much as I loved A Curious Beginning, I was not disappointed here. Raybourn has created a pair of fantastic characters who are independent and do not care one whit about fitting into society’s expectations of them. Veronica is a lepidopterist (butterfly hunter and collector), and Stoker is a natural scientist and explorer, the black sheep third son of an aristocratic family. They have plans to go on a great adventure, but the trip is postponed when their benefactor breaks his leg and cannot travel. So, the pair must be content to continue their work cataloging Lord Rosemorran’s family collection of “treasures”. Their plan is to turn it into a museum of sorts.

Veronica is pleasantly surprised to find herself invited to the Curiosity Club, an all female society where women can discuss any topic, socially acceptable or not. When she arrives at the club, she is introduced to “Lady Sundridge”, whom Veronica immediately recognizes her true identity as someone of great prestige and influence. Lady Sundridge tasks Veronica with clearing renowned artist Miles Ransforth’s name before his guilty sentence can be carried out at the end of a noose. With the very tight deadline and seemingly futile cause, Veronica agrees to look into things and drags Stoker along for the ride. Even after they are threatened (more than once), the detective duo carry on to find the truth, taking them into the bohemian world of artists and danger.

I absolutely adore Stoker and Veronica. Raybourn has created such complex and well drawn characters that I feel like I have known them forever. They are, above all else, friends, with taught sexual tension between them at times, colleagues, and each other’s greatest advocate. Their banter is the star of the book, their dialogue witty, and they know exactly how to push each other’s buttons. Veronica is sure that she is always the smartest person in the room (and she is probably right), but, whereas she was a bit of a snot in A Curious Beginning, here she is more mature and bit more approachable. We learn more about both Veronica and Stoker’s past, but there continue to be ghosts getting in the way of their relationship.

I do love that we get to meet some of Stoker’s family, and his brothers are just as idiosyncratic, though in a much more socially acceptable way, as Stoker. I hope we see more of them in the future. All of the recurring supporting characters and those that are central to this mystery are all well developed and interesting. The artist community provides a plethora of defining eccentricities that kept me on my toes.

The story moves at a quick pace, but it does take a couple of chapters for it to really get going. The atmosphere, attention to historical detail, and authentic language and “voice” fully transported me to Victorian England. This is yet another circumstance where Raybourn excels. With every page read, the twenty-first century felt more and more distant, and I was reluctant to return to the present.

The mystery itself is engaging and exciting. The sense that time is running out is palpable and adds to the adventure. Veronica and Stoker approach everything as they would a science experiment, and their thinking is most always logical and practical. This juxtaposition of science against the art community is great. There are plenty of red herrings along the way, and plenty of suspects to keep readers guessing. There are some perilous moments but also some laugh-out-loud moments. One scene between Veronica and Stoker in a love grotto is particularly chuckle worthy, as is their adventure into an opium den.

I truly love the Veronica Speedwell series and cannot wait to read what trouble our investigating pair gets into next. A year between books is much too long to wait. I highly recommend A Perilous Undertaking to fans of Deanna Raybourn’s other works, and to those who appreciate witty writing, a strong sense of place and time, and eccentric characters.

Set in Victorian London, Veronica Speedwell is asked by the Princess Louisa to investigate a murder that her friend, Miles Ramsforth, is about to be hanged for. Veronica and her friend Stoker reluctantly agree, and we are launched into an investigation that, as with the first novel, reveals even more about their own backgrounds. In A Curious Beginning their investigation unveiled Veronica’s high class parentage, but in A Perilous Undertaking the secrets revealed give us more insight into Stokers family, and an understanding for why he and Veronica are drawn to each other, as they have much in common. Deanna Raybourn’s words paint such a vivid picture of her two main characters, that the story plays out as a movie in my head, each word a brush stroke adding depth and color until the whole picture is revealed.

