A Murderous Relationby Deanna Raybourn
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780451490742
Series: Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5
Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Pages: 308
Genre: Historical, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley
A royal scandal’s connection to a brutal serial killer threatens London in this new Veronica Speedwell adventure from New York Times bestselling and Edgar® Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
Autumn 1888. Veronica Speedwell and her colleague Stoker are asked by Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk to stop 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, 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 it from the club before scandal can break.
Worse yet, London is being 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 Auroreʼs high-class brothel, where a body soon turns up. Secrets are swirling around Veronica and the royal family—and it is up to Veronica and Stoker to find the truth, before it is too late for all of them.
A fan from the start of the series, I always thought the mc being based on a real historical figure gave the books that little extra something, but when I finished this one, as much as I enjoyed it, I thought ‘the author certainly took some creative liberties in this one’.
Which shows how much I know about history; every part I found fantastical turned out to be based on true events. So all I can say now is, poor Prince Albert Victor; even if some of the more spurious speculations about him took place long after his death, his memory seems unfairly tarnished.
Veronica and Stoker’s story was a good time though. The plot was well crafted, though not a mystery, really. This was much more about foiling a two-pronged conspiracy, and while murder was done, there was no mystery as to who did it. Raybourn also used the storyline’s backdrop of Whitechapel and the Jack the Ripper murders to spotlight the social inequities of the Victorian age.
And finally, after 5 books, there is finally some advancement between Veronica and Stoker, which, while the romance isn’t the thing for me, is a relief, because I find tension of any kind, too long strung out, to be tedious in the extreme.
It took me too long to get this book because of the pandemic, but the upside is the next one has already been announced, so I know I’ll have another to look forward to soon.