A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica is pleased to get an invitation to visit the Curiosity Club which is exclusively women.  That means women with independent natures and curiosity and a means to do what they wish.  She thinks sharing ideas there will be fascinating.  What she finds when she arrives is that one of the ladies wishes to speak to her privately.  Once they begin talking, she realizes she's talking to one of the Queen's daughters.  It's her half-sister, but they don't speak of that.  The family does not recognize Veronica but they are willing to ask for her assistance.  There's a man scheduled to be hung in a week or so and the Queen's daughter wants Veronica to prove he was not the murderer...

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It is being published today, so you can grab a copy now.  This is the second book in this series and if you've missed the first, I'd recommend starting there.

When the uppercrust gets involved in things like murder, it can be very hard to reopen a case and determine the truth.  That's why Veronica gets asked.  Closed doors don't stop her.  She's also very intelligent and knows how to play people to get her answers.

She has her partner, Stoker, and together they make a formidable pair.  He's strong, has been in the war and is warrior strong, and they've been busy cataloging the collections housed in an old mansion.  They'll work from there and see what they can find.

What they find is tangled relationships from marriages of conveniences to husbands who prefer men for sex partners to a secret building where orgies are held.  The Victorians were stiff on the outside but they had a wild side, too.

When the killer is finally brought to light, it almost results in death for both of them.  You can almost taste the danger as the author sets the scene.

I enjoyed the repartee between Veronica and Stoker.  I'm wondering if they will actually become a couple down the line.  And that uppercrust connection with Veronica worked out quite well in this story.  But it's a tenuous connection and who knows what the next book will bring?