The mystery they are investigating is the murder of a female artist. Her lover, a high born aristocrat and already married man. Veronica and Stoker interview each member of this artist community the victim belongs to, and we find, even though set in a prudish era, all of their suspects seem to have very loose morals as everyone is sleeping around with everyone else. The salacious subject matter adds tension to the relationship between Veronica and Stoker. Admittedly, very good friends, but the underlying tension turns very sexual, with Stoker posing nude for one of the artists, and Veronica being affected by his masculinity (but hiding her reaction really well!). Veronica, a self proclaimed modern woman who has had lovers and likes to throw that in Stokers face to watch him blush, has a rule that she will not choose an English lover. However, as their lives become threatened, and each of them become very protective of the other it is apparent (or at least I am really hopeful!) that their relationship will eventually become something more than friends.

I enjoyed this story even more than A Perilous Undertaking (❤❤❤❤ review), as I came to understand Veronica and Stoker even more. The intricacy of the mystery and the intellectual way they solved it was filled with humorous dialog, and I found myself laughing out loud at some of their rather “earthy” discoveries. Trust me, those scenes will be re-read, the delight Ms. Raybourn had in writing them (as I’m sure researching Victorian era sex toys had to be pretty humorous) came across the page in vivid technicolor.

I was given an ARC by the publisher through NetGalley, and have written my honest review. Delightful!

It can never be denied that author Deanna Raybourn knows how to write a great mystery. I absolutely love reading a book that carries a mystery until the bitter end with plenty of twists and turns on the way. This newest book in the Veronica Speedwell Series delivered just that.

In this installment I find that some of the criticisms I had for the first book have been resolved but some of my hopes have also been dashed. What was my biggest criticism in the previous book you ask? It was the heroine Veronica, I felt that she was entirely too pragmatic and had very little in the way of personality. At the start of this story she is still the same entirely too pragmatic character and some of that does carry through until the end but during the story she develops! I was very happy to see that she was starting to let her feelings for friends and Stoker affect her. She was beginning to develop her friendships and letting her guard down a bit. I felt that it was a needed character improvement.

What was my greatest disappointment? I loved the character Stoker and in this story he was there but I felt he was a muted shade of grey compared to how he was previously written. More of a stoic background character that added to the development of the main character but was nonetheless static. That made me so sad, lol, I loved his character and wanted more!

As far as the smoldering romance that was there in the first book, sigh, in the end it was a fizzle for me. In fact there was a point where my hopes were all up that finally there was going to be some movement in the relationship from friendship to more than friends but then Stoker had to go and do something that was so from left field that I wish I could have punched him in the face myself. Did not see that one coming! There is still hope of course but I will just have to wait and see.

Overall, there was an excellent plot with sub plots that were tied together nicely. New characters were introduced and developed. They are intriguing and a nice addition. I enjoy the fact that there is still a team Veronica and Stoker at the end of this story and I am looking forward to the next installment in this series.

This review is based on an eARC I received from NetGalley. It is an honest and voluntary review. The advanced receipt of it in no way affected my review or rating.

*Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group & NetGalley for this eARC of A Perilous Undertaking*

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Though a lepidopterist by trade, Veronica Speedwell has been up to much more than chasing after rare specimens of butterflies. Continuing on after the exhilarating adventures of A Curious Beginning, it’s difficult to imagine how the spunky and spirited Victorian-era sleuth could find herself caught up in even more thrilling and dangerous exploits. But young Miss Speedwell is not one to disappoint.

After weeks of chasing down clues leading to her mysterious past, being on the run for her life, and having quite literally run off to join a traveling circus, cooling her heels in a relatively calm London already has Veronica itching for her next invigorating jaunt. Happily, just such an opportunity soon arrives at her doorstep in the form of an invitation to the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment dedicated to celebrating society’s most intrepid and brilliant women.

Shortly after arriving at the club, Veronica is introduced to Lady Sundridge who implores her to undertake a seemingly impossible task. Miles Ramsforth, one of society’s well-known patrons of the arts, has been convicted of a brutal murder that Lady Sundridge is certain he did not commit. With little time left to discover the true killer’s identity, Veronica is faced with a race against time before Miles is set to hang for the crime. However, Lady Sundridge is not exactly what she seems either—a revelation that only serves as the first of many that Veronica must make in order to solve the case.

Once again Veronica joins forces with her natural historian colleague, Stoker—her frequently uncouth, though ruggedly handsome companion—as they set off to unravel this dark mystery that becomes increasingly intricate with each clue they unearth.

