Deanna Raybourn

The New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries returns once more to Victorian England and introduces intrepid adventuress Veronica Speedwell.... 

London, 1887. After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

A Curious Beginning

Fireless

Jan 2018:
Beautiful.....

Apr 2020:
I still love this to my bones!

Rebecca C Wright

This is a great beginning to a new series. There are fun surprises and also an interesting heroine with intelligence but still some innocence. I can't wait for the next one.

Sonia Grgas

First half 2 stars, second 4. The book got better once the author settled on fleshed out, fully human characterizations for her two main protagonists. If it wasn’t a book club book, I would have DNF’d it about a third of the way in.

Pierke Bosschieter

Bilge Ince

Excelsior 

A lepidopterist and a taxidermist come together in London, then the adventure begins. If you like Sherlock Holmes, London and historical novels you’ll be hooked with no doubt. The protagonist is independent, intelligent and charming female character and the author (Deanna Raybourd) is structured her personality so well.
Veronica Speedwell is an orphan who is adopted and brought up by two ladies. Right after she is a grown up, she started to go expeditions as a lepidopterist. After her aunts are both dead Veronica’s adventures begin. She met with Stoker and they are forced to go on a run together by fate. 

In the first quarter of the book I get bored, but right after the adventure begins I couldn’t put down. Also, I understood the reason author gave all the details of Amazon forest, butterflies and animal names in Latin. Now, I feel curious about the rest of the series since so many questions are waited to be answered.

Contains excerpt from A Perilous Undertaking, the next Veronica Speedwell Mystery.

An enjoyable whodunit with an interesting enough subplot that added a bit of spice to everything. 

I do feel like the section where Veronica and Stoker first took refuge was a little.. long. 

And while Veronica is obviously supposed to be “a modern woman set in Victorian times” I found her equal parts amusing and annoying. Her intelligence and when she talks about how she’s learned how to read situations, brilliant! Insisting that everyone see her brilliance by acting like a know it all? Annoying. Her obvious (and mutual, probably) thirst for Stoker? Amusing. Her poking at his temper to get him fired up and asking about his sexual habits (after knowing each other after only a few days)? Annoying. 

All in all I enjoyed it, it has me looking into some royal history again, and I’m looking forward to picking up book two. 

JoAnne M

An enjoyable whodunit with an interesting enough subplot that added a bit of spice to everything. 

I do feel like the section where Veronica and Stoker first took refuge was a little.. long. 


And while Veronica is obviously supposed to be “a modern woman set in Victorian times” I found her equal parts amusing and annoying. Her intelligence and when she talks about how she’s learned how to read situations, brilliant! Insisting that everyone see her brilliance by acting like a know it all? Annoying. Her obvious (and mutual, probably) thirst for Stoker? Amusing. Her poking at his temper to get him fired up and asking about his sexual habits (after knowing each other after only a few days)? Annoying. 

All in all I enjoyed it, it has me looking into some royal history again, and I’m looking forward to picking up book two. 

Colleen

2.5 Stars 

*A disappointing story weighed down by its cold, obnoxious main character*


The Veronica Speedwell series sounded so promising! I love Historical Fiction and Mystery; even better when they are combined. And I absolutely adore independent, intelligent heroines. An “intrepid adventuress” who is also a self-taught scientist seemed perfect for me. So it seemed like A Curious Beginning was almost guaranteed to be delightful. So what happened?

The biggest problem was the main character, Veronica Speedwell. She was such a loathsome character! And since she was the first person narrator for the whole story, there was simply no avoiding her highhanded declamations. 

Why do authors so often portray intelligent women as cold psychos? Don't get me wrong; I love a well-written female villain! But it drives me bonkers that most authors have no idea how to write an intelligent female who isn't cold, stiff, and emotionally shut off. Veronica had no personality beyond pushy know-it-all. Her so called “independence” is just bullheaded impetuousness. And her “intelligence” manifests only as a constant need to correct everyone else in attempt to establish her own self-seen superiority. 

