July 13, 2015
Set in 1887, this sparkling first in a new Victorian series from bestseller Raybourn (The Dark Inquiry and four other Lady Julia Grey mysteries) introduces 25-year-old Veronica Speedwell, who as an illegitimate child lived an itinerant existence with two female guardians. After returning home from the funeral of the last of her guardians, Veronica foils an abduction attempt with the assistance of an elderly stranger, Baron Maximilian von Stauffenbach, who remembers the mother Veronica knows nothing about. At the urging of the baron, who warns her that she’s in mortal danger for reasons he can’t yet reveal, she hides at the London home of reclusive natural historian Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane. When the baron is murdered, Veronica and Stoker embark on a journey marked by present perils and past secrets. The intrepid Veronica’s witty narration (“I abhorred weakness of any kind but most particularly in my tea”) and the sexual tension she shares with the equally eccentric and articulate Stoker deliver a fun read with promises of more to come. Agent: Pam Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Associates.