Although I don't read a lot of mysteries, I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Speedwell, lepidopterist, is smart, accomplished, and sassy; Stoker, taxidermist, is intelligent, handsome and roguish. Both naturally inquisitive and completely fearless, they use the same methods employed in their scientific research to solve human mysteries. Together, they are a dynamic and unstoppable mystery solving team.

But the relationship between Speedwell and Stoker is the most fascinating aspect of the book. They have a great rapport; their banter is both witty and engaging. Clearly there is a mutual attraction and Raybourn does a great job of building sexual tension between the two characters although the romance is developing very slowly. I have not yet read A Curious Beginning and although I would like to know more about Speedwell and Stoker and how they met, no previous experience is necessary to understand and enjoy this installment. However, I am definitely looking forward reading about their future adventures and deepening relationship in the next volume of the series.

Five enthusiastic stars! Highly recommended!

NOTE: I received a copy of this book for FREE in exchange for a written review. There was no expectation that this review be either positive or negative, and I was not given any financial compensation to read the book or write the review. This information is disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Deanna Raybourn is easily one of my new favorite authors (which sounds weird given that she’s written quite a few books, it’s just – she’s new to me), and while it may have taken me a little to warm up to the first in this series, I instantly fell head over heels in this second installment. If I had access to the next (and I assume there is going to be a next), I’d have jumped right in, no question.

Veronica Speedwell is just my kind of woman: brilliant, passionate, sure of herself, curious, and open-minded. And her relationship with Stoker definitely heats up in A Perilous Undertaking. They are an excellent pairing (if they’ll ever bother to getting around to it), and it is a thrill to watch things unfold between them. The tension was palpable, feelings were brewing, obstacles have been discovered, and I can’t make up my mind at what pace I want this to go. How many more books before their inability to further their relationship becomes agonizing?

The mystery itself was complex and twisty. Small hints here and there, but I never found a sure enough footing to make a confident guess. I daresay that Veronica and Stoker were also quite surprised when all was revealed.

But beyond all that, I love Ms. Raybourn’s writing style. It’s hard to put my finger on the exact nature of my love for it. It flows. It feels natural. From the first paragraph, I fall in, and don’t want to get out. I just enjoy reading her, completely independent of the story itself. Fortunately, she also spins a good tale, so it’s truly a win all around.

This is the first book I’ve finished in 2017, and I call it a most excellent start. Can’t imagine starting off my reading year in a better way.

Once again, a gorgeous cover, and I will be buying the book to pretty up my shelves.

Desperately looking forward to whatever comes next for Miss Speedwell and Stoker.

Note: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

I haven't read A Curious Beginning, the first book in Deanna Raybourn's VERONICA SPEEDWELL mystery series, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of the second book, A Perilous Undertaking, in the slightest. Raybourn accommodates new readers (or those who may have forgotten certain details from the previous book) with a few expository notes here and there, leaving enough hints at prior escapades that I'm intrigued enough to want to start this series from the beginning and then read A Perilous Undertaking all over again.

For those who aren't already in the know, Miss Veronica Speedwell is a lepidopterist who has traveled the world in search of rare and beautiful butterflies, which she donates to museums or sells to wealthy collectors, and writing respected treatises on the subject under the name "V. Speedwell" (so as to receive publication, since readers assume the pen name belongs to a man). She's also an amateur sleuth, putting her keen senses of observation and patience to good use on human subjects when she isn't out in the field. At the beginning of A Perilous Undertaking, she is tasked by a wealthy benefactor with proving the innocence of a man who has been accused of murdering his mistress, a talented young woman who was rising quickly through the art world. Miss Speedwell's investigation is made all the more difficult because the man's friends and loved ones all seem to believe him guilty of the crime. But she's determined to uncover the truth, and with the assistance of her colleague Stoker Templeton-Vane, a natural historian, she may just succeed.