Veronica was also supposed to be ahead of her times by being sexually liberated in an extremely suppressive time. Which sounds great and all… the problem is that Veronica is totally a sexual predator. Being sexually liberated shouldn't mean acting like a creep and sexually objectifying everyone. Seriously, every single man she meets is assessed and eye-raped. I cannot deny that if a male character acted like Veronica, I would be howling about how disgusting it is. If you can’t reverse a statement and still hold it true, then it’s biased. I wouldn’t tolerate such sexual objectification from a male character, so I’m sure as hell not going to put up with it from a female character either. If you are going to try to establish gender equality through mimicry, how about not using their repulsive characteristics?

Not only is Veronica a controlling sexual predator, she displays a level of modern sexuality unbelievable from even the most liberated of her time period. I was seriously expecting her to pull out the whips and chains any second like some demented Victorian female version of Christian Grey. And no sooner had that thought popped in my head than a whip serendipitously appeared in the story followed shorly by some handcuffs. Ok, neither got used in the bedroom, but it felt like foreshadowing. 

Also, as a side note, I am absolutely sick of heroines with purple eyes. It is one thing to feature that in a Fantasy novel. It’s quite another to have purple-eyed lovelies swanning around the real world. Nothing says Special Snowflake like pointless purple peepers.

The plot is created by overly convenient (and not very believable) events. It required too much suspense of belief. Not to mention, I have seen similar plots both in books and movies. I can’t say more than that without spoiling it. But there were too many, “Why yes, I do know what is going on, but I seem to be dramatically pausing for some reason…” moments. Despite the lack of originality and believability, the plot was serviceable enough. But not good enough to make up for Vainglorious Veronica.

I doubt I’ll give this series a second chance. Now, onto bigger and better things!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

Receiving a warning from a mysterious baron after suffering a home invasion, Veronica Speedwell accepts the baron's shelter and teams up with an ill-tempered naturalist when her host is subsequently murdered.

Siya S

4/5 stars

OMG. THIS BOOK.

 

So I have this book in possession for ages but it was only recently that I started having a knick for something historical. And I love it! I really like this book, another great introduction to a highly potential series. Though I have to say I was a bit taken aback knowing that I'd have to wait so long as 2017 for the next one to come out!

A Curious Beginning has introduced us to a pragmatic Veronica Speedwell, a spinster scientist (butterfly) who found herself caught up with tangle of mysteries that somehow connected to her obscure past. A self-proclaimed globetrotter, Veronica has a series of progressive ideas that prove her way ahead of her time (e.g. gender equality, feminism) and thus made her stood out among other Victorian girls who were raised to be submissive to men. I found her annoying at times, acting insensitive and oblivious to obvious things and being 'a woman of science' as she was. But her humor was on point and deep down she was more than she gave herself credit for.


  “Should I be in distress? In a meadow? You mean if the cows organize some sort of attack? I have extensive experience with cows. They almost never do that.” 
“Forget the bloody cows,” he said, clearly making an effort to hold on to his temper. “The baron was killed, murdered in cold blood, or have you forgot that?”


The turns of events led her to meet Stoker, another oddball, a man of science with a dark past of his own. AND OMG HE'S WORTH TEN FANGIRLING SQUEALS. A gentleman in disguise, he had his own share of adventurous experience in his pre-Veronica life, but nothing could compare to the one he was about to embark with this strange girl speaking of strange things. This embarkment would be the one that completely altered the course of his life forever.

 

I love the relationship between Veronica and Stoker. A real butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of relationship (and I'm not saying this just because Veronica is a lepidopterist). Unfortunately, nothing really happened in this book. Something was hinted alright, but nothing happened and I'm so so disappointed!!!!

However, something great has indeed happened; their friendship was formed. And it's great to see the development in this part, how the two became friends, fitted perfectly well with each other's odd presence. I especially like the scene at the end where Stoker casually stood in Veronica's defense.


  “Can you not exercise some influence in this?” 
Stoker shrugged. “I could sooner influence the sun to set in the east, Sir Hugo. She is entirely her own woman.”
The rush of gratitude I felt for Stoker’s understanding nearly made me dizzy. Never before had I encountered a man so willing to abandon his allegedly God-given right to dominion over the fairer sex.


The dialogue exchanged between characters were, although unnecessary prolonged at times, informative and absolutely witty. The retorts volleyed from Veronica to Stoker were clever, sarcastic and hilarious. I couldn't help but fell in love with their charms, especially Stoker's series of comical blasphemes and curses (often aimed at Veronica's 'unladylike' behavior).

