A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn
Publication Date: March 12, 2024
Summary From NetGalley:
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?
ARC provided by Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
It is hard to believe that this is the ninth book in this series. I don’t think I will ever get tired of them, especially because each one has such a fresh mystery that is grounded in historical, yet obscure events. This one is a bit more sedate than others in the series, but the mystery was so intriguing that you don’t really notice that the characters are not being chased or almost killed at every turn.
Veronica and Stoker are such a fun couple. They totally get each other and they are very much soul mates. They have very much settled into their lives, and support each other even when things are crazy. Stoker will always be there to save Veronica, even when she is perfectly capable of saving herself and vice versa. There are many very tender moments between these two that I just loved.
This story, like many of the others, are populated by secondary characters that add so much to the story. We get to see a bit more of two of them in this one, JJ Butterworth and Inspector Mornaday. JJ is a journalist who idolizes Nellie Bly. Both she and Mornaday contribute much to the solving of this mystery and really deserve more credit than they are given by Veronica. I really hope we continue to see more of them in future books.
The mystery for this book was quite intriguing and a hard one to solve. I had never heard of these was figures called Anatomical Venus, that were used to teach anatomy. But I found the whole idea fascinating. I also found the Victorian fascination with resurrecting the dead to be a nice addition to this story. It totally gave off Frankenstein vibes. The villains in this story were also quite the duo, and certainly got what they deserved. There are a lot of twists and turns and unexpected surprises that will keep you guessing throughout the story.
This is an excellent addition to this series. For those of you who have not read any of the previous books, you can enjoy this one, but it will certainly make you want to go back to the beginning and read all of them. For the avid fans of the series, this one is just as delightful as all of the ones that have come before it.
If you wish to read my reviews for the other books click on the titles below.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 