A bride mysteriously disappears on her wedding day in the newest Veronica Speedwell adventure by the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey series.
Lured by the promise of a rare and elusive butterfly, the intrepid Veronica Speedwell is persuaded by Lord Templeton-Vane, the brother of her colleague Stoker, to pose as his fiancée at a house party on a Cornish isle owned by his oldest friend, Malcolm Romilly.
But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance.
From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner.
Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.…
Almost perfect. On the plus side, Veronica stopped beating poor Stoker over the head with her libertine sexual views; to the minus side, the book started off tropetastically, with Veronica running away from a romantic entanglement with Stoker by going to Madeira for 6 months, and then immediately afterwards haring off to a house party with Stoker's detested brother as his fiancee. That's a lot of trope stuffed into a few chapters.
But then Raybourn tuns all of it on its head, and makes it all meaty and interesting. From the Madeira trip revelation to Tiberius's reasons for bringing Veronica (and Stoker) to the Cornish isle of St. Maddern's. Tiberius's story is raw and brutal, as is the final outcome of the plot. Without giving anything away, all I can say is holy christ, it was horrifying and tragic and really un-hygienic.
The mystery plotting I can sum up by saying: I did not see that coming.
The 1/2 star deduction was for the insanity of the "we can only be friends" nonsense. There's a fine line between stringing the romantic tension along through a series and the point at which, I, as the reader, starts telling the book "oh just DO it already!". I'm a fan of sexual tension, but not teasing, even if it is consensual. I find it tedious. Fortunately by all appearances, unless Raybourn decides to yank everyone's chains, the teasing will-they-won't-they ends with this book's conclusion.
What remains consistent through the whole series is Veronica's fierce intelligence and pragmatism, Stoker's somewhat vicious integrity, and the incredibly rich and amusing banter that Raybourn excels at. I don't think I've ever read any author who captures family dynamics - both good and bad - as well as she does and does it with so much wit and gravitas at the same time.
This is one of those series I'd have liked to have discovered late, allowing me to binge read the adventures; as it is, I'll have to wait another year for the next adventure.
A favorite quote:
Tiberius' voice was sharp. "You think he might have killed himself?"
"It's one of eight possibilities for his absence," I remarked.
Tiberius' eyes fairly popped. "Eight?"
I ticked off the prospects as I named them. "I have been thinking out the possibilities with regard to Rosamund's fate, but they will do just as well for Malcom. He might have killed himself. He might have met with an accident. He may be trapped somewhere and unable to free himself. Hie might be hiding. He might have suffered a breakdown of sorts. He might have been murdered. He might have keeled over dead of quite natural causes. He might have surprised smugglers or pirates and is being held against his will in a lair –"
Tiberius made a strangled noise and Stoker shook his head. "You've over-egged the pudding with that one."
Reading updates
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Started reading
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20 April, 2019:
Finished reading
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20 April, 2019:
Reviewed