Raybourn does an excellent job of evoking Victorian London through dialogue, Miss Speedwell's narrative of (and sparkling commentary on) events, and details like fashion and food. She's definitely done her homework to make these novels as period-appropriate as possible, and it shows. Miss Speedwell is forward-thinking in a way that feels right for her era without seeming anachronistic; she is fully of her time and place (and social station) even though she chafes against certain social restrictions, as many women of that time period did. Her relationship with Stoker challenges both of them, and Raybourn makes the wise decision to make them intellectual equals even if their temperaments don't always mesh.

The mystery within A Perilous Undertaking is well-written, with a good amount of red herrings and enough dropped clues that the resolution made sense and was satisfactory. Raybourn allows Miss Speedwell to be intelligent and actively pursuing clues and leads without odd diversions for the sake of extending page length or confounding the reader with wild-goose chases, which I always appreciate. The plot points mesh together, each character interaction adds something to the story, and even downtime between action scenes adds something to the novel or to the characters. Highly recommended for fans of "lady detective" novels and mysteries in general.

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher, which did not affect my review in any way.

When reading this book, you almost forget that it is about a murder. Deanna Raybourn is so adept at dialogue that you find yourself more attuned to the bantering between Stoker and Veronica than worrying about the dead body in the bedroom.

Backing up to the first book in the series, ‘A Curious Beginning’, the reader is introduced to Revelstoke Templeton-Vane and Veronica Speedwell, a natural historian and a lepidopterist brought together after a failed kidnapping and a secret that could affect the royal family.

In this second installment, Veronica is invited to the Curiosity Club, “founded for the purposes of free discourse amongst accomplished ladies without the strictures of society limiting their conversation”, where she is introduced to Lady Sundridge. It did not take long for Veronica to suss out the true identity of her host, yet she was curious as to why a member of the royal family was getting involved in the Ramsforth case.

Myles Ramsforth stood accused of murdering his mistress, a talented artist named Artemisia, who was carrying his child. Since Ramsforth had discovered her body and was covered in her blood, the case was open and shut. Yet Ramsforth had an alibi; unfortunately, he would rather go to his hanging than speak the truth and ruin more lives.

Sir Hugo Montgomerie of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch, a department within the Metropolitan Police that handles matters involving the royal family, is front and center with Stoker and Veronica. His main job is to protect the family, but he does seem to spend most of his time protecting Veronica from herself and to run interference when it comes to the rather loud and mind boggling antics of Veronica and Stoker.

The humor is what makes these books. The banter between the characters is exceptional -- and the bawdy humor is laugh aloud funny. Veronica is very matter of fact when it comes to her personal life and that keeps the proper Stoker a bit wobbly on his feet. When it comes to the grotto, a place of organized debauchery, you wish that you could be there to see the looks on their faces.
Veronica comments that Stoker, more than anyone, walks with ghosts and it is this comment that helps to prepare the reader for a surprising fact from Stoker’s past.

For me, who the murderer was slightly obvious in the beginning, but Ms. Raybourn goes to such lengths to show all the characters that you want to discount what you have read in hopes that you jumped to the wrong conclusion. As I said, the murder is secondary to the relationships.

A Perilous Undertaking is a fantastic follow-up to the first Veronica Speedwell book, A Curious Beginning. I got the first during an Audible sale in the fall (my review here)- I was amazed at how good it is and surprised that it hadn't come up in a recommendation for me somewhere online.

This series features Veronica, a spinster lepidopterist in her mid-twenties, and Stoker, the black sheep in a noble family. Literally. In this book they are approached by a member of the royal family to solve a murder in which the accused will be hanging in one week but is believed by some to be innocent. Since their planned expedition was cancelled due to their benefactor tripping over his giant tortoise and being injured, Veronica accepts the case and eventually convinces Stoker to do the same.

This book had the same laugh-out-loud humor that the first one did and I can't think of any other book that has ever made me laugh as much as these.

I half held my breath while reading in the hopes that Veronica and Stoker admitted their love for each other, and you'll just have to read to find out if it happens or not. Their developing relationship (largely based on friendship) is one of the great qualities of this book. I can't wait for the next in the series!

