Author: Deanna Raybourn
Published: March 12, 2024 by Berkley
Format: Audio/Hardcover, 336 Pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Veronica Speedwell #9
First Sentence: London, October 1889. “I draw the line at monkeys”, Stoker said with considerable severity.
Blurb: Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?
Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors? (GoodReads)
My Opinion: I enjoy this series but for me this book was a struggle. The first half unfolded at a glacial pace, leaving me moving back and forth between the written version and the audiobook. Desperate to rekindle my interest, I even cranked up the audiobook speed to 1.5x. But it wasn’t until the halfway mark that the narrative finally captured me.
Where the story truly shines is in its humor and banter. As the plot thickens, Veronica and Stoker—our dynamic duo—take center stage. Their chemistry, lukewarm in the first half of the book, now erupts into a delightful dance of wit and revelations. The number of characters initially exhausted me, but then came the twist—a surprise that blindsided me. There’s nothing quite like that “I didn’t see that coming” moment to refresh a reader.
Veronica and Stoker, in their own ways, peel back layers. Their relationship evolves, each revelation a stepping stone toward deeper understanding. It’s an ideal progression, one that keeps readers invested.
For those just embarking on the Speedwell journey: Start from the beginning. Deanna Raybourn weaves Veronica’s and Stoker’s backstories, but the original accounts hold treasures that can’t be fully conveyed in subsequent books.
Blurb: Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?
Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors? (GoodReads)
My Opinion: I enjoy this series but for me this book was a struggle. The first half unfolded at a glacial pace, leaving me moving back and forth between the written version and the audiobook. Desperate to rekindle my interest, I even cranked up the audiobook speed to 1.5x. But it wasn’t until the halfway mark that the narrative finally captured me.
Where the story truly shines is in its humor and banter. As the plot thickens, Veronica and Stoker—our dynamic duo—take center stage. Their chemistry, lukewarm in the first half of the book, now erupts into a delightful dance of wit and revelations. The number of characters initially exhausted me, but then came the twist—a surprise that blindsided me. There’s nothing quite like that “I didn’t see that coming” moment to refresh a reader.
Veronica and Stoker, in their own ways, peel back layers. Their relationship evolves, each revelation a stepping stone toward deeper understanding. It’s an ideal progression, one that keeps readers invested.
For those just embarking on the Speedwell journey: Start from the beginning. Deanna Raybourn weaves Veronica’s and Stoker’s backstories, but the original accounts hold treasures that can’t be fully conveyed in subsequent books.
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