A Curious Beginning
Series: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery Book #1
Author: Deanna Raybourn
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Page Count: 337
My Rating:
Book Summary
The New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries returns once more to Victorian England and introduces intrepid adventuress Veronica Speedwell…
London, 1887. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.
But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuths & Setting:
Main Sleuths: Veronica Speedwell and Stoker (Revenstoke) Templeton-Vane
Best friend/Sidekick: They have each other
Physical Descriptions: Veronica is 24 (turned 25 during the book), a white female, active, black hair, violet eyes, average height, English. Stoker is in his early thirties, a white male, tall (over 6’2″), physically built (very muscular), black hair, bearded, eye-patch (but with two working eyes), tattoos, bright blue eyes, English, described as a bit of a ruffian.
Location: London, England.
Business/Profession: Veronica is a lepidopterist (butterfly hunter) a type of natural historian and Stoker is a taxidermist but also another natural historian.
Time of Year: May into June approaching Jubilee Weekend.
Pet: None technically, although Stoker has a dog that is mentioned named Huxley.
Love Interest: Possibly each other, although there’s nothing concrete for either in this book. There was certainly a lot of internal interest from Veronica which she teasingly asks Stoker about throughout the book.
Family: Veronica is introduced as an orphan raised by two sisters (older women who she referred to as aunts), and her parents become a focal point of the book (no spoilers!). Stoker mentions an ex-wife (or being previously married), and an older brother who we meet at one point. He has at least a mother and father who are mentioned, but he is solitary.
Diversity? Not specifically. None of the characters that we meet or interact with in this book seem to be diverse. It’s London, England in an older time that seems to still with “historical” accuracy for the time frame BUT the main character Veronica mentions her many dalliances over the years and how they were never with Englishmen from her own country.
My Review
I really enjoyed ‘A Curious Beginning’ by Deanna Raybourn but couldn’t give it five stars like I was hoping to because there was a big aspect of the mystery that made no sense to me (spoiler ahead, turn back if you need to) – and that’s when the main characters take off to the circus as a way to get out of the city after news of the mysterious death arrives. They go there knowing that Stoker doesn’t have a great relationship with the people there anymore and it contributed nothing to the story itself. I suspect that the author wanted to establish meeting that cast of characters to bring into subsequent novels in the series and give more character background for Stoker – but as a reader I felt like it was a really long pit stop that I wanted to leave to do some actual sleuthing – of which there wasn’t much.
I also found Veronica to be very obtuse and willfully dismissive of very obvious clues despite how much she insisted that she was an intelligent natural scientist. Stoker would point out clues and she’d dismissive them almost with a wave of her hand as if they were some flight of fancy – but why?? It became very infuriating to have such a stubborn character who just felt like be contrary to the other character.
But I’ve given the book 4 stars because there was a lot of good things – the big reveal at the end was very fun and the dynamic between Veronica and Stoker was really fun. I want to know what happens with our main sleuths in the next books – for example – will they hook up together? I love that Veronica is an independent woman who isn’t afraid of being a confident and mature woman with sexual needs and curiosities who isn’t afraid to speak her thoughts aloud. I love that Stoker is a big burly man with tattoos and a beard who isn’t afraid of a modern woman – given the time period that the books are set in. I want to know more about his past marriage and what happened. There are good questions going into the next book and the author left me wanting to know more.
The writing itself and the vernacular used throughout was quite exquisite and although it was a highly stylized way of writing it wasn’t stuffy or hard to read – it was really easy with a good flow and pace. I appreciate the true craftsmanship of the writing stylization that this author explored and it sticks out as an exemplary example of regency era writing.