Something like this:


  “Where in the name of the oozing wounds of Christ have you been?” he demanded.
 “In the meadow, as you can plainly see.”
 

Or this:


  Before I could ask, he caught sight of the garment in my hand. 
“In the name of bleeding Jesus, what are you sewing? Is that my shirt?” 
“It is, and I must say, it is in a deplorable state. But at least the material is quite good and will stand up to proper mending. Unfortunately, mending is not one of my skills,” I said, holding up the shirt. Somehow I had managed to attach it to my own skirt, and I took up scissors to snip it free.


The writing was great. A lot of research was evident in this one. The story was fast-paced though a bit dragging in the middle with a meh kind of twist at the end. It's still worth reading, though. This book has basically served its purpose alright; it has created a firm foundation for a solid series to come.

Find out more at:
http://thebleedingeyes.wordpress.com

Haley Murray

Celeste Richardson

Ah, Veronica. You’re the sassiest, most self-confident female protagonist I’ve ever come across in a Victorian setting, and I loved every minute of your snark. This was indeed A Curious Beginning to your story. I’m already excited to visit with you again in the future, and to see what further adventures you stumble your way into further along in the series.
“I abhorred weakness of any kind but most particularly in my tea.”
Veronica Speedwell is a woman far ahead of her time. An orphan raised by two spinsters who took her in as a foundling, Veronica grew up with shallow roots. Her “aunts” were constantly moving from place to place, and Veronica learned to be her own companion and to ignore the social dictates of the time that so governed women. The so called feminine arts of music and embroidery and the like held no appeal for her. Instead, Veronica became a lady scientist in an age when such a choice was unheard of, and she did it with panache. Veronica is a lepidopterist, or a scientist who studies butterflies. (How many of you knew the meaning of that word, or had ever even seen it? It was totally new to me.) When Veronica finds herself on the run from people who want to take her for reasons completely unknown to her, she finds herself reluctantly teamed with Stoker, a mysterious taxidermist who wants nothing to do with her. But a murder soon has them having to join forces, even resorting to joining a traveling circus for a time to hide from those who wished them harm. They must solve the murder and figure out why Veronica is being hunted, or they might never be free.
“I am quite determined to be mistress of my own fate, Mrs. Clutterthorpe, but I do sympathize with how strange it must sound to you. It is not your fault that you are entirely devoid of imagination. I blame your education.”
My favorite element of this novel is the voice in which it is told. Veronica is, as mentioned earlier, incredibly snarky, and that comes across on every single page of this book. I found her voice and self-reliance and total faith in herself so refreshing. While Stoker was a great secondary character, Veronica was most definitely the star of the show. Remember when I said she was a woman ahead of her time? That is most apparent in her views towards sex, which were remarkably progressive for a female during the reign of Queen Victoria. She just doesn’t see the world at all as others of her period do. Veronica has no desire for a husband and a household to run and children to raise; she just wants to travel wherever adventure takes her, and hopefully collect rare butterflies along the way to sell to the highest bidder.
“Mrs. Clutterthorpe, I can hardly think of any fate worse than becoming the mother of six. Unless perhaps it were plague, and even then I am persuaded a few disfiguring buboes and possible death would be preferable to motherhood.”
I learned while reading this book. The lexicon employed by Raybourn is immense, and I added at least a dozen new words to my vocabulary. I’m also not a science person, but found the portrayal of science in A Curious Beginning thought-provoking without ever becoming too heavy to be enjoyable. Veronica is most assuredly not a dilettante, or one who merely dabbles in the sciences instead of becoming a true scientist. (See what I mean about the vocabulary?) She is a woman of science through and through, and can stand toe to toe with any male scientist on equal footing, without feeling like she is outclassed. 
“I have faith that men can be as reasonable and logical as women if they but try.”
The mystery element of A Curious Beginning was fun and fairly fast-paced, and didn’t feel like a rehash of every historical fiction novel set in Victoria England, of which there are countless. A Curious Beginning felt fresh and engaging and I was never once bored by the plot. There were times when I rolled my eyes over plot points or decisions characters made or elements of the blossoming romance, but I was always entertained.
“One cannot innovate new improvements without understanding old failures.”
Historical fiction isn’t generally my thing, but I’m very glad I made an exception for A Curious Beginning. Veronica Speedwell is an absolutely wonderful character, who I will assuredly be revisiting from time to time.  This book was a perfect cozy, sweet read for someone who needs some tart humor to counteract the sweet. If you’re a historical fiction fan and have yet to read this series, I highly recommend it.

