2019 historical thriller, fourth of its series. Veronica Speedwell is
invited to a castle on a Cornish island: the lord's wife vanished on
her wedding day, the brother's widow is making a living as a medium,
and altogether there are a lot of puzzles to be untangled.
Of course Stoker is there too, but Veronica goes as the guest of
Stoker's brother Tiberius; and, because the host is something of a
stickler for morality, they have to pretend to be engaged. This isn't
leaned on very hard, and it's mostly used to show off how much of a
manipulator Tiberius can be.
Mostly the question being asked here is: what happened to the vanished
bride? Run away, murdered, accident, something else? The villagers are
no help, rattling on about piskies and mermaids, but clearly someone
here knows more than they're telling.
"He has brought this on himself," I agreed. "But why? It makes no
sense."
"What are you nattering on about now?"
"Everything you just said. I am agreeing with you. Try not to let
the novelty throw you off your stride,"
Sometimes it becomes very obvious that the author's native language in
American, which turns of phrase which would simply not have been used
by educated English people of the 1880s. And of course many people
have over-modern attitudes, though to some extent that's a convention
of the series.
Still, good fun, especially in the latter third or so where Raybourn
visibly shifts gear from building up tension to resolving it. This is
pretty light stuff but it's done well. Teasers indicate that the next
book will deal with Jack the Ripper, which may either cement my
enjoyment of the series or sour me on the whole thing.