Audiobook – Page 23 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

My rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: A Lady Fan Mystery #1
Publication Date: September 6th, 2011 by Berkley Trade (first published January 10th, 1992)
Number of Pages: 368
2.5 Stars rounded up to 3

I loved the synopsis of this book when I read it and immediately purchased it. I loved the mystery itself, but the rest seemed more like a script for an over-the-top stage play with cardboard characters than it did anything representing real life. The relationships and conversations between servants and upper classes were so far off base that it was more fantasy than reality. Then – the view of the Bow Street Runners – absolutely ridiculous. In that period Bow Street couldn’t touch the peerage in any way, shape or form – they couldn’t even enter through the front door of the home, they had to go to the servants entrance and if the peerage didn’t want to allow them in or to talk to them, they didn’t have to. Members of the peerage would be tried before the House of Lords and they almost never, ever convicted each other of anything. So, a peer could, literally, get away with murder – especially against someone who ‘belonged’ to him – such as a wife.

According to Goodreads, this book was first published in 1992, so I’m hoping that it was a ‘learner’ novel for this author and the subsequent books (written over twenty years later) will be much better.

The book opens with the discovery of the murdered body of Lady Emily Fanshawe, Marchioness of Polbrook. Her husband is nowhere to be found and the only family member in residence is his brother Francis. Therefore, it is up to Francis to take charge and one of the most onerous things he has to do is to tell his mother that Emily has been murdered and Randal is missing.

When Francis arrives at his mother’s townhouse to tell her the news, he finds her having breakfast with her new (temporary) companion (Mrs. Ottilia Draycott) that she has only met late the night before. Ottilia offers to withdraw, but Francis invites her to stay since it will soon be all over town anyway. As Francis is telling his mother this distressing news, Ottilia is constantly interrupting with questions that are clearly none of her business. Instead of rebuking her, both the Dowager Marchioness and Francis let her continue, tell her how clever she is, and then she goes with them to the crime scene and she actually examines the scene and the body, etc. in the most intimate way.

Francis immediately gives Ottilia carte blanche to conduct the investigation because she is so smart, intuitive, and clever and he and his mother are just so dumb. Then she does really clever things like determining that someone could have entered the house through one of the doors – duh! She is so clever because – wait for it – she raised her brother’s two sons. Given that criteria, I should be a genius!

Ottilia rocks along with her investigation and ropes Francis into helping with parts of it until the mystery is solved and the murderer is revealed. In the meantime, everyone is constantly telling Ottilia how very clever she is and allowing her to ask the most intimate questions. The servants have the most casual of interchanges and relationships with the Dowager, Francis and everybody else. It is all just so very period inappropriate.

Then, there is the relationship that develops with Francis and Ottilia. I just didn’t see or feel it. They were like two cardboard characters and I couldn’t see where an attraction would be. There just didn’t seem to be any real passion.

There is also Ottilia’s propensity for giggling and making inappropriate jokes and comments during very serious, emotional, trying times. There were times when I was thinking that someone ought to give her a slap to show her that things were serious.

It is my intention to read another book in this series because the later ones have been released in the last few years and the author has had some time to grow in her craft. I’d like to see a more likable and relatable Ottilia. If Ottilia does have that growth, I’ll look forward to more books in the series.

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A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Veronica Speedwell #1
Publication Date: 7/12/16
Number of Pages: 340

I have been curious about Ms. Raybourn’s new series since it first came out, but this was my first opportunity to read any of the books. I love this author’s writing and plotting style and wondered how I’d feel about Veronica since I had thoroughly disliked Lady Julia in the earlier series. Unfortunately, I really, really, really did not like Veronica. Don’t get me wrong, I love a strong, pragmatic, practical, intelligent, and decisive heroine but that wasn’t what I got. In my opinion, Veronica is self-centered, overbearing and arrogant – and I’d dislike those traits in a man or a woman. She also goes on and on and on about how unconventional she is. Maybe it hit me so strongly because I listened to the audiobook and it just felt like those things were pounding into my brain. That is why my true rating for this book is 3.75 rounded up to 4. The mystery was excellent, the tension between Stoker and Veronica was excellent – well – everything was excellent except Veronica herself. I will try another book from later in the series to see if Veronica has mellowed into a real human rather than the caricature she seemed to be in this book.

Veronica Speedwell was a foundling who was taken in by two ladies who insisted she should call them Aunt. They never lived in any one place for long, sometimes moving up to four times a year. She, nor her aunts, ever made friends in any of the places they lived. In order to escape the confines of the cottages they lived in, Veronica would escape to the meadows to catch butterflies and she became a renowned lepidopterist. When her last surviving aunt became ill, Veronica returned home from her latest expedition to nurse her aunt.

On her way back to the cottage from her aunt’s funeral, Veronica was going over her plans for her next expedition. As she arrived at the cottage, the door was ajar and she entered to sounds of someone in the kitchen – searching. She grabbed a weapon and headed in to apprehend the thief. They fought and the thief ran – but Veronica wasn’t going to let him get away and sprinted after him. When she caught him, they fought and he seized her and began dragging her toward a coach. To her good luck, an elderly German man came to her rescue and helped her fight off the villain. Her rescuer tells her she is in extreme danger and offers to take her to London to keep her safe. She doesn’t believe him, but – well – he is offering her a free trip to London and that is where she was headed anyway, so she’d just save the money.

They drove through the night to arrive in London the next morning. However, rather than taking Veronica to his home, her rescuer (Max) took her to his friend (Stoker) and extracted a promise from him to keep Veronica safe no matter what. Max wouldn’t explain his reasons because he said he needed to check with someone first and then he’d explain. With that, he took his leave of them.

Stoker is a man with many secrets, heartaches, and what would appear to be a sad and unhappy life. These things are all hinted at but we don’t learn a lot about him in this book. Since Veronica’s life is the focus of this book, I assume that we’ll learn more about Stoker in the upcoming books. I loved Stoker and will be interested to learn his tale in the future.

The following day, Veronica and Stoker read in the paper where Max was murdered during the night. Stoker immediately insists that they leave London and go someplace where she’ll be safe and they can formulate a plan.

Veronica and Stoker are off on a wild and exciting adventure with villains coming from several directions. Are any of them good guys or are they all bad guys? You’ll have to read the book to see. I can assure that you won’t solve the mystery until Veronica and Stoker do – and you won’t like the bad guys either – any of them.

As I said earlier, I love the mystery and I adore Stoker, but Veronica is just too over the top for me. I still recommend the book, just be prepared for Veronica – who I sincerely hope will mellow in future books and become less like a caricature than she seemed in this book.

Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Category: Audiobook

The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

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