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A Curious Beginning

Deanna Raybourn
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A Curious Beginning

Deanna Raybourn
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Veronica Speedwell
Veronica Speedwell
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Praise for A Curious Beginning
 
“Wickedly clever and devilishly amusing...Veronica Speedwell is a joy—unflappable, unrepentant, and thoroughly delightful.”—Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series

“The eccentricities of Victorian England receive a rousing look in the highly entertaining A Curious Beginning...Energetic storytelling.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“Creating strong character pairings, placing the action in unexpectedly unusual but actual historical settings, and folding it all into a clever mystery are hallmarks of this author’s magical, signature style...This new series starts off with a bang.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“I love this book! Brings us the powerful Veronica Speedwell, who triumphs over adversity and danger with wit, charm, and uncanny determination. A real find.”—Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Virgin River series

More Praise for the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries

“A ruthlessly intelligent heroine.”—NPR
 
“I love this series! Veronica Speedwell is utterly unique.”—Amanda Quick, New York Timesbestselling author of The Other Lady Vanishes 
 
“Veronica Speedwell is sure to join the greats of mystery fiction.”—Alan Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce series
 
“A treat. One of the few writers who can make history feel immediate and exciting without losing a grasp of the period.”—Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author of the Royal Spyness series
 
“A fine combination of detective story and character study...sure to interest mystery lovers and Anglophiles alike.”—The Historical Novels Review
 
“A smart, plucky, way-ahead-of-her time heroine.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
 
“Veronica Speedwell might just be one of the most endearing heroines in mysteries, period....She’s smart, dashing, and entirely capable....Her sense of humor and chemistry with Stoker, her counterpart, just make this series even better.”—Bustle

Overall rating: 4.875 / 5 from 8 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: ["characters","veronica","story","read","book","storyline","mystery","plot"].

Review highlights

Reviews

Addicting and Impossible to Put Down

"A historical fiction murder mystery book set in Victorian London with a strong female main character and rivals to friends to maybe more. . . . . The banter in this is hilarious and Veronica and Stoker have insane chemistry!"

— Kate D. (5/5)

Mystery series with a female heroine

"A fun female victorian mystery. Book 1 sets up the shenanigans for the rest of the Victoria Speedwell series."

— Penny (5/5)

A curious beginning

"Quick read, cant wait to read more from this author"

— Natalie S. (5/5)

Curiously Compelling

"A fine story, a mystery, interesting language, a compelling plot with lots of twists and a satisfying ending,"

— Joan (5/5)

Entertaining book

"The characters are likeable and the story entertaining. There are some twists which keep the outcome from being predictable."

— Judy S. (5/5)

Good but a slow progressing story line

"An excellent read but the story does progress slow. I would recommend the Lady Julia Grey series over this one since more developed in each book, but both are good. I love the strong female characters and the story lines. They really do keep you guessing till the end."

— Brinda (4/5)

I loved EVERYTHING about this story!!!

"I loved EVERYTHING about this book!!! I do not give out five stars often, but this book deserves every one of them! The character of Veronica Speedwell is fantastic!! She has been added to my list of favourite literary characters ever with this book. Veronica is smart, independent, capable, determined, and most importantly irreverent and she delighted me with every inappropriate, stubborn thing she said and did. She is my new heroine and I adored going on this adventure with her! All the other characters in this story are equally endearing. It is hard not to like people who go ""all-in"" with everything they do, and pretty much everyone in this story does exactly that. Whether you agree with the choices some of them make or not, it's hard to fault people to put everything they have and are into the actions they take. The story itself - without giving any spoilers - is quite clever and well-conceived. When you think about it, the plot is entirely plausible given the realities of the time, and the way the story plays out as Veronica and Stoker figure out what is what is filled with action, drama, suspense danger, and just enough ""something-something"" going on beneath the surface between Stoker and Veronica to keep a reader thoroughly engaged from the first page to the last of this book. I enjoy historical fiction, and this book has it. Although the history is sort of secondary to Veronica's adventure here, it is still an interesting component of the story. The sniping and sarcasm between Veronica and Stoker is fabulous! I adore strong female characters and Veronica is one of the best-written of those I have read in a very long time. She holds her own 100% against any man she comes across, and outdoes most of them with her intelligence, her competence and her fully developed sense of the ridiculous [which she refuses at every opportunity to allow to stop her from doing anything she wishes to do!] in every instance. I am crazy about Veronica!! As I said at the start, there is nothing whatsoever about this book that I didn't love. It was a sensational read, that I didn't want to put down, and I am thrilled that there is a second book with Veronica's continuing adventures already published which I definitely plan to read. I only hope the author has many more planned, because I can't wait to revisit Veronica and go along on her continuing adventures. Highly recommended to lovers of strong female characters and solid, well-written historical fiction/action stories."

— Krisrid (5/5)

Holy amazingness!

"This is LITERALLY the most perfect historical fiction ever created. It's like someone went into my brain and took every part of books you love and puts them together! Veronica is fucking hilarious! So excited to read the sequel."

— Samantha (5/5)

Q&A

  • Published date: Jul 12, 2016
  • Language: English
  • No. of Pages: 368
  • Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
  • ISBN: 9780451476029
  • Dimensions: 5.43" W x 0.8" L x 8.17" H
Deanna Raybourn is the author of the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Lady Julia Grey series, currently in development for television, as well as the USA Today bestselling and Edgar Award nominated Veronica Speedwell Mysteries and several standalone works.

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