This book is listed as a “Gaslamp fantasy”, but I’d probably describe it as more of a gothic paranormal historical. Appropriate for ages 16 and up. Veritas has the perfect flavor for a book to read around Halloween with a distinct gothic feel, murder, mystery and romance.
The main character, Hester, is a blind mute, so being in her head (written in first person) is fantastic. I love the spunk this character splashes all throughout the story. And the descriptions are incredible! Everything comes to life when reading Quinn Coleridge.
All of the characters felt so real that I had the perfect visualization of each person in my head. My favorite, aside from Hester, was Doctor Kelly. He’s definitely in my top ten list of book boyfriends!
The plot is very solid, taking a few twists and turns, going from an upper-class home in the late 1800s, to solving a murder with psychic abilities, to being tortured in an insane asylum.
It was so beautifully written, so compelling, and so enthralling, that I’m sure I’d be turning the pages just as frantically if the author had put Hester in a time warp with a love triangle!
This one is highly recommended. When you get to the end, you’ll no doubt feel just as bereft as I did. The silver lining is that this is book one of a series. And I’ll happily purchase every book of this series.
“Being a demigoddess in 1892 Stonehenge, Colorado isn’t all one might
suppose, especially when the dead are involved. Yet as Veritas of the Rocky
Mountain sovereignty, it is Hester Grayson’s calling to help restless
spirits cross over by bringing their killers to justice. Blind and pale as
an albino, she dwells on the fringes of the nouveau riche, working with her
telepathic beau Tom Craddock to catch the guilty.
When a young woman is brutally murdered, Hester and Tom are determined to
solve the case as they have every other. But this one demands more. The
killer wears many faces and wields greater magic than even Hester possesses.
All sleuthing stops, however, when Tom is gravely wounded and Hester is cast
out of her parent’s mansion into the squalor of an asylum.
At the mercy of an insane doctor, surrounded by agitated ghosts, Hester
fights to maintain her own sanity by planning her escape and the downfall of
her enemies. Can she achieve her goal and expose the madman who sent her to
hell? Or will he continue his bloody reign in Stonehenge?”
Once you’ are finished, be sure to check out the second book in the series, Spectris.
