Review: A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn

 

A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell #10) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 3rd 2026 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Librofm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Veronica and Stoker are drawn into a puzzling mystery when Detective Mornaday quietly seeks their help on a case he’s been ordered to abandon. Two deaths, one man drained of blood with twin puncture wounds, the other ruled a suicide, both trace back to an exclusive and secretive men’s club.

 

Whispers of witchcraft and Dracula swirl about, and while Veronica’s scientific mind remains open to every possibility, Stoker’s skepticism keeps them grounded. Their investigation soon attracts the attention of the Harpocrates Society, a gentleman’s club with an enigmatic leader whose nocturnal habits fuel the rumors. Detective Mornaday and J.J. are fun side characters, each helping to investigate in their own way.

 

A Ghastly Catastrophe was another delightful addition to the series. Veronica and Stoker work wonderfully together, both clever, determined and fierce. I love their playful back and forth and I’m happy the conflict comes from the danger of the investigations they tackle and no longer from their romantic relationship. I look forward to their next case!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Veronica and Stoker are practically dying for a new adventure but when their wish is granted, they find themselves up against a secret society and a darkly seductive duo in this landmark historical mystery from beloved New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

When the corpse of an entitled young man is found entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to Highgate Cemetery, Veronica’s interest is piqued. And then a second victim is found, his death made to look like a suicide, and Veronica and her intrepid beau, Stoker, know the hunt is on. The two men share one link: they were both members of a society so secretive that only a singular mention of it can be found anywhere.

Thirsty for more clues, Veronica and Stoker hear that a young Roma boy may know more about their first victim, but the only way to the boy is through an old acquaintance of Stoker’s, Lady Julia Brisbane. Lady Julia and her dashing husband, Nicholas, occasionally track down murderers and are only too happy to help. But as it becomes clear the secret society is a dangerous sect looking to entice immortality seekers, Veronica and Stoker find themselves ensnared by a decidedly more sinister couple.

The professed leader of the society claims to be a creature of the night; his partner practices witchcraft and they both fancy themselves emissaries of the otherworldly. Just as Veronica and Stoker get closer to learning the true purpose of the society and unraveling this macabre mystery, another body turns up, and they quickly discover they’ve gone from being the hunters to the hunted. . . .

Review: Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn

 

Kills Well With Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 4th 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

After the events of the last book, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie, our beloved sixty+ year-old deadly assassins, have been living a low-key life for the last year, until they get a call from The Museum’s director, Naomi. It seems some of their past files have been leaked and one operative has been murdered. Naomi tasks them with eliminating the threat while they also deal with a possible mole within.

 

The files leaked paints targets on their backs so they must hunt down the killer lest they be picked off one by one. Their mission takes them on a wild adventure across the globe, crossing the Atlantic to the UK and then all over Europe. It was a fun and exciting ride!

 

Billie narrates the story in the present and in the past, giving glimpses of the targets and missions in the past that may be part of the threat.

I love the idea of women still being vibrant and deadly in their 60s and these ladies are badass! They’re each other’s ride-or-die, but that didn’t stop some good-natured squabbling, and the banter cracked me up! Their disguises on the train were hilarious! Nula the chicken was priceless and stole the show! Not sure if we’ll get another mystery with these gals, but I’m so there if we do!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Four women assassins, senior in status—and in age—sharpen their knives for another bloody good adventure in this riotous follow-up to the New York Times bestselling sensation Killers of a Certain Age.

After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their rest, but the lack of excitement is starting to a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions before she gets the itch to get back in the game. When they receive a call from Naomi Ndiaye, the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.

Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, all of them connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster who rules her business empire with an iron fist and plays puppet master in international affairs. Naomi is convinced this criminal queen is bent upon revenge, killing off the agents who attempted to thwart her, and the aging quartet of killers is next.

Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster and her assassin. But their nemesis is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their experience and a whole lot of luck to get out of this mission alive.

