This series gets better with every book and this officially became my favorite! I'm completely in love with my girl Veronica and Stoker. The mystery in this one was so fascinating and twisty, right from the moment Stoker discovered the woman inside the wax figure. I just...ugh I love this series and I need more right now,

If you're this deep into the Veronica Speedwell series, you'll know what to expect here. This doesn't really break the mold from earlier books in the series, which is fine with me because I'm a big fan of that mold. In this story, Veronica and Stoker are (of course) unexpectedly drawn into a murder mystery, which all started with their patron's acquisition of a wax figure/anatomical model. As usual, Veronica and Stoker have good banter, the recurring and new side characters are interesting, and the mystery plot is compelling and well-paced. I was also pleasantly surprised by a bit of a plot twist, which I think is impressive this far into the series.

This is book... nine in the Veronica Speedwell series and I will read as many more of them as Deanna Raybourn is willing to write. I was absolutely enthralled by this twist on Frankenstein, which felt both entertaining yet plausible and brought in the fascinating history of the anatomical Venuses used for both research and entertainment.

Compared to others in the series, this installment felt a little thin and flat. I enjoyed the unique premise, but something about the way the plot unfolded just wasn’t grabbing me with the same excitement as some of the earliest installments.

A Grave Robbery is the ninth in a series that really should be read in order to fully appreciate the increasing and interesting cast of characters. This book was no exception to a stellar series. The mystery was creepy and intriguing, and based on some historical events, which I always find fascinating. Some of my favorite supporting characters played a large role in this book as well as the introduction of possibly a new recurring character. The banter between Veronica and Stoker was amusing as always. I highly recommend this series to lovers of historical fiction with a dash of romance and a large dose of adventure!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Deanna Raybourn for this digital ARC.

Another novel with Stoker and Veronica? Yes please! We find the pair firmly entrenched in cataloging Lord Rosemorran's collection. But when he asks the pair to look at an anatomical venus that he purchased, the figure turns out to be a dead body entombed in wax. Veronica and Stoker, along with JJ and Mornaday, have to race against time (and a train) to try and put this mystery to rest.

I very much enjoy this series, but this edition seemed lackluster compared to the others. Maybe it was the monkey? I'm not entirely sure why it was inserted into the book since it really played no use at all. I did appreciate the detail put into describing the venus, but other than that it was just fine.

Not a bad book but I hope the next installation is a bit more adventurous and less on cataloging the archive.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this installment of the Veronica Speedwell series! I thought the mystery was intriguing from page one, there was a lot of good historical info to supplement the story (whether it's accurate or not, I don't know and don't really care since, again, it served its purpose well). Although I did correctly guess the culprit, I didn't know how all the clues/details exactly came together, but what I appreciate is that it all made sense in the end. Nothing felt pulled out of a hat and there were a lot of great twists and turns to keep me interested all the way through.

I also love that the relationship between Veronica and Stoker has reached a place of stability. I think it lets the focus go back to their quirky rapport and nerdy interests, which were a few things that made them a fun duo to begin with. This one has definitely revived my enthusiasm for the series.

The latest Veronica Speedwell mystery begins unassumingly–with Stoker and Veronica enjoying some quiet time at the Belvedere, working alongside each other and taking a break from murder and mayhem. That is until Lord Rosemorran brings home a wax figure in a glass coffin, as a present to his young daughter. It doesn’t take very long for Veronica and Stoker to realize that this is no wax figure, but the dead body of a real woman, perfectly preserved, and quite anonymous.

I think this is one of my favorites of the series to date. Veronica and Stoker have been through some things. Es-spouses showing up out of the blue, Veronica coming to terms with her unmarried/care-free life vs. admitting she loves Stoker and wants to be with him, murder investigations, near death experiences, and dealing with each of their dysfunctional families. It’s a lot. But they are finally in a good place, and I absolutely love it.

This mystery was well done. And so very interesting. I really had no idea there was a time when physicians used lifelike wax figures to teach anatomy and physiology. As you can imagine, Veronica and Stoker are determined to identify the young woman and find out if she was murdered. They enlist two of their allies, the reporter J.J. Butterworth and Metropolitan police officer Mornaday, to help with the investigation. But if you’ve followed along with this series at all, you know most of the detective work is done by them and them alone. They revel in being in the thick of things.