I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lady Veronica Speedwell (lepidopterist and adventurer) and Stoker (‘the Honourable Revelstoke Templeton-Vane, third son of the sixth Viscount Templeton-Vane’) a natural historian, are drawn into the hunt for a murderer at the request of one who 'cannot be named.'
Its 1887 London and a bohemian artist who moves in semi exalted circles has had her throat slashed. Her lover Lord Miles Ramsforth was declared guilty and is to hang--all too quickly it seems. At least that's what Lady Sunbridge, who tasks Lady Veronica to find the truth, believes. As Veronica and Stoker delve further into the matter they see behind the veil into the decadent sensual antics of some of the the upper class in an underground grotto within the grounds of Ramsforth's estate. The motive for Artemisia's murder eludes them. Something must give, and soon. Otherwise Miles will die.
The beauty of the relationship between Veronica and Stoker is a gift. As is their interaction and care for each other on many levels. Their anticipation of each others needs, their understanding of each other gives a depth to the investigation itself. They hover somewhere between caring and sensitive friends attune to each other in a myriad of ways, all highlighted by a suppressed sexual attraction. That frisson makes the relationship even more interesting.
Both have unhealed hurts that neither are able to set aside.
The side charters are worthy of note. There's Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch, and Veronica's bête noir; and the older Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk otherwise known as Wellie.
A smashing good read!

A NetGalley ARC

When Victoria’s invited to the Curiosity Club, she meets the mysterious Lady Sunbridge. The lady implores Veronica to save Miles Ramsforth from hanging. Miles is accused of brutally murdering his mistress. Veronica knows that Sunbridge is withholding information, but nevertheless agrees.

The mystery served is a classic whodunit, and Rayburn took us into the unspoken worlds within the art world and the ton. Stoker and Veronica are hilarious together from their back and forth bickering to Veronica’s way of shocking Stoker with her open-mindedness, curiosity, and forward thinking. Not only do we spend time within the Bohemian artist colony we also visit an eighteenth-century sex club and opium den. I thought the mystery was well done with red herrings, believable suspects, and a few surprises.

For me, the best part of this series is the dynamic friendship and developing romance between Stoker and Veronica. Their personalities are different despite the fact that both love adventure. Despite his gruffness and pirate appearance, Stoker is still very much a product of his upbringing. For those who have read book one, we finally discover why he loathes his family. Veronica is a breath of fresh air, from her modified attire to her outspokenness. When they visited Stoker’s brother, I had tears from laughing as Stoker squirmed and Veronica shocked. Delightful!

A Perilous Undertaking is a sequel to A Curious Beginning, but this book can read as a stand-alone. Though I do think it could be practical to read the first book to really get to know the characters since Veronica Speedwell, well she has an interesting family situation.

In this book, we get a deeper insight into both Veronica and Stoker's families. And, we finally learn why Stoker doesn't want to have anything to do with his family. Veronica meets a relative. However, she knows that the one person she really wants to see can she never met. I do hope that one day they will be able to meet, to be honest.

The case was interesting, however, the conclusion felt a bit like a letdown. I guess I just wanted a more shocking conclusion to the case. This felt like a very "proper" case ending. If the ending had been a bit more intriguing and intense would I perhaps have enjoyed it better. However, I did enjoy the progress of the book, the investigation into who murdered Artemisia. Veronica and Stoker are a great team and it will be interesting to see how this "relationship" will progress.

There are so many funny scenes in this book that left me smiling. Veronica may now and then seem a bit too modern for the setting, but I can't help but to adore her. She is refreshingly frank. And of course, stoker as well, especially when he gets embarrassed.

I chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased!

A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING by Deanna Raybourn
Oh, the tangled webs they weave, deceptions within deceptions, and a mysterious puppet-master behind much of the intrigue. Asked by a princess to help prove a condemned man innocent, Veronica and Stoker face dangers . . . and indiscretions among artists and hedonists. There is humor amidst the mayhem, and humanity, caring, understanding, respect . . . and a giant tortoise. Don’t underestimate anyone. This book kept me up reading until 2 a.m., and it was worth it! Characters, plot, and writing are all so good!
Newly adopted philosophical phrase . . . “you know my feelings on forcible religion” — I love when a book articulates something I’ve been trying to.
This is book two of three — one could read out of order, but it might be more fun chronologically.