Review: A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

 

A Grave Robbery (Veronica Speedwell #9) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 12th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 326

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Veronica and Stoker have a macabre mystery to solve when Lord Rosemorran brings home what is supposed to be a wax figure of a woman under glass and they discover this is no wax figure. It’s a real-life dead woman!

A Grave Robbery, despite its morbid mystery, was a delight! Clever and so funny! I’m so happy that Veronica and Stoker have finally settled into their romance and the conflict doesn’t come their relationship. I loved how they worked together, united against any problems they faced. It was fun to have J.J. and Mornaday working with them, as well. Their contributions were valuable and the interactions fun!

 

The small tamarin monkey, who adored Stoker was endlessly entertaining! I love all the animals they’ve added to their family!

It was a danger-filled, thrilling conclusion! The series is best read from the beginning.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Veronica and Stoker discover that not all fairy tales have happy endings, and some end in murder, in this latest historical mystery from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Lord Rosemorran has purchased a wax figure of a beautiful reclining woman and asks Stoker to incorporate a clockwork mechanism to give the Rosemorran Collection its own Sleeping Beauty in the style of Madame Tussaud’s. But when Stoker goes to cut the mannequin open to insert the mechanism, he makes a gruesome discovery: this is no wax figure. The mannequin is the beautifully preserved body of a young woman who was once very much alive. But who would do such a dreadful thing, and why?

Sleuthing out the answer to this question sets Veronica and Stoker on their wildest adventure yet. From the underground laboratories of scientists experimenting with electricity to resurrect the dead in the vein of Frankenstein to the traveling show where Stoker once toured as an attraction, the gaslit atmosphere of London in October is the perfect setting for this investigation into the unknown. Through it all, the intrepid pair is always one step behind the latest villain—a man who has killed once and will stop at nothing to recover the body of the woman he loved. Will they unmask him in time to save his next victim? Or will they become the latest figures to be immortalized in his collection of horrors?

Review: A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn

 

A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell #8) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 7th 2023 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

In the last book Veronica and Stoker parted ways, Veronica to hunt butterfly collections in Italy with Tiberius, Stoker’s brother, and Stoker off to hunt a specimen in Germany. However, a threat to Tiberius and the Seven Sinners, a group of Tiberius’ old friends bring them all back together again to the family estate, Cherboys, in Devon to expose the killer. Years ago while vacationing at Cherboys one of their members fell off a cliff to their death, a tragedy ruled an terrible accident, but now an unknown is claiming he was murdered and that one of them were responsible. So far, two members have died in recent “accidents” and there are three left including Tiberius. Tiberius asked for Veronica and Stoker’s help to unmask the killer before anyone else dies.

There’s no shortage of suspects when Tiberius invites the surviving members for a stay. Veronica and Stoker go about their investigation separately as Stoker is still hurt by Veronica and doesn’t want to just sweep the past events under the rug. I have to say I didn’t blame him. In the past books Veronica has been a little frustrating to me, whereas Stroker gives his all to her, she hold back. It was a little disappointing they weren’t working together for much of the book, but I did enjoy the sleuthing. Veronica has a sharp, humorous mind so I always enjoy her conversations and her mental musings. The writing is very witty.

The descriptions of Cherboys by the cliffs of Devon and the village of Dearsley sounded beautiful and each of the characters assembled were interesting! I kept trying to figure out the culprit right along with Veronica. I was happy with how all things turned out, Veronica finally coming to some personal revelations and the case was wrapped up as well. A Sinister Revenge is book eight in the series and it’s one that needs to read in order. I read an e-copy, but the audios narrated by Angèle Masters are a fantastic way to go too!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Veronica must find and stop a devious killer when a group of old friends is targeted for death in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Veronica’s natural-historian beau, Stoker, has been away in Bavaria for months and their relationship is at an impasse. But when Veronica shows up before him with his brother, Tiberius, Lord Templeton-Vane, he is lured back home by an intriguing job offer: preparing an iguanodon for a very special dinner party.