There were quite a few suspects, and I think the author did a great job of stringing clues along until the very end. This villain was rather creepy, especially in their Frankenstein-like obsession with the science of reanimation. All in all, this was a great addition to the series. I’m almost mad at myself for reading it so early. Now begins the wait for book ten.

This series is so much fun and this book is no exception. All the main characters are in place with
a few new ones involved, and with a truly creepy corpse. A joynto read.

Every long term series goes through ebbs and flows and this ninth book is is one of the ebbs. It's a more straightforward, low key murder mystery, light on the adventure that's been part of the earlier books.

Veronica and Stoker have been enjoying their own definition of domestic bliss, continuing to work on cataloging Lord Rosemorran's collection. when they come into possession of an Anatomical Venus. They discover that rather than a wax figure, she's a real person meticulously embalmed.

Readers only partially get the payoff they've been hoping for with Veronica and Stoker. I say partially because if you're also a romance reader, you'll be frustrated with the fact that Veronica is sparing with the details, Yes, I know it's a mystery first and foremost...and still...

But at this point, I'm in for a penny, in for a pound. A Grave Robbery is.if an enjoyable, if not totally enthralling read. What's exciting is A Grave Robbery continues to provide great setup for a JJ Butterworth series. Fingers crossed.

3.5 stars (but yes, I'll be buying a copy)

Volume nine in the Veronica Speedwell series finds our intrepid "investigators" with an unsettling mystery. Lord Rosemorran, their patron, has purchased a reclining wax figure and has asked Stoker to insert a mechanism to give her the effect of breathing like the sleeping beauty at Madame Tussaurd"s Wax Emporium. As he prepares to do this he finds that this is no waxworks but the body of a perfectly preserved girl. Veronica and Stoker set out to find out who she is and who perpetuated this crime on her. With the help of their friends, J.J. Butterworth, the reporter and Mornaday of the Metropolitan police and some paperwork sleuthing by the new director of Plumfield's mortuary they are able to track down when she died. But further investigation puts them in the dangerous sights of the Killer. There is a great deal more coziness between Stoker and Veronica as their relationship blossoms. This as in the rest of the series is a fascinating and fun read!

The newest Veronica Speedwell mystery begins with the quiet enterprise of Stoker and Speedwell working diligently and quietly at the Belvedere restoring Lord Rosemorran’s may collections for future display in a museum. They have been enjoying the peace and quiet since their last adventure when they almost lost their lives.

That peace must be put on hold when Lord Rosemorran arrives with a wax figure he purchased from a warehouse sale. His youngest child wanted the wax figure as a birthday present. Lady Rose had been fascinated by the Sleeping Beauty figure at Madame Tuassade’s. When Stoker examines the figure closer, he discovers to his horror it is not wax but a well preserved young lady.

Stoker and Speedwell call in their friends JJ and Mornaday to help search the newspaper archives and police records for missing young ladies. They have to discover who she is before they can discover what happened to her. How did she come to be in a glass coffin in a warehouse? But the truth is dangerous and many people wish it would stay buried in the past.

Fans of the series will love this latest in the series but have no worry if you have not read the other books. The series is written so you can jump in at any time and not be lost. You will be enchanted enough to go back to the beginning and read them all though.

When a wax figure turns out to be a dead girl, Stoker and Veronica attempt to discreetly find out who she was and what happened to her. Though only a small part of this book, I loved the detail about the underground trains mortuaries used in the Victorian era to transport bodies to cemeteries. As with all of Raybourn's books, it's well researched and the characters are relatable and likeable. The details of the time don't overwhelm the story and it feels as if you are there in the action. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'll read anything and everything Raybourn publishes, but especially her Veronica Speedwell series.

Veronica and Stoker learn the value of their associates in this newest adventure. I am glad to be back with a rock-solid V and S who are as romantic and combative as ever.

In A GRAVE ROBBERY, Veronica Speedwell has started to simper. That's a real problem for the character this reader has come to view as intrepid and somewhat reserved in her feelings for Stoker. I have no issue with the relationship, just its current iteration in an icky form.

