Ah! The tension of it all!

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A Murderous Relation (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery #5)
by Deanna Raybourn         
Oh My! That unresolved attraction between Veronica and Stoker. I can hardly bear the tension. Veronica shares that. Moments of seething awareness has appeared between them constantly, only to be shelved as something or someone rudely interrupts. Even here Veronica complains to herself at a key moment, "This was not the time for erotic pursuits, I told myself severely. We had a mystery to solve and would need all of our wits about us. There would be ample opportunity later for the amatory arts."
By now Veronica Speedwell and Revelstoke Templeton-Vane, have become deeply involved in mysteries involving the ton, and the unacknowledged Veronica's royal relations.
Veronica and Stoker are called to Lady Wellie's (Wellingtonia Beauclerk) as a pretext for a direct request from the Princess of Wales, wife to Veronica's father, to recover an ill advised jewellery item, a distinctive diamond star badge, gifted by Prince Albert Victor or Eddy, Veronica's half brother, to a renowned courtesan.
What begins as a refusal to bow to unlooked for and unappreciated family entanglements by Veronica ends in a plot to wrest kingship away from the Prince of Wales, and a deeper motive, that of leaving Britain in the throes of anarchy.
An on the edge of your seat adventure with my two favorite characters Veronica and Stoker, that encompasses unrest in 1880 Britain, the public's Jack the Ripper fears and suspicions, the idiosyncrasies of the Royals, the legality of Veronica's mother relationship with the Prince, murder and mystery, and the magical tie that lies between Veronica and Stocker.
Friends and enemies appear from unlooked places, upping the ante and occasionally levelling the playing field. There's a host of interesting side characters including the audacious lady journalist  J. J. Butterworth and Special Branch policeman, Mornaday.
Let's not forget Lady Rose, youngest daughter of their delightfully eccentric, and very British patron, Earl of Rosemorran. Lady Rose is a wonderful inclusion who when we first meet is organizing a marriage for the Galapagos Tortoise Honoria. So quirky!
I felt the same sort of euphoria I remember when the issue of the Phantom Comic hit the shelves in the 1970's headed 'Married at last.' (No, that is not Veronica and Stocker's relationship, I'm just expressing my emotions about them.)
I adored every minute!

 A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley

*****

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