A Murderous Relation

What do Jack the Ripper, the heir to England's throne and a murder in a brothel have in common? Together they give Veronica Speedwell and Stoker Templeton-Vane another mystery to solve, of course! In this fifth addition to the popular Historical Mystery series, Veronica Speedwell, our favourite lepidopterist and her right-hand man Stoker, the dashing taxidermist, get embroiled in a royal scandal with connections to the vicious murders committed by Jack the Ripper. Oooo, right?!

Once again, Raybourn creates the vivid atmosphere of 19th century London, right in the heart of the Victorian era and her masterful use of words is, as usual, impressive, engaging and keeps me avidly highlighting words on my kindle to make use of its dictionary feature. Clearly, my vocabulary has exponentially ameliorated and expanded inordinately.

As the blurb indicates, the story has a Jack the Ripper connection, but Veronica has only a brief, albeit totally sinister, brush with the Ripper legend. I had hoped Ripper would have been included more substantially into the main plot but I give Raybourn high praise for including information on the misrepresentation of Jack the Ripper's victims (for further info, I highly recommend reading Hallie Rubenhold's book The Five which gives a detailed and accurate look at the lives of the victims).

This is one of my favourite series but this installment took me a bit of time to get into the nitty gritty of the mystery. There's a little less action this time around and while there are scenes that ramp up the energy, the shenanigans seemed to be somewhat subdued. But never fear, the simmering sexual tension between Veronica and Stoker continues! A couple of sassy secondary characters also make a return - including Lady Wellie and an amorous tortoise (naturally). These lovely ladies make brief appearances and add some levity.

This is a good addition to one of my favourite series that continues to pair a wonderfully atmospheric mystery with two characters that have a penchant for getting into trouble and an affinity for wonderfully witty banter. If you haven't met Victoria and Stoker yet, I highly suggest you do.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this title for review consideration.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Deanna Raybourn

Genre: Historical Mystery

Series: #5 in the Veronica Speedwell series

Type: eBook

Source: NetGalley

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: March 10, 2020

Book Description from GoodReads: Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian colleague Stoker are asked by Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk to help with a potential scandal so explosive it threatens to rock the monarchy. Prince Albert Victor is a regular visitor to the most exclusive private club in London, known as the Club de l'Etoile, and the proprietress, Madame Aurore, has received an expensive gift that can be traced back to the prince. Lady Wellie would like Veronica and Stoker to retrieve the jewel from the club before scandal can break.

Worse yet, London is gripped by hysteria in the autumn of 1888, terrorized by what would become the most notorious and elusive serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper--and Lady Wellie suspects the prince may be responsible.

Veronica and Stoker reluctantly agree to go undercover at Madame Aurore's high class brothel, where another body soon turns up. Many secrets are swirling around Veronica and the royal family--and it's up to Veronica and Stoker to find the truth, before it's too late for all of them.