2015 historical thriller, first in a series. Veronica is a foundling,
now in 1887 left alone in the world by the death of her "aunt". But
soon her house is ransacked and a benefactor is murdered…
This is listed as a mystery in some places, but while there is a
puzzle to be solved, the challenges faced by the protagonist are much
more along the lines of avoiding abduction, officially-sanctioned or
otherwise. Some of the people involved must clearly be capable of
murder, but it's not at all clear which of them are evil and which (if
any) are potential allies.
In fact I was rather reminded of Buchan's adventurous novels,
particularly The Thirty-Nine Steps, in the sense of the innocent
hunted by all sides and unaware of the reason for it. No stalks across
rough country here, though.
But where Richard Hannay was mostly a general-purpose hero, Veronica
has specific skills: she's travelled extensively through the world
looking for specimens of butterflies, and she has developed a
thoroughly independent mind as well as thoroughgoing organisational
skills.
Also, she has a partner in this adventure, an old friend of the
murdered man with whom he lodged her while he went to sort things out.
Now he's suspected of the murder, and she can't even give him an alibi
(after all they were alone unchaperoned). He has a Past (only some
of which is explained here), and is very obviously her destined
romantic partner too, though they don't do anything about it yet.
It's not at all a profound book, but it feels decently researched, and
there's a welcome sense of fun about the whole business.
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