A Perilous Undertaking

November 14, 2016
Raybourn’s effervescent sequel to 2015’s A Curious Beginning combines witty suspense with a playful look at the secrets proper Victorians hid. When Veronica, an adventurous lepidopterist, meets a woman calling herself Lady Sundridge, she easily deduces her exalted true identity. Lady Sundridge wants Veronica to reinvestigate the murder of an artist known as Artemisia. Though she wants her late friend’s death avenged, the woman insists that Artemisia’s lover, Miles Ramsforth, soon to be hanged for the crime, is not guilty. Veronica and her associate, aristocratic natural historian Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane, wend their way through opium dens, artists’ studios, the headquarters of Scotland Yard, and the Elysian Grotto, an underground cave lavishly fitted out for sexual pleasure on the Ramsforth estate. The sleuths’ lives are threatened as their investigation uncovers peccadillos at the highest levels of society. Revelations about Stoker’s painful past add nuance to the pair’s spirited and sexually charged banter in this playful historical. Agent: Pam Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Associates.

November 1, 2016
An unconventional 19th-century sleuth and her equally eccentric sidekick uncover dark secrets of the upper class in this sequel to A Curious Beginning (2015).Once Lord Rosemorran, an avid collector of natural wonders, trips over Patricia, his beloved tortoise, his fractured thigh puts paid to the South Seas expedition he's planned with his resident natural scientists, Veronica Speedwell and the Hon. Revelstoke "Stoker" Templeton-Vane. So Veronica's on hand to accept an invitation from Rosemorran's sister to a society for women and a hush-hush meeting with Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's daughter. The princess wants Veronica to use her detective skills and her discretion to clear the name of Miles Ramsforth, who will hang for the murder of his mistress, Princess Louise's artist friend Artemisia, if Veronica doesn't prove his innocence. If she does, she may be allowed to communicate with her father, HRH the Prince of Wales, who secretly married Veronica's mother and abandoned them both for a royal bride. Although Veronica agrees to the task and the bait, she has her own reason for meeting the father who won't and can't acknowledge her. Trained in self-defense and butterfly collecting, she's not so independent that she fails to enlist her good friend Stoker to help penetrate the artistic world Artemisia inhabited--and give Stoker the dubious honor of posing in varying states of undress for a statue of Perseus. A visit to Ramsforth's estate includes a tour of a grotto of forbidden delights, along with a very detailed, very incriminating ledger of all the visitors to the place. Gamboling with Stoker from theater box to funeral parlor to opium den, Veronica finds not only that they've been too quick to eliminate a suspect, but that they have more in common than their repressed passion for each other. Although Raybourn's wit and whimsy veer dangerously close to the twee, you have to admire her self-sufficient heroine, who divides her attention so comfortably between lepidoptery and Victorian sexcapades.

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January 1, 2017

Butterflies and not-so-closeted Victorian sexcapades abound in Raybourn's deliciously quirky sequel to A Curious Beginning, which introduced amateur lepidopterist, sleuth, and all-around independent woman Veronica Speedwell. Veronica's fondness for solving crimes gets her an exclusive invitation from a mysterious woman who calls herself Lady Sundridge to join the women-only Curiosity Club. Lady Sundridge's dear friend Artemisia, an artist, has been murdered, and her widower, Miles Ramsforth, will soon be hanged for the crime if Veronica can't unmask the real killer. Veronica joins forces with her friend Stoker, and the pair traipse through Artemisia's artistic world, with stops at an opium den and an underground grotto on the Ramsforth estate set up to satisfy all manner of sexual peccadilloes. Hidden sex caves on wealthy art patrons' estates are naturally going to attract those in the highest levels of society, who may not take too kindly to someone--let alone a woman--poking into their private business. This leads to much of the tension Raybourn weaves in among the witty banter. VERDICT An unbuttoned--in every sense of the word--look at a side of Victorian life that's often missing from historical novels, this is a welcome continuation of an enjoyable series with a solid, spirited heroine at its center. [See Prepub Alert, 7/25/16.]

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
In A Curious Beginning (2015), butterfly hunter Veronica Speedwell learned about her relation to the royal family. Although that connection remains hidden from the public, Princess Louise summons Veronica for help: Louise's friend is about to be hanged for the murder of his mistress, but Louise knows he is innocent. She tasks Veronica and her cohort, Stoker, a handsome natural historian, to identify the real culprit. The investigation leads them from London's competitive art community to a covert paradise for sexual deviants. Although this mystery includes classic suspicious characters and unexpected twists, Veronica's gumption is by far the biggest draw. Casting away Victorian propriety, she delivers quips, confronts danger, and sizes up men the way she assesses her butterflies, all while exuding candor, energy, and charm. Equally engaging, Stoker serves as a grumbling foil, challenging her with his wit. The two share plenty of sexual tension, but they also begin to reveal the secrets of their convoluted pasts. Another exciting installment in Raybourn's promising historical-mystery series, starring a fun heroine who defies convention and embraces intrigue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)