An Impossible Impostor

A Veronica Speedwell Mystery, Book 7

By: Deanna Raybourn

Narrated by: Angèle Masters

While investigating a man claiming to be the long-lost heir to a noble family, Veronica Speedwell gets the surprise of her life in this new adventure from the New York Times best-selling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.

But now a man matching Jonathan’s description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family's most valuable possessions - a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It's a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo's only hope.

Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.

©2022 Deanna Raybourn (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Even after seven books, readers can still be surprised with the stories from Veronica’s unknown past. Fans of the series will delight in the continued adventures and relationship of the intrepid pair."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Might be the most dramatic Veronica Speedwell title to date....Raybourn keeps character development and keen historical insight at the forefront of this exceptional series."—Booklist

Tantalizing cliffhanger

Once again the author has written a wonderful mystery! I love the historical aspect of her tales! Angela Masters still brings life to the characters through her narrative. But alas, another cliffhanger, and I must wait to see what befalls Veronica and Stoker. Hopefully it won't be that long!!

Engaging and entertaining!

Love this series! This was one the the best so far! Can hardly wait for the next one!

Impossibly fantastic read!

I love these books. I am devouring them like a carnivorous butterfly going after frog meats…

Simply one of the best!

Truly sorry every time I finish one. I love the characters, places, narration & emotion in the storylines. I also appreciate that there's just enough sexual tension to sew it all up without the bodice ripping tendencies of other "romance" series. Can't wait for the next one!!!!

Excellent

Another wonderfully exciting and twisting tale from this brilliant author. I cannot wait for the next book! Excelsior!!

March!! Seriously?! That’s when book 8 will come out…

Well it may be a sign of my own bookworm DNA, but I have binge read all seven books in the Veronica speedwell series. I have enjoyed each one of them for a different reasons and I am already looking forward to book 8. Veronica speedwell is a young woman of extraordinary gifts as she hunts both Adventure and butterflies in the late 1880s. She finds love, outside of England because that is a Nono according to her own ethics. Her partner in crime turns out to be a delightful man with a horrible name and her ongoing search for independence and justice for women in the Victorian era is enchanting in many ways. I can recommend the character development of each person as they are introduced and evolved in the storyline. And I can sympathize with the restrictions placed on women and theRestrictions placed on men as well. Ready for book 8. Excelsior!

I love this series!

It’s true, this book was slow in a few places, and I had a hard time once in a while telling whether it was Stoker or Harry speaking. But I listen to many audiobooks, and I think Angele Masters is a wonderful narrator. When you consider how difficult it is to wade through all kinds of poorly written trash to find an outstanding author and narrator, a couple of hiccups are not worth abandoning a very entertaining series.

One Misstep

I have been thoroughly loving this series!!! I have easily forgiven a couple minor inconsistencies between novels so much so that I’ve forgotten them. But what I can’t completely forgive is a rewriting of Veronica’s character to allow an ill-advised marriage of youth to an Englishman after 6 novels of stating her policies against marriage and dallying with Englishmen.

Ok, that dramatic statement delivered…. Deanna redeems this at the end (avoiding spoilers), but I just had to register my complaint. I hate when a book makes so angry, but I still had to finish the adventure of Veronica & Stoker so it’s obviously not all that bad.

Anyways, I simply removed one star for the plot problem. But I remain an enthralled reader and lover of these books. EXCELSIOR!

Love the series-narrator getting annoying

I love Veronica and Stoker as characters, and am very entertained by their relationship. This story is definitely better than some of the previous ones (A Murderous Relation was awful, 1-4 are great.) But Angele Masters' narration is really starting to get to me. As another reader mentioned, Veronica just sounds shrill and annoyed 90% of the time. Also, Masters' speech falls into a very repetitive pattern. She emphasizes a word at the beginning of every sentence and it gets very sing-song. (E.g., Veronica WANTED to leave...But the LOCK on the door was stuck....Stoker TRIED to open it.) Also, all of her male characters sound the same. They all have the same accent and the same timbre, and talk at the same speed. In this book, it's hard to distinguish Stoker from Jonathan at times. I and several other readers have noted this issue before. I had hoped the producer/director of the audiobooks would address it because there are some simple fixes, even if the narrator isn't a master of accents and voices, but they haven't. Overall I still enjoyed the book and I'll probably keep going because I love the main characters and their banter, as well as the historical period.

Heartbreaking

Veronica and Stoker have a rough patch in their relationship and I hope they can patch things up in the next book. The ending left me heartbroken.