Apparently there is a mystery series, featuring Veronica Speedwell, that I never knew about. A Perilous Undertaking is my first foray into that series and it will definitely not be my last.

This book has everything I want in a mystery and it has the added flair of taking place in the 1800’s! Veronica Speedwell is hired to save Miles Ramsforth from execution. He is accused of the horrible murder of his mistress, Artemesia.

The mystery itself is solid and is made even more interesting by the details of the era and the characters themselves. Veronica Speedwell is a butterfly hunter and we learn a little bit about butterflies along the way. Her sidekick, Stoker is a natural historian. The witty conversations between Speedwell and Stoker are some of the best I’ve read in a long time. They have a very strong friendship, but there is an undercurrent that it could someday be more.

I completely enjoyed everything about this book and will definitely be reading more in the series.

I received an ARC of this book.

The mystery in this one intrigued me. Stoker and Veronica work together and go beyond the “normal” to find out the truth of who the murderer is. They are not typical detectives, they are scientists first and detectives second. I follow the same path they do and had many guesses as to who the murdered would be but until the end I was kept guessing.
Holy sexual tension. The tensions between Veronica and Stoker is building. You can feel it; you want them to act on it, but love that they haven’t yet. There is not a doubt to be had that these two are attracted to each other. I love that Deanna Raybourn is pulling this part of her story out, she is not giving these characters what the reader knows they want. She started the attraction in book one and it has continued into book two.

While this is the second book in the Veronica Speedwell series, each book stands alone. Each book has a completed story. There is a mystery to be solved and it is solved. I recommend reading both A Perilous Undertaking and A Curious Beginning.

Smart, witty, and fun, A Perilous Undertaking is sure to be one of your favorite reads for 2017. After reading the first book in the series, A Curious Beginning, I couldn't wait to see what Raybourn had in store for my new favorite heroine. Full of mystery and mayhem, she didn't disappoint.

In A Curious Beginning we left Veronica Speedwell and Stoker after they learned the reason Veronica was being hunted. Still reeling from that revelation, the duo get involved in another murder mystery involving London's artistic scene. Trouble begins before the investigation gets underway.

Deanna Raybourn makes her living creating memorable characters and story lines. Veronica and Stoker have the best chemistry. Their dialog is full of zingers and undertones. I wanted to shout at the pages, "Just kiss already!" I won't tell you if they do, but I will tell you I can't wait until the third book comes out. This series is just too good to miss!

The Veronica Speedwell Mysteries, likes it predecessor The Lady Julia Gray Series, has quickly become a favorite. It has absolutely everything I loved about Raybourn's Lady Julia series except for all of the March's themselves but Veronica and Stoker are quite a match for Julia and Nicholas.

The first book was so much fun and I knew I had found a new love in the series, spin off or not and with this second book, it just proves that I was not wrong in the slightest.

Full of all the things I loved about the first book, this truly was so much fun. Filled with intrigue, danger, a mystery that kept me on my toes, and Raybourn's wonderful prose and feisty women, I couldn't help but be enchanted.

This series is truly is vastly becoming a favorite and one I look forward to each new release.

I love Deanna Raybourn's books! I was extremely excited when I won a signed copy of this novel from the author's website. This novel is an excellent mystery and had me guessing from the beginning. Miles Ramsforth, an art partorn has been imprisoned and condemned to hang for murdering his pregnant mistress. A very important person (Lady Sundridge) with possible ties to Veronica's family has asked Veronica and Stoker to find out who really killed his mistress. Miles is innocent or so claims Lady Sundridge. What follows is an excellent adventure to find out who the real murderer is. What I really love about these novels are the characters Veronica and Stroker. I love the sexual tension between them and their unique relationship. You do learn more about each of them as the story unfolds. Another must read by Deanna Raybourn!

The second Veronica Speedwell Romantic Suspense Mystery was just as delightful as the first. This series about two adventurers set in Victorian England is filled with lots of great atmosphere and descriptions of the mores of the times. When I finished the book, I knew I would be watching for news of their next adventure. Veronica and Stoker her partner are both very stubborn and interesting
non conformists and they have a bond they do not quite understand yet. The book is fun, informative about Victorian times and a great mystery.

