Veronica Speedwell fans are in for an unexpected surprise! We love the adventures and mystery but we truly anticipate the Veronica and Stoker repartee and relationship.

This book finishes with a twist and a cliffhanger...which just leaves us waiting for the next installment.

I am starting to get tired of Veronica and her, frankly, adolescent emotional intelligence. I'm not seeing much growth in the character, and her selfishness is beginning to ruin the story for me. 3 stars.

I love this series. Veronica and Stoker have just returned to England from a wedding and are settling down for work at the Belvedere when they are asked, as a favor, to go investigate the return from the dead of an old acquaintance of Veronica’s. Stoker is persuaded to come along with the promise of acquiring a rare tiger species, which he spends the whole book adorably obsessing over. As soon as Veronica meets the man claiming to be the long lost member of the family she is astonished to find it isn’t him but her presumed dead husband! Hijinks ensue and they find themselves embroiled in a jewelry theft. We end on a bit of a cliff hanger and am so sad it will probably be a year or so before we get resolution.

I recently discovered this series and it has quickly become one of my favorites. This addition has all the wonderful highlights I've come to expect: wonderfully opinionated Veronica, adorable and growly Stoker, too many dogs and atmospheric locations. This book comes with a bonus of finally getting into Veronica's backstory. Recommended!

No murder, no real mystery, and very little depth. For all the drama created by Veronica’s past, it fell flat. The main character has always possessed depth, but it’s reveal has been too long coming, and in too slight a fashion to make an impact now that it has arrived. Veronica was reduced in such cliched fashion, and she was owed more.

Once again a great strong heroine. A fun peak into life in historical London. A great way to escape into an adventure.