Veronica Speedwell Mystery, Book 1
Synopsis: London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.
But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.
Review: I saw a lot of praise over this first volume and I admit that the reviews made me very curious about the story. I must say that it presents everything we could want to have, from a strong heroine who does not let anyone dictate her choice, a Victorian period as we love them or a murder investigation which we try to understand the ins.
Speedwell Veronica is a character completely different from the others, especially during this period so difficult for women. I must say that she completely neglects her statut and society to evolve as an independent person. No, she is not interested in marriage or in having kids and pursues instead a scientific career as a butterfly specialist. You can imagine that this is the kind of thing that people talk about, especially when the girl travels all around the world to satisfy her growing passion. But Veronica is an orphan, a woman without a past who is now freed from her aunts whose last one has just passed away. A future full of freedom opens to her and she hopes to leave the country as soon as possible, but that’s not counting the future problems.
Indeed, her home vandalized, the young woman was repatriated in London by a Baron she does not know about but who seems to know the truth about her biological parents. But before he can tell her anything, our dear noble is murdered, leaving our heroine and her new guardian, Stocker, full of questions. Teaming up together, our heroes will try to understand what is really happening, why Veronica seems to attract many parties as she doesn’t own anything. Thus we will follow a circus of monsters, an intriguing investigation and of course the revelations about our protagonists about their past and possible future.
I realized soon enough the truth about Veronica but it’s true that I was curious to see what would happen exactly. The young woman will be propelled into a story completely beyond her and it is true that we still admire her for her behavior in response of the events.
The story is very enjoyable to read and the author’s style is a pleasure to follow. You will be carried away by the story and you’ll hope at the end of the novel that we’ll have more soon!
blodeuedd
Yay, you liked it too
Melliane
yes it was a really good one!
Ramona
This one sounds unbelievably good! :)) First, Victorian era. Second, a nonconformist female protagonist, acting ahead of her times. And a whole bunch of monsters! Awesome 🙂
Melliane
yes I loved it!
Tracy Terry
Loving novels set at this time, a big fan of strong female characters AND loving the cover – I’m sure to like this.
Melliane
lol I hope so if you try it!
kindlemom1
So glad you read and liked this!!
Melliane
thanks
Jenny @ Supernatural Snark
Oh I like the sound of this one Melliane! I’ve been in the mood for a good murder mystery, so this sounds like the perfect read at the moment:) Yay for a strong heroine!
Melliane
oh yes you should definitely try!
Lily B
something tells me i would thoroughly enjoy this. Big fan of historical mysteries and it sounds like the writing is great!
Melliane
yes it was good!
Carole Rae
I’ve heard so many good things.
Great review!
Melliane
yeah I’m happy to agree with all the reviews!
Heidi
I liked this one, but I found it was a little slow. Still I liked the build up as far as the romance goes.
Melliane
ah yes maybe
Melissa (Books and Things)
While the historical fiction I read and reviewed today fell flat for me, this one feels like it would pick it up. 🙂 I do love the sound of this one and Veronica. I should add this one to my wishlist.
Melliane
Veronica is definitely awesome!
kara-karina
She was amazing, wasn’t she? Glad you liked it, D! 🙂
Melliane
totally!
kimbacaffeinate
I too enjoyed this. Your cover is cute, but I think I prefer the American one.
Melliane
I think I prefer this one…
Christy LoveOfBooks
I love characters like Veronica! Especially when it comes to this time period.
Melliane
me too
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
Fantastic review! At first, even though I love the cover and was drawn to it immediately, I really didn’t think the story would be for me. But you make it sound really good. So, I’ll keep an eye out 🙂
Melliane
Maybe you should try yes, it would be the best way to see if it’s for you
ShootingStarsMag
Glad to hear you liked this one! I am curious about stories set in Victorian London. I hadn’t heard of this before!
Melliane
YOu should try! It’s fun!
Kim @ BookSwoon
I like your cover as well – it took me a moment to place this story, but I knew it sounded like something I like. So glad you enjoyed the story, Melliane. I have this on me tbr list 🙂
Melliane
Oh I’m curious to see what you think of it!
anna (herding cats & burning soup)
This is one that’s on my tbr pile after all the praise too. It really looks so good! Glad you enjoyed it 😀
Les pipelettes
Hello!
This book seems really interesting and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
I only have a question, i have the level B2 in english, is it enough to read this book? I already read books in english but it was kinda easy. I’m a bit scared because the story of that book takes place in 1887 and the register of language must be harder than the books that i usually read 🙂
Melliane
Je n’ai pas vu de choses si compliquées j’avoue, donc je ne pense pas que tu aurais tant de problèmes que ça.