I'm a little bit behind on the times, y'all.
When I saw that the author of one of my favorite murder mystery series (Lady Julia Grey) was publishing book three of a series I hadn't even heard of, I scrambled to get the first in the series at my local library.
I knew from the premise that it would be slightly different than her Victorian-era murder mystery series I had previously read, but I was excited for a change of pace.
A Curious Beginning is a fast-paced, mostly enjoyable, novel which features a brutally honest, stunningly intelligent main character whose is faced with a plot so preposterous is borders on silly. The books starts with some major cloak and dagger-- which I am perfectly fine with. However, the cloak and dagger extends way too far until things just magically happen because mysterious reasonnsss and everything feels very deus ex machina.
That being said, I was charmed by the Victoria Speedwell, who unabashedly called herself a scientist, and who is part natural disaster and part army general. (see previous post where I talk about how, even after two degrees in physics, I still hesitate to label myself as a scientist) I loved her interactions with the other main character, loved how they played off of each other, and loved the complex pasts hinted at for both of them. I just wish they had been given a better plot.
When I was 81% of the way through the book, things finally stopped feeling silly and actions were given (mostly) logical backing. For me, that is far too late in the game, but I admit that is a personal preference. There are some adventures thrown into the book in a hodgepodge manner, side quests that add nothing to the overall plot, but are cool, so why not? (PSA: just because something is cool doesn't mean it belongs in your novel)
Overall, this was an easy to read mystery novel with a bold, unabashed feminist character who was interesting enough for me to look past the qualms I had regarding the plot. I will be picking up book number two at my library (here's to hoping for a slightly improved plot).
What about you? Have you ever read A Curious Beginning? If so, what did you think? Did you love the cloak and dagger plot?
