Below is the complete list of Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Veronica Speedwell Books
- A Treacherous Curse (2018)
A Treacherous Curse is a 2018 release and appears as book #3 in the Veronica Speedwell series. 
- A Murderous Relation (2020)
A Murderous Relation was first published in 2020; within the Veronica Speedwell series, it is listed as book #5. 
About Veronica Speedwell
Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series is a Victorian historical mystery sequence built around the partnership between lepidopterist, adventurer, and amateur sleuth Veronica Speedwell and natural historian Revelstoke “Stoker” Templeton-Vane. Beginning in London in 1887, the series combines murder investigations, scientific curiosity, aristocratic scandal, political intrigue, eccentric institutions, and slow-burning romantic tension. Its appeal lies as much in Veronica and Stoker’s evolving relationship as in the individual mysteries they solve.
A Curious Beginning introduces Veronica immediately after the death of the aunt who raised her. Independent, well travelled, and determined to resume her butterfly-hunting expeditions, she has little interest in conforming to Victorian expectations for unmarried women. An attempted abduction and the murder of a German baron instead leave her in the reluctant company of Stoker, a scarred and notoriously bad-tempered natural historian whose own past has left him suspicious of almost everyone.
Their contrasting personalities establish the rhythm of the series. Veronica is outspoken, pragmatic, sexually self-assured, and intellectually curious. Stoker is equally intelligent but more private, emotionally guarded, and conscious of the consequences of scandal. Their arguments frequently mask deep mutual respect, and each investigation reveals more of the histories they initially prefer not to discuss.
The mysteries take Raybourn into unusually varied corners of Victorian life. A Perilous Undertaking involves an art-world murder and a condemned man facing execution, while A Treacherous Curse draws on Egyptology and the Victorian fascination with archaeological discoveries. A Dangerous Collaboration moves the pair to an isolated Cornish island and a mystery surrounding a bride who vanished on her wedding day. Other cases involve royal connections, scientific societies, natural-history collections, mountaineering, theatrical environments, and the darker sides of respectable institutions.
Science is not merely decorative background. Veronica’s expertise in butterflies and Stoker’s work in anatomy, taxidermy, and natural history shape the way they observe evidence and approach problems. Raybourn uses the expanding scientific culture of the late nineteenth century to give both characters professional identities beyond detective work, while also placing them among explorers, collectors, physicians, scholars, and people challenging established ideas.
The Curiosity Club, an institution for accomplished women, becomes increasingly important as Veronica’s world expands. It reflects one of the series’ persistent themes: women finding ways to exercise intelligence and independence within a society that often prefers them confined to narrower roles. Veronica is deliberately unconventional, but she is not presented as the only capable woman of her era. The books repeatedly introduce women pursuing scholarship, exploration, political influence, art, and other ambitions.
Romantically, the series is deliberately patient. Veronica and Stoker begin as wary partners, become indispensable friends, and gradually confront an attraction that has been obvious long before either is prepared to handle its consequences. Their changing relationship unfolds alongside professional partnership, jealousy, family revelations, danger, and periods when each must decide how much independence can coexist with emotional commitment.
By the tenth novel, A Ghastly Catastrophe, published in 2026, Veronica and Stoker have accumulated nearly a decade of fictional history together. That installment also creates an unusual link to Raybourn’s earlier Lady Julia Grey series, bringing characters from her two Victorian mystery worlds into contact. An eleventh Veronica Speedwell novel is planned for 2028.
The series works especially well because its continuity extends beyond unsolved crimes. Relationships change, old revelations remain relevant, Stoker’s complicated family continues to matter, and Veronica’s understanding of her own origins develops over time. The mysteries may provide each book with its immediate structure, but the longer story is the gradual creation of a partnership between two fiercely independent people who discover that investigation, adventure, and life itself are considerably richer when undertaken together.