This book was wonderful. It reminds me of an edgier version of The Grand Sophy - and for me there is no higher compliment. I love unconventional heroines and heroes worthy of the title "hero." If you are a prospective reader and want to read about a meek, virginal heroine who is constantly desperate and afraid, then keeping going because Miss Speedwell is none of these things. She is the mistress of her own fate and refuses the role that society wants for her.

I read this book and decided to get the audiobook which was just as good if not better than reading the story myself.

I do love Victorian murder mysteries with feminine heroines and that is what we have here. Veronica Speedwell and her sidekick, Stoker, are tasked by Lady Sundridge to uncover the real murderer of Artemisia, the mistress of an art patron. The man currently being held for the crime, the art patron, is not guilty in the opinion of Sundridge. It is a race against time to prove his innocence. Delicious! My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.

I appreciate the research Raybourn puts into her historical fiction tales of adventure. It provides a stunning foundation for exceptional storytelling. Once again Veronica and Stoker find themselves in a whirl of mystery and death and something not quite royal. I'm on to reading the Julia Grey books by the same author while waiting for the next Speedwell adventure, and Raybourn's outstanding writing is exceptional across all her books. Highly recommend this author to historical fiction lovers!

Disappointing. Static female protagonist. Raybourn's Lady Julia was a more serious effort at writing a nuanced yet appealing heroine. She is a realistic woman of her time, while still an individual who goes through personal development and change. Veronica Speedwell (you know, like the plant??), unfortunately, is more of a one-dimensional character. She is fully formed and perfect from the beginning of the series. She suffers no doubt or fears. Knows everything. Is always confident. She comes across as a slightly cartoonish faux-Victorian, steampunkish heroine with numerous contrived eccentricities such as being a sexually liberated (though not sluttish) lepidopterist who wears secret pants and solves crime on an amateur basis. Her male sidekick, Stoker (See? Like the author of Dracula??) is Brisbane 2.0 (a brooding, aristocratic, black sheep, cookie-cutter Byronic entity).There is also a Dowager Duchess type character named Lady Wellingtonia who's quite entertaining.

I actually loved Raybourn's Lady Julia novels, which is why this series disappoints me. I've seen Ms. Raybourn do so much better. I'm guessing her early success has put pressure on her publication schedule, and she's now trying to streamline the writing process.On the upside, Raybourn still writes great, humorous dialogue, and captures historical detail extremely well.

The audiobook is expertly narrated, but all readers should be aware that this novels delves into much more adult content, with discussions of orgies, sex toys, and S&M. The clever dialog and interesting mystery is still there, but with a far steamier theme. While this is a recommendation for some, it's a warning to parents and those who prefer less details about sex in their mysteries.

The second Veronica Speedwell mystery did not disappoint. It was just as much fun as the first. Great, witty banter between the main characters, an entertaining secondary cast, and a, quite frankly, ridiculous plot, combine to create a fun, enjoyable, quick read. I look forward to more!

I have to agree with other reviewers. This book was good but not as good as the first book. I didn't like that the potential deepening of a relationship but put on hold for some (to me) obscure reason. It just seemed like a ploy to keep us interested in the story. 3-1/2 stars.

Fabulous tone and style as always from Deanna Raybourn.
Victorian era wit, presence of mind, strength and underneath it all, just a dash of fragility- Veronica Speedwell continues her good form.
I read this second instalment hot on the heels after finishing the first. Put simply - I will miss Veronica Speedwell until her next adventure, and if she was about to head off to some exotic location in search of rare Lepidoptera, I would be following, with my hardwood reinforced net, to ensure her journey comes to a safe end.
It is enough to say that having read the first in this series it prompted the second and it seems my TBR pile is growing with a bunch of Ms Raybourn's titles on top of it. Lady Julia Grey Series next I think. Writer's that force a smile from perfectly executed dialogue and timing are hard to find, like a rare species of Flutterby - I am glad to have a healthy back catalogue to look forward to. Very well done Ms Raybourn. Very well done indeed :)