A Curious Beginning

England, 1887. When her elderly guardian dies, the fiercely independent Veronica Speedwell — a lepidopterist who funds her travels by hunting butterflies and answers to no one — prepares to set off on her next adventure. Instead she is nearly abducted, then rescued by an enigmatic German baron who claims to know a dangerous secret about her origins.

The baron entrusts her to the care of Stoker, a gruff, brilliant natural historian with a scandalous past and secrets of his own. But when the baron is murdered before he can explain, Veronica and Stoker are thrown together and forced to go on the run, chasing a mystery that leads back to the truth of Veronica's own unknown parentage.

Deanna Raybourn launches the Veronica Speedwell mysteries with a witty, adventurous Victorian heroine, a crackling partnership, and a puzzle that blends history, danger, and romance.