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A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn
After a bold young natural historian escapes an abduction, she joins forces with a roguish gentleman to unravel a conspiracy stretching across Victorian England. Clever, brisk, and charming, A Curious Beginning launches an irresistible adventure with a heroine you’ll want to follow anywhere.
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In A Curious Beginning, did you enjoy ...
... a fiercely independent Victorian heroine who defies social rules while sleuthing?
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
If Veronica Speedwell’s audacity and sharp mind hooked you, Charlotte Holmes will feel like a kindred spirit. In A Study in Scarlet Women, Charlotte engineers her own “disgrace” to escape marriage, teams up with the formidable Mrs. Watson, and unpicks a series of society-linked deaths while fencing verbally with Lord Ingram. Like Veronica, she refuses to play by the era’s rules, and her deductions cut as cleanly as Veronica’s retorts across Victorian drawing rooms.
... the sparkling banter and dry wit between an unlikely investigative duo?
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
Loved the repartee between Veronica and Stoker? You’ll revel in Phryne Fisher’s whip-smart quips and effortless charm. In Cocaine Blues, Phryne lands in 1920s Melbourne, picks up steadfast allies like Dot Williams, and teases information out of crooks and coppers (including Jack Robinson) with a grin. The tone is fizzy and sly—just the kind of witty, flirtatious sleuthing vibe that made Veronica and Stoker’s exchanges irresistible.
... a twisty historical murder investigation set against richly researched 19th‑century backdrops?
The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber
If the chase through Victorian museums and alleys in A Curious Beginning pulled you in, The Anatomist’s Wife offers equally immersive historical sleuthing. Lady Kiera Darby—haunted by her late husband’s anatomy work—joins forces with inquiry agent Sebastian Gage to solve a murder at a Highland estate. Like Veronica and Stoker’s inquiry into conspiracies and corpses, Kiera and Gage sift motives, secrets, and society’s whispers to reach a satisfying, edge-of-the-lantern reveal.
... watching combative partners grow into trusting allies through peril and discovery?
A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee
If you enjoyed how Veronica and Stoker’s prickly partnership warms into trust while they dodge danger, you’ll appreciate the friction-turned-alliance in A Spy in the House. Mary Quinn, recruited by a secret women’s detective agency, goes undercover in a merchant’s home and keeps colliding with the skeptical (and intriguing) James Easton. Their bickering cooperation, much like Veronica and Stoker’s, evolves into a bond forged by competence, risk, and mutual respect.
... a slow-burn, opposites-attract romance simmering beneath the investigation?
Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
If the simmering undercurrent between Veronica and Stoker delighted you, Murder at the Brightwell delivers that same romantic tension alongside a deft mystery. Socialite Amory Ames heads to a seaside hotel to help an old flame—and promptly finds herself entangled in murder and in the orbit of her magnetic, enigmatic husband, Milo. The flirtation, friction, and trust-testing echoes the will-they-won’t-they spark that made Veronica and Stoker so compelling.
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