By Deanna Raybourn
This book is the first in the annals of one Veronica Speedwell, a well-travelled, Victorian lepidopterist who speaks her mind and enjoys carnal pleasures when not on her native soil. That being said, for the entirety of this adventure she stays on the shores of England, though speaks of her experiences with sang-froid that discomfits her abductor/colleague/partner/rogue/gentleman, Stoker. Stoker resembles a pirate, complete with eye patch, and is also a knife-throwing surgeon and naturalist. And hilarity ensues.
I do so love an intelligent, fast-talking, ahead-of-her-time heroine, and I got it in spades with Veronica Speedwell. From the first ten pages, we learn how against the grain for her times she is, during a lively discussion with the village vicar’s wife:
“Mrs. Clutterthorpe, I can hardly think of any fate worse than becoming the mother of six. Unless perhaps it were plague, and even then I am persuaded a few disfiguring buboes and possible death would be preferable to motherhood.”
These sort of gems continue to appear throughout the text and assured my continued fandom for the rest of the series! There is a lot of fun dichotomy throughout the story that actually reveals deeper similarities, especially between the two main characters. This lepidopterist gives us murder, mayhem, dry humor, and intrigue that keeps the reader devouring pages.
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Our lepidopterist heroine, Veronica Speedwell
- Starts as a murder but keeps getting more mysterious as we explore the origins of Veronica, perhaps with Royal implications
- The brooding Stoker, who continues to display different, exemplary skills and brief glimpses of his troubled past
Cons
- It is a bit fluffy – doesn’t require a lot of mental prowess, but I like those books as long as I have a good story
- Sometimes difficult to understand the politics referenced, especially as it relates to inheritance
- It is love unfulfilled, even by the end, but hey there is a sequel