Cannonball Read 11

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One simply cannot invite people to engage in a spot of justifiable homicide

A Dangerous Collaboration (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Raybourn

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I love the Veronica Speedwell Mystery series. I was first attracted by their excellent covers, but it only took me about 1/3 into the way of the first book to be hooked. I did receive this from Netgalley in exchange for a review. Veronica and Stoker start the book in a chilly place. Their relationship had become emotionally intimate to a point where Veronica needed some space to think about what she wanted. Naturally, Stoker is unhappy and refuses to fall into their old patterns. Despite the coolness between them, they end up on an island off Cornwall with Stoker’s […]

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3/2/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:11 |

The Heroine Is Not As Charming As She Thinks She Is

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

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I’ve noticed Deanna Raybourn popping up on a few reviews lately, and it seemed like the second novel in this series was well received so I decided to start with this one.  I will say that to me this was definitely a case of the novel and the cover not matching.  Fortunately, I had read some reviews so I wasn’t expecting steam punk, but with the font on that cover, my first guess absolutely would have been that this was a steam punk novel. Veronica Speedwell, the novel’s protagonist, is a thoroughly modern woman in 1887 England – in fact […]

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5/7/2018 's CBR10 Review No:64 |

“Thank you.” I smiled sweetly at him. “Your trousers are on fire.”

The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn

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Oh well. Now I don’t have to feel bad about finishing up Deanna Raybourn’s Lady Julia Grey series. This one was kind of a bust.  I’m a big fan of Raybourn and had more love for the Lady Julia books than the majority of her fans, but this final (?) book in the series was a huge disappointment. A lot of Cannonballers have read and reviewed her books. I reviewed two of them this year, here , so I’m not going to get into too much detail about the background. The series is set in Victorian England. Lady Julia Gray discovers that her […]

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4/21/2018 's CBR10 Review No:22 |

Wherein we find out even more about Stoker’s past

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn

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Spoiler warning! This is book three in a series, and as such, this review may spoil details from the two earlier books. If you want to start at the beginning, A Curious Beginning is the first book. Veronica Speedwell and her colleague and sometime partner in crime-solving, Stoker (Revelstoke Templeton-Vane) are alerted to the fact that Stoker may well come under public scrutiny in a criminal case. John de Morgan, Stoker’s former best friend and one time expedition partner, the man who ended up marrying Stoker’s ex-wife after a very public scandal, has disappeared without a trace, along with a very valuable jewelled […]

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4/10/2018 's CBR10 Review No:24 |

Artists and orgies and murder…oh my

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

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Spoiler warning! This is the second book in the series, and the review will contain certain spoilers for the first book, A Curious Beginning. Therefore, if you’re not all caught up and don’t want the ending of that book and Veronica’s background spoiled for you, skip this review until you’re caught up. Veronica Speedwell and her partner in mischief, Stoker (full name Revelstoke Templeton-Vane) were all set to go on an exciting expedition to the South Pacific when their employer, Lord Rosemorran, fell over his giant tortoise and broke his leg. Veronica’s aunt, the Princess Louise, asks for help to clear the […]

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4/5/2018 's CBR10 Review No:23 |

A lepidopterist and a taxidermist walk into a mystery.

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn

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Another Victorian murder mystery rife with witty banter, palpable sexual tension, and painfully tender interludes. This is the third book in the Veronica Speedwell Mystery series by Deanna Raybourn. If you have read the other two books, you need no encouragement. If you haven’t, read them NOW.  They are completely addicting. If you need further encouragement, this is the FIRST sentence of A Treacherous Curse: “I assure you, I am perfectly capable of identifying a phallus when I see one,” Stoker informed me, clipping the words sharply. “And that is no such thing.” Yes. The entire book is like that and it’s AWESOME. In […]

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1/29/2018 's CBR10 Review No:9 |

Mystery! Murder! But, tea is ALWAYS served.

Silent in the Moor and Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn

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Raybourn’s “Lady Julia Gray” novels are fun little mysteries with quirky characters who find themselves in situations that are often fairly dark. The juxtaposition of  entitled Victorian British gentry and crimes of  depravity creates a nice balance of grit and wit.  The books center on Lady Jane Grey,  her eccentric family, the half gypsy but fully rogue, detective Nicholas Brisbane,  and various quirky and potentially murderous characters. In “Silent on the Moor”, Lady Jane Grey, her sister, Portia, and their  brother, Valerius, serving as reluctant chaperone,  venture to Brisbane’s new home in the swampy moor. Uninvited but determined to discover what […]

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1/19/2018 's CBR10 Review No:6 |

Keep the Window Open, Wendy.

City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

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  I’ll be writing many reviews of this fine lady’s work. Her Veronica Speedwell books  (new one this month, superfans!!!) were my gateway and I devoured the first two of the Lady Julia Grey books (3rd one ready to go in the bedside library pile). After doing some Goodreads snooping, I discovered she had several books set in the 1920’s  so I scooped up and loooooved “Spears of Grass” (So atmospheric. Wonderful saucy heroine and roguish bush pilot word sparring in the wilds of Africa. But I digress…..) City of Jasmine has its own saucy heroine but SHE is the pilot […]

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1/4/2018 's CBR10 Review No:2 |


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