A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

April 8, 2024

A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell and her partner and lover Stoker are busy restoring Lord Rosemarran's extensive collection of curiosities, when they receive a delivery of a life-sized waxwork figure known as an Anatomical Venus. They wonder who created the figure and its intended purpose, but the mystery only deepens when they attempt to unlock its secrets.

The ninth adventure in the Veronica Speedwell/Stoker mystery series, filled with questionable science, potential scandal, and eccentricity among the aristocracy. The relationship between Veronica and Stoker deepens. Love the covers. Clever, action-packed and great fun as always. I would advise reading the series in order.

An Anatomical Venus - there were also Anatomical Adonis models

Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent

August 27, 2021

Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent

London 1861 - Violet Morgan is one of the few female undertakers in Victorian London. She owns a funeral parlor and service with her husband, but he has lost interest in the business. Her husband Graham bears a grudge against the United States and has gotten involved in a scheme to sell arms to the Confederate South. Meanwhile, Violet receives the commission of a lifetime: to arrange the funeral of a friend of Queen Victoria. At the same time, she begins investigating a series of deaths among London's poor.

Not a bad book, just a jumble of ideas that's not sure what it wants to be. Mystery? Historical fiction? Romance? Although the concept intrigued me, I don't plan on continuing with this series.

Funerals in the Victorian era were elaborate affairs, even among the poor