Tiberius has received a cryptic message—along with the obituaries of two recently deceased members of his old group of friends, the Seven Sinners—that he too should get his affairs in order. Realizing he is in grave danger but not knowing why, he plans a reunion party for the remaining Sinners at his family estate to lure the killer out while Veronica and Stoker investigate.

As the guests arrive and settle in, the evening’s events turn deadly. More clues come to light, leading Veronica, Stoker, and Tiberius to uncover a shared past among the Sinners that has led to the fatal present. But the truth might be far more sinister than what they were prepared for.

Review: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

 

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: September 6th 2022 by Berkley

Pages: 368

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Killers of a Certain Age introduces us to Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie at the start of their career, on their first mission, in 1979 and then flip to the present when the ladies meet up on a cruise to celebrate their retirement, forty years later. However, it becomes apparent someone is after the ladies and intent on a more permanent kind of retirement for them.

I love the idea of female assassins, so many underestimate women, even more so at these four women in their sixties, still lethal both mentally and physically!  All four were recruited by the Museum, an organization formed by ex-OSS and SOE operatives to hunt down escaped Nazi’s, recapture stolen art, and then later to kill human traffickers, drug lords, and anyone else needing to be eliminated, but escaping justice for one reason or another.

I’m a fan of Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series (historical mysteries with a bit of romance), so I was eager to dive into her newest, excited about how she’d handle such a different kind of story. Killers of a Certain Age was a fun, addictive, thrilling journey from beginning to end!  I absolutely loved it! I think fans of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club Mystery series would definitely enjoy it. Although, these ladies are quite a bit more badass!  Chapters of the past gave glimpses of their assignments over the years and history, and the chapters set in the present, from Billie’s POV, follows the ladies trying to figure out why they’re being targeted and then striking back. I love well-deserved retribution and it was an excellent and gratifying conclusion!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon.

They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - it's kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they've been marked for death.

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They're about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman--and a killer--of a certain age.

Review: An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

A Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 2nd 2021 by Berkley & Penguin Audio

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher & purchased audio copy

Narrator: Angele Masters

Audio Length: 13 hrs 4 minutes

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Veronica and Stoker become embroiled in another dangerous escapade when a member of the Hippolyta Club’s tribute turns into a murder mystery involving royalty.

Alice Baker-Green, a member of the Hippolyta Club, fell to her death in what was thought to be a tragic climbing accident. While preparing for her tribute, Stoker and Veronica stumble upon evidence that shows her fall was no accident. Stoker would like to leave things to the authorities of the Alpenwald, where the “accident” occurred, but Veronica is determined to find justice for Ms. Baker-Green. Just as Veronica think she’s hit a roadblock, another avenue of investigation opens up. The royal delegation of Alpenwald reaches out to Veronica for help in a desperate situation giving Veronica the perfect inside access to those with firsthand knowledge of Alice before her death.

Veronica Speedwell never fails to make me laugh. Her adventures and romance with Stoker are endlessly entertaining. These two found exactly the right person in each other to fall in love with.

Although, Highlight for Spoiler: I am disappointed for Stoker because his ideas of romance are a little more traditional (as in marriage) than Veronica’s. Mine are too, so I’m firmly on the side of Stoker here, and even though he says he’s fine with their arrangement, I hope Veronica changes her mind in the future. I think it would disappoint him otherwise in the long run. End of spoiler.

Another clever, engaging installment in the Veronica Speedwell series. If you haven’t started this series yet you’re missing out!

4 Stars

Review: A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn

A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 10th 2020 by Berkley Books

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible

About the book:

Veronica Speedwell navigates a dark world of scandal and murder in this new adventure from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian colleague Stoker are asked by Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk to help with 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, known as the Club de l'Etoile, and the proprietess, Madame Aurore, has received an expensive gift that can be traced back to the prince. Lady Wellie would like Veronica and Stoker to retrieve the jewel from the club before scandal can break.

