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...."
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['FOR THE LOVE OF all that is holy, Veronica, the object is to maim, or kill, not tickle' Stoker informed me, clipping the words sharply as he handed me a knife. 'Do it again'](Titan Books, 10 January 2017, ebook, 320 pages, copy from publisher and voluntarily reviewed)
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A Perilous Undertaking is a lot of fun. This is a sequel to A Curious Beginning but can read stand alone.
I really like Veronica as a character. She's funny, sharp, knows her own mind and doesn't care what anyone thinks. She's wonderfully refreshing. I like the way her and Stoker play off against each other. Her frankness shocks him and makes him squirm.
A Perilous Undertaking introduces some great new characters. My favourite was Lady Wellington, an old woman who could be Veronica as an old woman. She's hilarious and says what she wants when she wants.
I liked the mystery story in the novel. Hilarity and tongue-in-cheek aside the murder of Artemisia is intriguing and well played out. I did suspect who the killer was quite early one but had no idea what the motive was.
The only thing that spoiled the book for me is the simmering sexual tension between Veronica and Stoker. It started to put me off a bit. I enjoyed the mystery elements but the unspoken attraction between both characters irritated me. I didn't want to read a romance novel. I hope this slips further into the background in the next book.
