Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Not everyone in our acquaintance needs to be murdered, Veronica. In fact, some people find it preferable to make friends with normal folk.”

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

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This is book 9 in an ongoing series, and as such, not the best place to start. Start with A Curious Beginning. Official plot summary (because it’s been too long since I read the book): 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 […]

Probably the weakest entry in the series so far

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn

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This is book 8 in the Veronica Speedwell series. It’s not a good place to start. You want the first book, A Curious Beginning. 15-word review: Veronica tries to discover who wants to murder Stoker’s brother. Stoker is sadly mostly absent. Official book summary: Veronica’s natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: […]

Not quite my cup of tea this time around

An Impossible Impostor by Deanna Raybourn

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3.5 stars First of all, this is book 7 in an ongoing series. I would not recommend that a new reader start here. The first book in the series is A Curious Beginning. Now for the official book description, because my memory is like a sieve: London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her […]

You Englishwomen are all the same. So modern with your bicycling machines and pamphlets on voting.

An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

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Dear Ms Raybourn: You may never stop writing your Veronica Speedwell novels. I will not permit it. Many thanks. Book 6 in the Veronica Speedwell Mystery series, is, as they all are, a damn delight. If you haven’t read them, please do. If you do read them, know that this one does not disappoint. Everyone’s favorite lepidopterist and taxidermist are on a momentary mystery solving and near death experiencing lull. As they work side by side to create an exhibit honoring the late mountain climber Alice Baker-Greene […]

“We are never feckless”, I told her coldly. “We are full to the brim with feck.”

An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

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Spoiler warning! This is book 6 in an ongoing series. There will be minor spoilers for earlier books in the series. You can read these without having any background, but it’s always best to start at the beginning, which happens to be A Curious Beginning.    Intrepid lepidopterist and sometime crime solver Veronica Speedwell and her grouchy partner and now lover Revelstoke Templeton-Vane (goes by Stoker) are working on preparing a memorial exhibition at the Curiosity Club for one of its recently deceased members, pioneer mountain climber […]

Kidnappings, murders and snooping around in a high-class brothel

A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn

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This is the fifth book in the Veronica Speedwell series. There will absolutely be spoilers for some of the previous books in the series. Skip this review if you’re not up to date. It’s an excellent series; if you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning.  Official description: Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian colleague Stoker are asked by Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk to help with a potential scandal so explosive it threatens to rock the monarchy. Prince Albert Victor is a regular visitor to […]



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