A Curious Beginning

By: Deanna Raybourn

Narrated by: Angele Masters

London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry - and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime. But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker - a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

©2015 Deanna Raybourn (P)2015 Recorded Books

A Delightful Story

I was fortunate to take a risk on a sale book, and thoroughly enjoyed this almost mythical tale. Heroine lepidopterist and rogue hero naturalist are thrown together when the mystery of the woman's birth puts them both in peril of several powerful forces, including special forces of Scotland Yard. The heroine is a most interesting character in that in the late 1800s, she values her independence above all else. Gratefully, she establishes an intellectual relationship with her fellow scientist, yet it's not without sexual tensions. However, this is most definitely NOT a romance novel. The banter between them is great fun. I will definitely give this story a second listen, and will look for other books by this author.

Very tired of ridiculously feisty women

Any additional comments?

It's become a fad to present female main characters as so independent they are actually nothing but obnoxious. It's also boring. Spunk and independence are good but this is over the top. Couldn't keep listening.

Lady Julia in another guise???

I just finished listening to this book and I'm somewhat on the fence. I thought the story plot a good one, and it kept me interested. I like the slightly over the top Veronica Speedwell and enjoy the dialogue between her and Stoker, her partner "in crime" who is forever being thrown off balance by her frank & headstrong personality.

All that being said, I would probably give a higher overall rating if not for two things. One, I have listened to or read all of the Lady Julia Grey series which is absolutely great, but it also makes me feel like Veronica Speedwell is modeled after Julia and Stoker after Brisbane, and with very similar beginnings to their relationship. If I had my choice I think I'd rather see more Lady Julia books instead.

The second point is the narrator. Some narrators are particularly good at voicing the opposite sex, such as the woman who narrates the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries by C.S. Harris (sorry her name is escaping me at the moment!) or George Guidall who reads Craig Johnson's Longmire series. You never feel like either one's voicing are forced. Unfortunately Angele Masters' male voices sound like a woman trying to sound like a man and it can be distracting.

Maybe better read than heard

If there had been a different reader, I might have liked this production better. The main character as read here reminds me of Miss Fisher of the TV mystery series, much ado about flirtation and some innuendo but that's all. This may be a book that I'd enjoy more reading so I could invent voices of my own for the characters, too, because Veronica and Stoker seem either too snarky or to vapid.

Fun adventure

Entertaining, well read and fun. Can't wait for 2nd adventure. Characters well developed and story nicely paced.

Absolutely LOVED it!

Wonderfully written and beautifully told. I look forward to more adventures with Ms. Speedwell and Stoker!

What fun!

Not great literature maybe, but the characters were engaging and intelligent. The plot was complicated enough to keep me guessing. You will need a decent vocabulary too, which is refreshing.

Love love looooove the Narrator

The book is great but I have fallen in love with how Angele reads this.

Enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed this book. Just a simple mystery. The characters had great personalities and I became found of them fast.

An absolute joy!

A Curious Beginning is the first in a new series by Deanna Raybourn, author of the Lady Julia Grey series, and a bang-up, first-rate, excellent beginning it is! Veronica Speedwell is a modern adventuring independent young woman, an anomaly in Victorian England. She is a charmingly forthright free thinker at the center of a mystery. When her house is ransacked and she narrowly avoids kidnapping, she throws in her lot with Stoker, a gentleman born but no gentleman to Victorian society.
The characters are well-written, the storyline veers from excitingly dangerous to exceedingly funny. The dialog is comedic genius and it is a joy to listen to the lovely rounded tones of Angele Masters. She made Raybourn's excellent adventure story into a theatric performance so immersive that I swear I teared up when it ended!
If you have enjoyed Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series (narrated by the brilliant Emily Gray), you should rush to download A Curious Beginning. Steampunk fans would enjoy its atmospheric qualities, though it does not have the typical steampunk inventions or paranormal elements.
But oh the pain of waiting for the next book in the Veronica Speedwell series...I count the days!