In addition, Lord Rosemorran acquires a Cinderella like wax figure and commissions Stoker to turn it into a clockwork figure, thus providing the Rosemorran collection its very only Madame Tussaud's type of Sleeping Beauty. Stoker finds more than he bargained and so does the reader. We are in for a treatise on the Anatomical Venuses used as teaching aids at the time. We get rather more specific information than we might want, and this too is icky.

A disappointment for me as I have liked the books very much until A GRAVE ROBBERY.

Veronica and Stoker return in a new adventure which is a tip of the hat to Mary Shelley. They come across a wax rendition of a beautiful woman who they nickname Beauty but upon cutting her open are shocked to find that she’s not what she seems. Murder, mayhem and reanimating corpses make this episode of Veronica Speedwell’s life an electrifying, fun read.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC! My opinions are my own.

This series! I love it so much! Stoker and Veronica are one of my all time favorite couples. And this one does not disappoint! The characters, of course, are fantastic. The dialogue always funny, and of course the mystery is super entertaining. I can’t get enough of this series.

A Grave Robbery is the 9th in the historical fiction series set in Victorian London and featuring Veronica Speedwell and Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane. Both now work together; Victoria is a lepidopterist with an extensive knowledge of butterflies, and Stoker is a taxidermist for large animals. They are employed by and live on the estate of the Earl of Rosemorran, where they are cataloguing, repairing, and arranging his vast store of art and artifacts for eventual display in the museum he planned to open.

But progress was slow; they frequently abandoned their endeavors to investigate crimes, putting themselves in considerable peril in the process.

This particular episode involves an “Anatomical Venus” that turns out not to be a wax figure, but an actual dead body. Anatomical Venuses, made primarily in the late 1700s, were conceived of as a way to teach anatomy. Although made of wax (except in the case of this story), they were life-sized and life-like, with an idealized beauty, and thus referred to as Venuses. The Earl had acquired one, and gave it to Stoker to see if he could animate it for the amusement of the Earl’s daughter. To Stoker’s horror, he found the woman was not artificial at all, and he and Veronica set out to find who she was and what had happened to her.

They are aided by two friends who helped them in the past: J.J. Butterworth, an intrepid lady reporter who aspired to be like Nelly Bly, and Inspector Mornaday of Scotland Yard.

But they quickly discovered that they were not the only ones interested in this Venus, and all four are at risk of losing their lives.

Evaluation: I like some aspects of this series, although I find Veronica to be a bit annoying. Her confidence seems more like arrogance, and her aggressive sexuality with no inhibitions or discretion seems a little unlikely for Victorian England. Moreover, I find it hard to fathom that when she is obnoxious and stubborn, this just makes her all the more irresistible to Stoker. Nevertheless, the historical touches are of interest, and the pacing works well.

Deanna Raybourn’s A Grave Robbery, the ninth Veronica Speedwell mystery, might be my favorite in the series. There’s a compelling storyline. The banter between Veronica and Stoker is witty as always. And, there are several new characters introduced, as well as the return of two intrepid ones from previous books.

The Earl of Rosemorran, patron and employer for both Stoker and Veronica, brings Stoker a new project. In a crystal casket is what appears to be a waxwork of a sleeping beauty. He bought it as a gift for his daughter, Rose, who is fascinated by Madame Tussaud’s wax figures. He wants Stoker to install a clockwork mechanism in it so the beauty will appear to breathe.

Stoker knows he can do that, until he makes the first cut in the figure, and discovers it’s an actual body, not a waxwork. With Veronica’s urging, he does just enough of a rudimentary postmortem examination to try to identify her. While he wants to identify the woman, and give her a proper burial, Veronica wants to learn if she committed suicide or was murdered.

This time, Veronica and Stoker need the help of several friends, J.J. Butterworth, a female reporter, and Detective Inspector Mornaday of the Special Branch of Scotland Yard. But, they also recruit several others, a mysterious hermit, and Wilfred Plumtree, an undertaker. The cast is perfect to undertake Veronica’s audacious scheme to catch a villain, someone who tried to bring a dead woman to life.

Wit, innuendo, and adventure. It’s another enjoyable entry in the series. But, I did want to mention Raybourn’s descriptive introduction to Plumtree and Son, the mortuary. Her writing sings, reminiscent of Charles Dicken’s early descriptions in A Christmas Carol. And, who can read of a creator trying to bring a woman to life without thinking of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Raybourn is a master at including hints of the past in her series of misadventures.