While putting together an exhibit for a female mountain climber who died mysteriously. Veronica comes to the attention of the royal retinue of a visiting foreign country. When their princess goes missing, Veronica is asked to step in and take her place. The resemblance to each other is strong enough to fool people from far away. Veronica and Stoker accept so that they can investigate the death of the mountain climber, a woman whom Veronica had met before and felt a kinship with. Of course, dangerous plots ensue and the duo finds themselves again in peril. Will they discover who killed pushed their friend off a mountain and also why the princess went missing?

What I love the most about this series is that Veronica is an independent woman living during a time in history when women weren’t independent and had to fight for every extra freedom. Stoker, her best friend and lover, as he fallen her who was once part of the English nobility, knows how different Veronica’s life could have been. He adores her for her strength of character, even though at times that same character makes him want to tear his hair out. We’ve seen through this series how their relationship has evolved from adversaries, to friendship, to being in love and how those feelings have changed who each of them are; an interesting evolution during normal times but fascinating in the Victorian era. It is these two characters that keep me coming back to this series, not the mysteries they find themselves solving, although those are also interesting.

I think this mystery was probably the least interesting for me. I think because it didn’t help reveal anything new about these characters beyond a little hint of familial want in Veronica. Otherwise, it was just two characters I seriously like solving a somewhat interesting crime. I wasn’t enraptured, but I was captured by the plot.

If you love historical mysteries, this series is truly a fun one. As I said above, these two main characters have a lot of heart and their involvement with each other has been a long time coming and it’s fun to see them in a romantic relationship. If you haven’t read any of these novels, I’d start with the first. I don’t think these should be read as a stand alone novel.

I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest.

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