If you are looking for a mystery series set in Victorian England, featuring rollicking adventures and an audacious heroine, I have a book for you. Frankly, when I first picked up Deanna Raybourn’s A Curious Beginning, I didn't know I was looking for any of those things, but I have become obsessed, reading four books in this series in quick succession: I cannot get enough. The series is pure fun, and I've only guessed the ending once; in every chapter Raybourn and her characters manage to surprise, intrigue, and amuse me.
As you might expect from the title, the series begins rather curiously. We meet our main character, Veronica Speedwell, and learn she is an orphan, butterfly hunter, and eccentric—though she would make fast friends with many modern women, her frank interest in self-reliance, travel, and amorous pursuits sets her quite apart from her fellow Victorians.
Returning home from her late aunt's funeral, Veronica finds her house in the midst of being burgled. Being your atypical Victorian lady, she confronts the villain and finds herself victim of an attempted kidnapping. At the last moment she is rescued by yet another stranger, this one a German baron who claims to know Veronica's mother, a woman whose identity has always been a mystery to her. The baron insists she is in grave danger and must travel with him to London where he'll explain everything. Veronica agrees; though she does not believe the baron, she does trust him, and she could use the ride. When they arrive in the city the baron leaves Veronica in the care of his dearest friend, Stoker, a recalcitrant taxidermist and natural historian; the baron promises to return with answers. The next day he is found dead in his study.
Stoker and Veronica reluctantly team up to unmask the baron's murderer and unravel the mystery of who Veronica Speedwell truly is. To do so, she'll have to face a traveling circus, disreputable relatives, and an unplanned swim in the river Thames, among other adventures. But we know she'll make it through—as of this writing there are eight more books in the series.
Emma Kaas (née Nichols) co-owns the Norwich Bookstore with her husband, Sam Kaas. When not at the bookstore you’ll most likely find her reading books, baking bread, tinkering with spreadsheets, or pulling tarot cards.