A perilous undertaking / Deanna Raybourn.
Material type: TextSeries: A Veronica Speedwell mystery ; book 2. | Raybourn, Deanna. Veronica Speedwell mystery ; book 2.Publisher: New York : Berkley Books, 2017Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First editionDescription: 338 pages ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780451476159
- 0451476158
- 813/.6 23
- PS3618.A983 P47 2017
Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Bedford Public Library Mystery | Fiction | F RAY | Available | 32500005393716 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
The "wickedly clever and devilishly amusing"* Veronica Speedwell returns for a rousing adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey Mysteries.
London, 1887. At the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment for daring and intrepid women, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell meets the mysterious Lady Sundridge, who begs her to take on an impossible task--saving society art patron Miles Ramsforth from execution. Ramsforth, accused of the brutal murder of his mistress, Artemisia, will face the hangman's noose in a week's time if the real killer is not found.
But Lady Sundridge is not all that she seems, and unmasking her true identity is only the first of many secrets Veronica must uncover. Together with her natural-historian colleague, Stoker, Veronica races against time to find the true murderer. 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...
*SusanElia MacNeal
"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."-- Provided by publisher.
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
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 Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Review
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. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.Booklist Review
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.--Hyzy, Biz Copyright 2016 BooklistKirkus Book Review
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 inhabitedand 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. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
Deanna Raybourn grew up in San Antonio, Texas. At the age of 23 she wrote her first novel. She married her college sweetheart and after the birth of their fist child she left teaching to become a mom and full-time writer. Her debut novel, Silent in the Grave, was published in January 2007. It is the first in the Lady Julia Grey Mystery series. Silent in the Grave won the 2008 RITA Award for Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. The Lady Julia Grey series has been nominated for several other awards, including an Agatha, a Daphne du Maurier, a Last Laugh, and two Dilys Winns. Raybourn lives in Virginia with her husband and daughter.(Bowker Author Biography)