You can find this review and more at Novel Notions.

Marisa

Listening to the aduiobooks is definitely the way to go with this series. Looking forward to continuing it. 

Deborah Kerr

The vibes are *immaculate*

And my love for Veronica and Stoker is unending. Looking forward to continuing this series!

Sarah Vaughan

This was a nice deviation from the typical English cozy mystery. Loved the characters and the story. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

laura

Such a nice start to a series. i LOVE the female characters that raybourn creates. I love the complex mystery and also how the both lead characters in this novel. excited to read more in the future.

Alice

Anastaciya

not too bad. thought there would be more to it, but that's just the first book, so...

Judy Hudgins

A clever Victorian mystery, complete with the dashing lord and independent heroine. Enjoyed the read. Not exactly mind boggling, but a nice read on a fall day.

Jawahir M

Short Summary: A well written literary adventure that features two unlikely characters, though nothing "spectacular" to highlight the book provides a quirky escape into 1800s steampunk England. 
Score: 3.5/5

A Curious Beginning follows the unlikely adventure of lepidopterist (butterfly collector) Veronica Speedwell, a feisty strong headed young scientist, and natural historian Stoker, a roguish hot blooded taxidermist. The pair are thrust together after their mutual acquaintance Baron "Max" mysteriously gets murdered just days after having met Veronica for the first time and having her entrusted in Stoker's care till his presumed return. But obviously that does not happen, and the reader is flung from place to place throughout this investigation. 

The story was entertaining, with both of the main characters adding bold colors to a rather grey London which keeps you chuckling at their constant battles on wit and sarcasm. Though I felt that a large part of the story revolved more around the main characters' sexual tensions with each other more than them actually trying to investigate the murder. I found myself actually waiting and thinking when are they actually going to do the "investigating". In that sense I wished the author allocated more pages focusing on the murder itself. At other times, I felt the characters solved clues too quickly which kind of took out the chilling suspense that is usually present in murder investigations.

The other point concerns Veronica as a character. She classifies herself as a pragmatist but honestly she is more like a loose canon with a tendency to impulsiveness more so than she thinks she is. Adding to that, she keeps mentioning how everyone around her is not as logical and reasonable as she is which makes it all slightly annoying. She also has a tendency to quickly judge people. A particular part that stood out for me was when she revealed her distaste for a woman who decided to be a caretaker and mother staying at home, saying she is wasting away her ambitions. Even though the woman was content and actually satisfied with her current living situation. Not every woman wants to be the independent warriors with high ambitions of status and credentials, there are some who are nurturers whose powers stem with what they give and provide. Stop shaming women who want something other than the mainstream feminist outlook of living. 

With that being said, what really saved the book for me is how the author decidedly developed Veronica's character to being someone more mature in which she retracted views and judgements beheld before. And there was a sense of stable calm and reason that indicated a clear sense of character growth. Veronica of the last chapters was far more likable then the first ones. Judging from the substantially higher reviews of the second installment I might give this series a go. 

Do I recommend this? Sure, its a light fun read with plenty of wit, adventure, and action. But not really for fans looking for a "murder mystery" read.

Saayan

I went in blind and ended up really liking this! The hero is a gruff, tattooed highwayman-looking ex- Navy surgeon with an adorable sweet tooth. The heroine teeters on “not like other girls”-itis, but her sex positive ways of thinking are refreshing for the historical romance sub-genre. 

I absolutely loved the hilarious banter and bickering between the two. The unresolved sexual tension is so thick, and I adored how the hero sees the heroine as his equal and they respect each other’s boundaries. I also loved the dynamic of secretly romantic hero pitted against a not-so-romantic heroine.

Oh, and there’s a mystery to solve too! From what I’ve heard about the series, I expect the romance to be a slooow burn and I am all in for the ride.

I highly recommend the audiobook which is brilliantly narrated!

