A Murderous Relation (releases
March 20)
By Deanna Raybourn
Berkley/Penguin Random House, 320 pages
★
Gardeners know that veronica–also known as
speedwell or gypsyweed–is a splashy, spiky perennial. Deanna Raybourn’s
Veronica Speedwell is also colorful and spiky, if by the second term we mean
opinionated, edgy, and unconventional. Those who have followed the adventures
of Miss Speedwell also know that she is the half-sister of Prince Albert
Victor, heir to the English throne. A Murderous
Relation is Book Five of the Veronica Speedwell series
and two more are in the works. Alas, if the current book is any indication, that
will make three too many. Perhaps it’s time for Raybourn to tuck this franchise
into a featherbed, take a cold shower, and move on to new things before her
characters steer her more deeply into the realms of contrivance and soft porn.
First, a short overview. Veronica Speedwell is
far too independent to want anything to do with the restrictions of royalty,
plus she bears a deep grudge against the Royal family for its treatment of her
mother. She is more focused on finding the right time to consummate a mutually
agreed upon toss in the sack with “Stoker”–Revelstoke Templeton-Vane–her
longtime collaborator in crime-solving and evolving object of desire. He too is
of noble blood–though his older brother holds both the title of lord and the
family estate–but he shares Veronica’s outward contempt for aristocratic airs.
(Both, however, move comfortably in upper-class circles and enjoy wealth and
fine things.) It comes as little surprise, that neither is enthused when
“Wellies,” (Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk) calls upon them to save “Eddy” (Prince
Albert) from a potential scandal. As far as Victoria is concerned, she’d rather
work on her butterfly collection and admire Stoker’s “flanks” and bare chest.
For his part, Stoker is content to pursue his latest taxidermy project.
As you might expect, though, Veronica and Stoker
will eventually agree to postpone the old in-and-out and tackle the task of
saving Eddy. The gist of the matter is that the impetuous and randy prince has
given a very rare jewel to Madame Aurore, the proprietress of his favorite
upper-class knocking shop. If that scandal were to become public, it would
sandbag plans for the 23-year-old heir to marry a 16-year-old princess whom his
parents (the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) have picked out.
Veronica and Stoker are charged with getting Aurore to relinquish the jewel–by
hook or crook.
This task will take readers to absurd places.
It begins with assembling outlandish costumes to attend a masked ball at Madame
Aurore’s house of ill repute. The best that can be said about this is that
Raybourn dressed them in ways to maximize the use of purple prose calling
attention to body parts. I suppose it’s somewhat refreshing that we get much
more of the female gaze than the customary male ogling, but it’s problematic no
matter how we shift the focus.
The problems don’t end there. The setting is
1888, the year in which Jack the Ripper is leaving corpses strewn across the section
of East London known as Whitechapel. The Ripper makes several anonymous visits
to the novel and before we are done, there are grisly murders, a dangerous
flight through Whitechapel, a kidnapping, a contrived plot involving Irish
nationalism, a reconciliation (of sorts) between Veronica and Eddy, and some
serious fender and bumper damage inflicted upon Stoker’s body. But rest
assured, delayed carnality is all the sweeter. I wish the same were true of our
stretched credulity.
Deanna Rayburn is exceedingly well-versed in
Victoriana, including its phrases, fashions, and politics. In A Murderous Relation, however, most of her background seems like showing off. It’s as if
she put all her effort into polishing the background baubles while using a
paint-by-the-numbers template for the narrative. This Victoria Speedwell
perennial is definitely out of season. Call it Jack the Ripper meets bodice
ripper.
Rob Weir
* One of the many theories regarding the identity
of Jack the Ripper is that he was Prince Albert Victor, though evidence shows that he was not in London
at the time. Eddy was nevertheless a controversial rumored to part of a
homosexual prostitution ring. This too is widely dismissed, though he had
numerous dalliances and failed failed engagements before dying of influenza in
1892 at age 28.
No comments:
Post a Comment