Worse yet, London is gripped by hysteria in the autumn of 1888, 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 Aurore's high class brothel, where another body soon turns up. Many secrets are swirling around Veronica and the royal family--and it's up to Veronica and Stoker to find the truth, before it's too late for all of them.

My Thoughts:

Oh, I just loved this one! Since Veronica is being honest with her feelings for Stoker, and Stoker shows in every way that Veronica is it for him, I’m not stressing or feeling frustration over their romance. There was a sensual quality to one of the situations they find themselves in and the sexual tension between Stoker and Veronica was palpable at times! Loved it!

However, this one had me on the edge for different reasons. The situation Veronica and Stoker get into was dicey at times and I was worried at how they were going to get out of it! Thrills, suspense and a couple surprises.  I loved every minute! The murders by Jack the Ripper play a side part in the story and I enjoyed how Ms. Raybourn shone a light on the victims instead of making Jack the Ripper the focus as a majority of stories do.

I read this installment, but I’ve also listened to the audio versions in the past, and I have to say Angele Masters performance has been brilliant! She narrates this newest installment as well, so if you’re an audio lover you’re in for a treat!

4.5 Suns

Review: A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn

Publication Date: March 12th 2019 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: ARC provided by publisher and purchased audio copy

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible

About the book:

Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell is whisked off to a remote island off the tip of Cornwall when her natural historian colleague Stoker's brother calls in a favor. On the pretext of wanting a companion to accompany him to Lord Malcolm Romilly's house party, Tiberius persuades Veronica to pose as his fiancée--much to Stoker's chagrin. But upon arriving, it becomes clear that the party is not as innocent as it had seemed. Every invited guest has a connection to Romilly's wife, Rosamund, who disappeared on her wedding day three years ago, and a dramatic dinner proves she is very much on her husband's mind.

As spectral figures, ghostly music, and mysterious threats begin to plague the partygoers, Veronica enlists Stoker's help to discover the host's true motivations. And as they investigate, it becomes clear that there are numerous mysteries surrounding the Romilly estate, and every person present has a motive to kill Rosamund...

My Thoughts:

I’ve been having fun with the Veronica Speedwell series, but I have to say these last two books (3 & 4) have been my favorite to date. I do love the mysteries, and the modern clever woman Veronica presents, but I love the last two because we are finally getting somewhere with the romance between Stoker and Veronica!

In A Treacherous Curse (the previous book) Stroker’s tumultuous past is revealed and mostly settled. Veronica is still skittish about getting involved with Stoker, worried that he still carried feelings for his ex-wife, and sort of sabotage’s herself in the process.  Fear not, Stoker seems to know Veronica better than she knows herself. Their relationship is the highlight for me!  These two are close and united even when they’re in a bit of a snit with each other.  There’s a begrudging possessiveness, they don’t want to feel jealous but can’t help it, even when there’s no serious competition. I love the obvious passion and intensity between them, their cheeky banter is a wicked delight! Cementing their connection is their shared zeal for science.  I was over the moon with how things turned out by the end!

There is a tragic romance within the current mystery (no, not Veronica and Stoker) and I have to say that while my heart broke for the injured male, I felt worse for the woman that bore the effects of his heartbreak more! (Highlight for spoiler)I felt so bad for Tiberius’ wife! No woman wants to be second choice and she paid dearly for it! I felt more for her than Rosamund, who came off as a selfish, mercenary woman.   (End of spoiler)  It was a tragedy all around.

I can’t wait for the next book, as a Jack the Ripper type seems to be the villain, and I’m eager to see how Veronica and Stoker will take on this evil as they settle into a new understanding.

I alternatively read and listened to this book, and I can’t recommend the audio narration more! Angele Masters’ performance was perfection!

4.5 Suns