Deanna Raybourn

Deanna Raybourn has written a highly intelligent and often times hilarious murder mystery about an older set of female assassins. I loved each of these women for their outlook, vigor, witty repartee but I especially admire Deanna Raybourn for creating “those who can and those who will.” As Billie is remarking that “Just once, I’d like to kill a gentleman” - Mary Alice is opining that a gentleman probably wouldn’t need killing while Helen is preparing the weapon and Natalie is show more using sleight of hand to deliver what is supposed to kill their target. Teamwork or maybe it is going to mean Plan B. These four women are extraordinary and fun. They treat each other as sisters, bickering as they plan the best method to kill the next target. They are experts in the use of disguise including wearing incontinence pants and turquoise Chuck Taylors - nothing is sacred while everything is au courant. Mary Alice has a wife, Billie has a lover and all these characters blend beautifully.

Special mention for including interesting historical asides and obscure locations that helped flesh out each part of the story. Savonarola - really?! Woe is me that I have not yet read the first installment in this series which I plan to remedy in the very near future. Many thanks to Berkeley and NetGalley for this ARC. show less

Splendid late-Victorian romp introducing the indomitable Veronica Speedwell: adventuress, lepidopterist and reader of crime mysteries


In "A Curious Beginning", I've found, rather belatedly, given that book four came out in 2019, a series that I'm eager to read more of.

This came as a welcome surprise to me as I'm not normally a fan of light-hearted historical fiction. I tend to get distracted by small anachronisms and inaccuracies or lose interest in people and plots too shallow to be show more convincing. To my great pleasure, Deanna Raybourn's late-Victorian England stands up to my layman's scrutiny and she succeeds in sustaining a lightness of tone that is powered by strong characters and a twisty plot.

What really excited me about the book was its freshness. Sam Goldwyn is alleged to have said, "What we need now is some fresh clichés". Deanna Raybourn does a good job in providing them.

"A Curious Beginning" is a boys-own-adventure where the adventurer is a young woman with a self-confidence and a knowledge of the world that would make Holmes look shy and make Watson blush. This simple inversion, combined with a cute-meet involving taxidermy, a hero who provides eye-candy as well as competence and a few set pieces where our heroine bedazzles the soon-to-be-but-not-quite-yet hero with her knowledge, wit and sheet impertinence make this very entertaining.

I think Sam Goldwyn would have bought the film rights on the spot although I'd rather see it done by RKO with Howard Hughes directing.

Veronica Speedwell is a fiercely independent, widely travelled woman who makes her living capturing and selling exotic butterflies. She is a woman of strong passions and deep intellect with a talent for science, a hunger for adventure and firm rules about never taking Englishmen as lovers.

She is also, for reasons she does not yet understand, at the centre of a complex plot by shady characters who seek to abduct or kill her. The plot, when it is revealed, has the advantage of being truly bold in scope and (just about) plausible. The threats to her lead to her taking refuge with Stoker, an eccentric, irascible but pleasant to look at almost-hero who hides her first amongst the members of a circus/freakshow and then amongst the equally strange members of the English aristocracy.

The plot romps along, dispensing whit, banter, moments of (mostly repressed) sexual tension and bursts of physical conflict as it reveals itself.
Veronica Speedwell is the heart of this novel. Her spirit and wit power it.

She's impressive but also quite human. As well as being a serious scientist, she has a passion the fictional adventures of Arcadia Brown, Lady Detective and adopts Arcadia's habit of declaiming "Excelsior" when on the trail of the bad guys. I thought this was a wonderful idea that filled out Veronica's character, provided an in-joke for readers and made Stoker seem boorish (if still eye-catching) by his I-don't-read-low-fiction snobbish response.

I was deeply impressed by Raybourn's ability to sustain a playfully humorous tone while still developing her main characters into real(ish) people and unrolling the plot of the mystery at an effective pace. It's really quite masterful. The result was a refreshing and entertaining read, which I was much in need of.

I listened to the audiobook version and I thought Angèle Masters did an excellent job of bringing Veronica to life. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.
https://soundcloud.com/audiolibrary-a/a-curious-beginning-by-deanna-raybourn-aud... show less

In 1890 London, Veronica Speedwell and Stoker investigate a macabre vampire mystery after a young man is found near Highgate Cemetery with his body drained of blood. When a second victim is discovered after an apparent suicide, the trail leads the duo to a dangerous secret society of immortality seekers led by a self-proclaimed creature of the night and a practitioner of witchcraft. Amidst the investigation, J.J. turns to them for help, and the case forces a brief encounter with Lady Julia show more and Nicholas Brisbane to track down a crucial witness.

This was a fast and fun tenth entry into what I consider my favorite historical fiction mystery series. Leaning into gothic atmosphere without losing any of the trademark wit, the pair dives into folklore and myth despite their scientific skepticism. I love the interaction between Veronica and Stoker and the author’s understanding of the time period is expressed in their exchanges with such marvelous word play. The partnership is sound and the characters work together so well. I am always eager for the next installment.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrator, Angele Masters, did a superb job voicing Veronica. She has just the right tone for every sentence and truly embodies the character. It was, however, quite jarring to hear her perform Stoker’s voice because he doesn’t sound at all like I imagined. Way too raspy and not deep enough or suave enough. Anyway, it did provide entertainment but the production would definitely benefit from a full cast because those characters deserve their own voices!

If you’re considering a historical fiction series, I highly recommend this one. And start from the beginning. show less

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon.

They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire—it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered show more old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Aren't revenge-fantasy stories fun? In general, the genre gives me a vicarious delight in the ability of the PoV character(s) to exact personal revenge on them as wronged 'em. I find the more general type of revenge story, the wars/quests/crusades sort, not as compelling as this direct and deeply personal kind.

What works here, for this old male reader, is the "just-assume-the-backstory" nature of the women's friendships. There are hops back and forth in the story's timeline that fill in details, but honestly they were integrated in a way that worked to increase my investment in the shared backstory. It felt a bit like having a memory flash when you're talking to someone you've known for ages.

That might also be a bit of a problem for book one of a series, with the next one (Kills Well with Others) to come on 11 March 2025. I think the way people expect stuff to go in this book is more violent, more "wet job" details in it. Instead, we get the motivation for the revenge story, and the way these women plan and execute (!) events based on their cultural invisibility. I myownself liked that better than the pleasures to be had from a solidly crafted Repairman Jack tale. It's more relatable, more like something I could see myself doing if I was competent in these arts.

Billie, our primary PoV character (though we hear from everyone), has a dry, biting wit that agrees with me, and the situations that are supposed to be funny were indeed funny to me. Humor's hard, y'all, so Author Raybourn gets and deserves nosegays of praise for that achievement. It's also welcome to have women as professional killers, if I'm honest. They're so good at the job they've never been caught. This is probably a weird thing to say, but the existence of women reinforcing ma'at on the dark side seems to me like a welcome development. Saintly do-gooders? Been there done that. Cops repairing the broken social compact? Yawn. Targeting and killing them what just needs killin'? NOW you got me.

A four-star funhouse mirror held to the myth of women as passive, victim-of-crime ciphers. These are vibrant personalities with agency, doing what they know from long experience how to do, only against the ingrates they thought were on their side. I think it's well worth your time and treasure. show less