An Impossible Impostor

September 1, 2021

Veronica Speedwell returns with natural historian beau Revelstoke "Stoker" Templeton-Vane in tow, doing a favor for Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. Sir Hugo's goddaughter's globe-trotting brother Jonathan was thought to have perished in the fiery 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, but now a man claiming to be Jonathan--and also claiming amnesia--has arrived home at Hathaway Hall. Can Veronica discover who he really is?

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2021
After her turn impersonating a princess in An Unexpected Peril (2021), Veronica Speedwell is pitched into a case that could ruin her life. It's 1889. Veronica and her lover, Stoker Templeton-Vane, have returned to their jobs at the Earl of Rosemorran's estate, where they are restoring and cataloging a vast collection that will eventually grace a museum. The head of Special Branch, Sir Hugo Montgomerie, asks them to visit an estate where his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway, lives with her family; they've been upset by the arrival of someone who may be Jonathan Hathaway, the heir reported killed in the eruption of Krakatoa. Jonathan's been missing so long that few people can identify him with certainty, and only Veronica, who knew him well, can tell if he's an imposter. Once she sees him, Veronica instantly recognizes Jonathan as Harry Spenlove, whom she'd married as a young woman and thought dead. Unfortunately, she's never mentioned her marriage to Stoker, so she declines to reveal the imposture. Soon she's caught up in a theft from the jewel collection the dowager Lady Hathaway amassed when she lived in India. Veronica naturally suspects Spenlove, who's always lived by his wits. She feels forced to support him while she ponders a way to tell Stoker the truth as they fight off attacks from others seeking a most valuable diamond. Plenty of harrowing adventures await the intrepid sleuths, but Veronica's efforts to save her relationship carry the story.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 13, 2021
Raybourn’s delightful seventh Veronica Speedwell mystery (after 2021’s An Unexpected Peril) centers on a mysterious claimant. In 1883, Veronica was visiting Sumatra with fellow lepidopterist Jonathan Hathaway when Krakatoa erupted. Jonathan was presumed killed and his younger brother, Charles, inherited the Hathaway estate. In 1889, an amnesiac man carrying Jonathan’s passport arrives at Hathaway Hall. He says he wants nothing, but if he proves to be the original heir, Charles and his ambitious wife could lose their home and possessions, including the Eye of the Dawn, a priceless ruby acquired, perhaps illegally, from an Indian maharani. Veronica must confront a part of her past she has hidden even from her lover, natural historian Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane, after she and Stoker come to the Hathaways’ Dartmoor mansion to investigate the impossible imposter’s claim. The man disappears just as the Eye of the Dawn vanishes and a ghostly orb is seen flickering on the moors. Raybourn does a fine job marrying acerbic wit, convincing emotional struggles, and fun glimpses of Victorian science. This sparkling tale will please fans of playful historicals and feisty heroines. Agent: Pamela Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Assoc.

January 1, 2022
In what might be the most dramatic Veronica Speedwell title to date, following An Unexpected Peril (2021), Sir Hugo from Scotland Yard asks a personal favor of the vivacious lepidopterist and her beau, Stoker, a natural historian. Under the guise of collecting oddities for their employer's museum, would they investigate a man calling himself Jonathan at Hathaway Hall? Jonathan, the rightful heir of the Hathaway fortune, is a former connection of Veronica's who supposedly died in the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. Ever the adventurers, Veronica and Stoker agree, and soon after their visit, the man at Hathaway Hall and a precious jewel go missing. By setting this mystery against the backdrop of India's quest for self-rule, Raybourn uses this theft to cleverly address the wrongful looting of Indian royalty by English families. And although Stoker isn't the jealous type, Veronica has been keeping secrets from him, so when "Jonathan" turns out to be more than just a former lover, the power couple faces their most personal obstacle yet. Raybourn keeps character development and keen historical insight at the forefront of this exceptional series.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2022

Just when scientists Veronica Speedwell and Stoker return home (following the action in An Unexpected Peril), Sir Hugo Mongomerie, the head of the Special Branch of Scotland Yard, asks them to take on another assignment, this one personal. His goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway, has written saying her long-lost brother, Jonathan, has reappeared at the family estate. He disappeared and was presumed dead in the explosion of Krakatoa six years earlier. Euphemia is suspicious, but Lady Hathaway, her grandmother, is eager to welcome the grandson she mourned. Sir Hugo hopes Veronica can recognize Jonathan as a former companion in Krakatoa, so she reluctantly accepts his assignment. However, she has her own secrets to protect, and the theft of a valuable gem and a kidnapping force her to make a few unwise choices. In the course of their adventures, Veronica makes a deadly enemy in a woman who may return. VERDICT Even after seven books, readers can still be surprised with the stories from Veronica's unknown past. Fans of the series will delight in the continued adventures and relationship of the intrepid pair.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.