In the third book in the irresistible Veronica Speedwell series, we learn more about Stoker's past, secrets, heartbreak, and motivations; are treated to more fantastic Veronica zingers; and delve into the characters' deep, unconventional connection.
“Because there is no power on earth that could make me abandon our friendship. There is no deed you could confess so dark that it would make me forsake you. You said of us once that we were quicksilver and the rest of the world mud. We are alike, shaped by Nature in the same mold, and whatever that signifies, it means that to spurn each other would be to spit in the face of whatever deity has seen fit to bring us together. We are the same, and to leave you would be to leave myself.”
In the third installment of Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series, set in 1888 London, Veronica and Stoker seek the whereabouts of a man who went missing during a fruitful archaeological dig in Egypt--at the same time a priceless diadem disappeared.
The man who has vanished happens to be Stoker's former expedition partner, who he punched on the street a year ago--and he also happens to be married to Stoker's ex-wife.
Clever Veronica and gruff Stoker will need to unravel the mystery of an ancient curse and powerful lies bubbling up regarding Stoker's past in order to clear Stoker's name of any suspected wrongdoing.
The mystery here is interesting and unfolds at an engaging pace, but it's not the primary focus of the book--or the series--for me.
I adored delving into Stoker's past, and Raybourn offers a number of explanations for some of the previous book's alluded-to personal mysteries and motivations. My favorite element of the Veronica Speedwell series is the character development, and A Treacherous Curse offers additional layers that drew me even more deeply into the world of Veronica and Stoker.
The dialogue between the two immensely clever, bristly, wonderfully imperfect, broken characters is outstanding and witty as always, and their deep connection is poignant, unconventional, and just absolutely lovely and irresistible.
I adore this series. Raybourn can do no wrong!
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
I loved A Curious Beginning, the first book in Deanna Raybourn's sassy Veronica Speedwell series of historical fiction mysteries, as well as the second book, A Perilous Undertaking.
Raybourn is also the author of the wonderful stand-alone title Killers of a Certain Age.