Deanna Raybourn takes us back to Victorian times in “A Sinister Revenge” (Penguin Random House), the latest novel in her Veronica Speedwell series. Speedwell, a scientist, lepidopterist or butterfly collector, and lady adventurer, has traveled to Bavaria in search of Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane (called Stoker for short), her lover and scientific partner, who understandably is upset to learn that her husband who she presumed dead, is still very much alive. Upon finding out the news, he leaves the country and now seems to have completely disappeared. Traveling with Speedwell is Stoker’s brother, Viscount Tiberius Templeton-Vane, and the two, while dining at a Bavarian inn and hearing the landlord talk about a disagreeable encounter he had with a wolf-like man believe they may have found Stoker.
But there’s more going on than just a missing lover and brother. Tiberius has received death threats tied to an incident that occurred years ago and he needs his brother’s help in unraveling the mystery in order to save his life.
Raybourn, a New York Times bestselling author and sixth generation Texan, knew from an early age that she wanted to be a writer. Influenced by such women writers as Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, Agatha Christie, and even Jane Austen, she describes her books as mysteries with enough romance to keep readers who like both genres happy.
“There was never a time when I didn’t make up stories,” she says, adding that she remembers being thrilled when she finally learned how to print so she could get them out of her head. There was also the time where she missed out on entire school lesson because she was busy writing a story about Maria Antoinette.
That might explain why she is a prolific author, having written not only eight Speedwell novels but also the Lady Julia Grey series, which are also historical fiction. Besides that she has stand alone novels including last year’s “Killers of a Certain Age” about a band of female assassins who are over 60.
Her Speedwell character is like many of the resolute women found in the pages of history and is inspired in part by Margaret Fountaine, a Victorian era lepidopterist who Raybourn says traveled the world collecting both butterflies and lovers. Both Fountaine and Speedwell are nothing like what people expect Victorian to be like says Raybourn.
“Fountaine was dynamic and intriguing,” she says. “She was my inspiration for Veronica.”
This article originally appeared in the Northwest Indiana Times.
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