 Bruna Acioly Leão

This book was interesting at some points, but overall it didn't really captivate me so much. 

The writing style is very well done, and appropriate for the story being told. It really feels very Victorian novel-esque and it sets the tone and atmosphere for the book. It was the thing that manages to capture me the most, along with the characters, both of the main ones offer an interesting study on human personality and relationships. The main character Veronica Speedwell and the rogue Stoker are thrown together trying to solve the mystery of who is after and possibly trying to kill Veronica.

Those two form a very Sherlock and Watson type of relationship, Veronica being the more cerebral, Sherlockian type and Stoker playing the Watson, with seriousness and occasional bouts of passion. They interact and interpose each other really well.

Plotwise, however, everything felt sort of predictable and I found that I didn't really care about any of the mysteries they were trying to solve and I could pretty much guess most of the plot twists. It all felt very *safe*. I also didn't care for the traveling show bit and felt it was unnecessary. A personal pet peeve is butterfly collecting, and studying, which is the main character's main occupation, and of course that is not something that detriments the book itself, but it did make it less enjoyable for me, personally, every time that would come up.

Overall, I would still recommend this for anyone that might be interested, and people who like quieter, cosy types of mysteries might enjoy this as well. It wasn't a personal favorite, but I did really appreciate the writing and character development, both of which were very strong, but I am just not compelled to continue with the series, at least not at the moment, especially because of the pet peeves I mentioned.

Kaylee Z

How did I sit on this series for so long!? For full disclosure, I have read all 5 of the currently released Veronica Speedwell books this month and I am obsessed!

When A Curious Beginning was released, I remember being really interested because it has all of the buzzwords I could want in a mystery book (which I don’t tend to read). I purchased my copy back in 2015 and it just sat on my shelf waiting for me to dive in… but then I never did. Until a couple weeks ago and, can I say, I am kicking past me for sitting on this series for 5 years!

Within the first few pages of this book, I fell in love. Veronica is smart and independent, Stoker is the perfect companion, the mystery kept me flipping the page, there was adventure, subterfuge along with a really well planned plot that will evolve with each new installment.

I don’t think I can fully express my love of this book and series in general. While I don’t feel it is a perfect book (LOTS of repetition of events and character sentiments) but Deanna Raybourn clearly puts so much thought into these stories from events and names of the time to how the mystery actually unfolds. There’s such perfect dialog and everything sets the scene for a much bigger series between the character introductions, the underlying truths that will follow Veronica throughout her life and just where her curiosity will take her.

I don’t think I will give individual reviews for the rest of the series (however I may talk about the series as a whole in some form or another) because it will honestly just be me gushing about them but trust me when I say that if you like late 1800s England, mysteries and a partnership to root for, this is definitely for you!

Lauren James

*Spoiler Free!*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was enchanting and downright hilarious at times. I loved the repertoire between Veronica and Stoker. I thought they made a delightful pair! Raybourn did a wonderful job of Stoker being the strong masculine man, protector type, with also giving him a good, strong view of women. I fell as though authors fail at that. Many of them make their men too overbearing or too “roll over and pet my tummy”. I seriously loved how Raybourn portrayed Stoker. I feel as though he is a good man that any young man can look up to in literature and well as any women to look for in a husband. I am dying to know Stoker’s back story!

Now, on to the heroine, Veronica Speedwell. I thought she was downright hilarious. She had the best comebacks!

“Should I be in distress? In a meadow? You mean if the cows organize some sort of attack? I have extensive experience with cows. They almost never do that.”

I laughed out loud, by myself, reading her sarcasm! I think it’s hilarious that she finds most people unintelligent. And often times, she lets them know too! I like how Raybourn made her a courageous woman who never wants to marry nor have children. I quite like that in a young women, because then they go through their adventures and eventually find out that the greatest adventure is being a wife and motherhood. (Trust me. ;)) I’d be interested to see if Veronica would change her mind for the right person… (please oh please oh please let them be together!!!)

I think the only “snag” if you could call it that, is that the ending was a bit predictable. I guessed a lot of things throughout the book. However, it was such a fun read, that I let it slide.

My overall impression:

If you like historical mysteries this is a great, fun read! And I’m completely hooked! Also, let me end with how drool worthy the cover is!

A Curious Beginning

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