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Darling readers, there is something very comforting about visiting an old friend, and at this point after meeting them in 2020, Veronica and Stoker feel like old friends. There’s something also really fun about going with old friends to an island with a castle that has stood the test of time and has all the fun passageways and gardens to prove it. That is where A Dangerous Collaboration leads us and I’m only mad about the slow burn.   

In this iteration of Veronica and Stoker solve a mystery, otherwise known as A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn, they travel to Cornwall, then to an island, where a friend of Stoker’s brother is the Lord.  (Yes, this had me picturing all the landscape of Poldark, and it was just creepy enough for me to have a vision of Aunt Agatha too!). Turns out, a party has been assembled rather dramatically to help solve the mystery of why the Lord’s bride disappeared three years ago on their wedding day.  

If you love a good madcap, this might be for you!  Veronica is rather ahead of her (Victorian) times, Stoker has such a great balance of feminism and chivalry, and neither have any cares to give, they’re just here for the science of it all.  A Dangerous Collaboration is another step towards what I hope will be their fantastic romance, and another really fun hang of a book.  I’m not generally a connoisseur of mysteries, but something about this series feels like just the right balance of cozy and creepy that have me hooked. And you know the “will they or won’t they” doesn’t hurt either.  

If you need something fun to read this holiday season, or this winter, as you escape the cold and rest up, I’m giving A Dangerous Collaboration four solid stars.  I’m not still thinking about the mystery, but I am wondering what comes next for our daring pair of leads and am grumpy that our Maas adventure is going to interfere with me finding out, for now.  Please start with A Curious Beginning if you’re just meeting Veronica and Stoker.  They do require proper introductions!

What’s a fun series that you love to come back to?

~ Nikki 

Deanna Raybourn is a sixth-generation native Texan who graduated with a double major in English and history from the University of Texas San Antonio. She’s the author of the Lady Julia Grey mystery series, the Veronica Speedwell mystery series, a collection of 1920’s themed novels, other stories, and the 2022 bestselling thriller Killers of a Certain Age. Her novels have been nominated for Edgar, Macavity, and Agatha awards, and Killers of a Certain Age won the Barry Award for best thriller. She lives in Virginia with her college sweetheart of a husband and one child.

We have never reviewed a Veronica Speedwell mystery novel before because we have only ever read them for Virtual Book Club titles. It goes a long way to say that the fact we have chosen the fourth in the series of nine books (currently, there is not a set number of titles anticipated yet) for our Comfort Read themed month means we love this series and these characters. Veronica is a butterfly hunter who can no longer bear to kill the lovely insects for her collection and is creating a vivarium of live specimens to be included in the museum of natural history that she and Revelstoke Templeton-Vane are creating for Lord Rosemorran. Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, Stoker’s elder brother receives a request to journey to his friend’s family island and tempts Veronica with the promise of glasswing butterflies for her vivarium that are only found on this very island. The relationship between Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius is awkwardly delightful and full of weirdness and emotional understanding. 

I am also giving A Dangerous Collaboration four stars for its exceeds expectations writing and plot. I, too, prefer to not have a slow burn relationship and this is the fourth book with all the sexual tension of one romance novel. It doesn’t mean that I am going to slow down in wanting to read the rest of Veronica and Stoker’s story and about all the adventures they go on separately and together. Especially together for at least five more books! The comfort level of this series is like a mug of hot cocoa enjoyed next to a fire. I highly recommend reading them while enjoying just those things.

~Ashley

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