A Grave Robbery

The Veronica Speedwell historical mystery series is one of my favourites. It has solid mysteries and I love the banter between Veronica and Stoker and Raybourn's witty style of writing.

This ninth addition to the popular series has a unique crime involving murder and a wax figure (a la Madame Tussaud). With the help of two secondary characters from books past, reporter JJ Butterworth and Inspector Mornaday, Veronica and Stoker try to find out the identity of the murder victim. Not a nail-biter of a mystery, but an intriguing crime that brings readers into some interesting historical elements.

Veronica and Stoker are one of my all-time favourite couples. They are known for their sexual tension and fantastic snarky banter. Now, in book nine, they are enjoying their own version of domestic bliss. They have a strong bond and know each other so well by now, but I do hope there's a bit more snark in their banter with each other. 

This was a good addition to this mystery series, and I eagerly look forward to their next adventure which I hope will include some of the secondary characters we've met in this book (I'm looking at you Spyridon). 

Disclaimer: My thanks to Berkley for the complimentary advanced copy of this book which was provided in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Deanna Raybourn

Genre: Historical Mystery

Series: #9 in Veronica Speedwell series

Type and Source: ebook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Berkley

First Published: March 12, 2024

Book Description from GoodReads: Veronica and Stoker discover that not all fairy tales have happy endings, and some end in murder, in this latest historical mystery from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?

Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?