A Curious Beginning

By: Deanna Raybourn

Narrated by: Angele Masters

London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry - and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime. But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker - a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

©2015 Deanna Raybourn (P)2015 Recorded Books

Good except for. ....

Veronica, the female protagonist, is an insufferable know-it-all and almost ruined the book. It felt like her pompous drivel would NEVER stop.....ugh. I also felt the childish arguing between the two main characters was contrived and annoying. I felt like I was in junior high again. The premise for the story was good. Narration was excellent.

Enjoyable but won't continue series

I did enjoy this story - but there wasn't anything in it to get me to come back and get another book in this series. The female lead was a self righteous know it all which makes her annoying many times throughout the book. The ending was a bit of a scooby doo ending - anyone who watched the cartoon knows what I mean. There are too many books on my wish list to use another credit on this series.

Incredible historical fiction

This story is a little bit of a stretch of the imagination but a fun story.

Terrific!

The characters were great! The story was great! The vocabulary was wonderfully precise! The reader was superb! I'm anxious to hearing the next from this author and narrator!

Excellent!

A great mystery with wonderful characters and a delightful and wicked sense of humor. Period pieces need not be dull!

Fun!

Such a fun and adventurous listen! I am so glad I took advantage of the promotion.

Intelligent scientist heroine

Although I get the criticism that the heroine is unlikable (more so than the author's other books), I enjoyed the characters and the setting too much to be bothered by that. (And I have enough friends like that in real life that it didn't concern me.) She is a fascinating scientist, as is the male protagonist, and they have a thrilling adventure that isn't quite a mystery, or quite a romance. The minor characters are a hoot, and the settings are fascinating, and all together it was a wonderful ride for this history/mystery lover.

Great Start of An Adventure with Veronica Speedwel

A thoroughly enjoyable story by Deanna Raybourn about a typically British, 19th century feminist with an appropriate male protagonist as the love interest. Well developed and interesting characters, witty dialogs, engaging adventures, juicy love interest, and to top it off, a superb voice performance by Angele Masters, and a beautiful cover illustration.

Next!

I loved this book and cannot wait for more in this series. The reader was superb and I enjoyed every moment.

Fans of Amenia Peabody Will Love Veronica Speedwel

I am a longtime fan of Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody series. I found Veronica Speedwell character to be of similar temperament with much better character development. The story is original but suitably melodramatic to make it worth being called fiction. The characters are fairly well written and the dialogue is good. I definitely recommend this for anybody who wants a sincere, good-hearted, and ever so slightly naughty Escape into this historical time frame.