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 name of an acquaintance who has been convicted of murdering his pregnant mistress. Despite Stoker’s misgivings, Veronica agrees to take the case, wanting to prove herself to her snooty relatives.
The case takes Veronica and Stoker to a rather unusual artists’ colony, and the list of suspects keeps growing, at points involving the Princess Louise herself, as well as Stoker’s estranged older brother, Lord Tempelton-Vane. Veronica has run-ins with all of Stoker’s brothers over the course of the book and finds out more about why he really doesn’t want anything to do with them. As in the first book, investigating leads both Veronica and Stoker into peril, and they both end up near death before they figure out the true murderer and are able to clear an innocent man’s name.
Full review on my blog.
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