An Impossible Impostor
Ratings16
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings16
Average rating4.2
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 bestselling 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.
Series
7 primary booksVeronica Speedwell is a 7-book series with 7 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by Deanna Raybourn.
Reviews with the most likes.
The publisher provided me with the opportunity to read this (via Edelweiss+).
Actual review 3.75 stars? I've read and enjoyed this entire series and was super excited to get approved for an ARC for this one. However, this one is probably my least favorite of the series. The beginning kind of dragged for me, probably because it was more rehashing history vs adventure/mystery solving. It started to pick up for me towards the end but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.
Ugh. 🙄 Once upon a time I was a teenager who had yet to be steeped in the well-worn, time-wasting, conflict-generating tropes of romance novels. In the decades since, I have had my fill. Which is why I was so profoundly annoyed to encounter them in a beloved historical mystery series with a romance subplot between characters I consider too smart to get caught up in this BULLSHIT. My only consolation is that I don't see Raybourn getting away with pulling this crap in more than one book in her series. I will happily read the next to help wash this triteness out of my brain. For those wishing to spring to the book's defense regarding the quality of the mystery/caper, know that I skimmed the second half and read the denouement because I could not stand watching these characters make these ridiculous decisions. Please, please let the next one not involve cliches I flee by skipping pages.
