carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I had a fabulous time with this book! I can't even tell you which book from this series is my favorite because they have all be consistently good. I think that my favorite just ends up being whichever book I am reading at the time or just finished. After finishing the previous book in the series, I was pretty eager to get started with this installment and I was not disappointed. The book grabbed me from the beginning and held me until the final page had been turned. I really enjoyed the time that I spent with this wonderful story.

This book is the fourth book in the Veronica Speedwell series. While this book does focus on its own mystery, I do recommend reading this series in order since the relationships between the characters are an important part of the story and have progressed throughout the series. This book picks up shortly after the events of the previous book and quickly finds the characters dealing with a new situation.

I really liked the fact that the bulk of this book takes place on a small island. There are a limited number of characters but the characters that do play a role were all really interesting and sometimes colorful characters. Most of the story occurs in a castle on the island which really made things interesting. The castle had a lot of great features such as a poison garden. I enjoyed discovering all of the things the castle had hidden right along with Veronica and Stoker.

I thought that the mystery in this book was really well done and kept me guessing which is always a big plus. The mystery was very complex and I was quite impressed by how everything ended coming together. I think that Veronica and Stoker make a wonderful team when they are working together on a crime. I also really liked the developments in their relationship in this installment. There were some really great moments between these two that has left me eager to read more as soon as I can.

I would highly recommend this series to others. This is a series with fantastic characters who are smart and able to solve any puzzle thrown at them. I found this to be quite the page-turner and I cannot wait to read more of this wonderful series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.

Initial Thoughts
I really liked this installment in the Veronica Speedwell series. Almost the entire book takes place on a small island with a small cast of characters. There is a mystery from years before that is tied to Stoker's brother and a newer mystery before the book is over. Stoker and Veronica are both wonderful characters especially when they are working together.