What is the title of your latest release?
A GHASTLY CATASTROPHE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Veronica and Stoker, a pair of intrepid Victorian natural scientists, return for their tenth adventure as they investigate a villain who may or may not be undead.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Most of the Veronica Speedwell books take place in London and it was a natural choice for this adventure, but I did get them out of the city for a few little diversions.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Only if she were tipsy. A sober Veronica would be A LOT.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Loyal, resourceful, irresistible.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That in some parts of the world, people are still very much afraid of vampires.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Generally, I wait until the draft is finished. I only rework a section in progress if it’s going to have a significant impact on the scenes to come.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
A full English breakfast.
Describe your writing space/office!
I work on the top floor of the house in a room that was once the attic. I have slanted ceilings and two dormer windows with a view of the treetops. It is absolutely stuffed with books so I try to limit the furnishings to white to balance things out.
Who is an author you admire?
Jesse Q. Sutanto. Not only does she write incredibly fun, readable books with memorable characters, she writes prolifically and she does it with young children. I am awed.
Is there a book that changed your life?
When I was about ten, my grandmother handed me a copy of DEATH ON THE NILE and said, “I think you’ll like this.” I was officially hooked on mysteries from that point on.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It’s been a good number of years since I got THE call! Now it’s a matter of keeping track of which book I’m writing to satisfy my contracts. It’s always a joy to start a new project, especially one like my current manuscript which is very different from the Veronica projects.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Mystery, always. After that, biography/memoir, history, travel. And if I want an instant mood boost, I reach for a romance.
What’s your favorite movie?
Ask me on seven different days and you’ll get seven different answers, but I love a good Jane Austen adaptation or a twisty British mystery.
What is your favorite season?
I love the run of holidays from Halloween to New Year’s, but I’m also a sucker for lush summer flowers.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
A trip to somewhere tropical never goes amiss.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
SLOW HORSES on Apple+ is a superb adaptation, and I still have a cranky book hangover because I finished Alison Weir’s QUEENS AT WAR far too quickly. (It’s the fourth book in her medieval queens series of collected biographies. Highly recommended if you’re interested in queenship in the Middle Ages. It pairs very nicely with Alice Loxton’s new release, ELEANOR, about Eleanor of Castile.)
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Tex-Mex – preferably a combination platter with baskets of chips and salsa and a sharp, citrussy Paloma beforehand.
What do you do when you have free time?
Read! I also do yoga, read Tarot, and am dabbling in learning French.
What can readers expect from you next?
A standalone thriller featuring a jewel heist.
A GHASTLY CATASTROPHE by Deanna Raybourn
Veronica and Stoker are practically dying for a new adventure but when their wish is granted, they find themselves up against a secret society and a darkly seductive duo in this landmark historical mystery from beloved New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.
When the corpse of an entitled young man is found entirely drained of blood in a carriage next to Highgate Cemetery, Veronica’s interest is piqued. And when a second victim is found, his death made to look like a suicide, and Veronica and her intrepid beau, Stoker, know the hunt is on. The two men share one link: they were both members of a society so secretive that only a singular mention of it can be found anywhere.
Thirsty for more clues, Veronica and Stoker hear that a young Roma boy may know more about their first victim, but the only way to the boy is through an old acquaintance of Stoker’s, Lady Julia Brisbane. Lady Julia and her dashing husband, Nicholas, occasionally track down murderers and are only too happy to help. But as it becomes clear the secret society is a dangerous sect looking to entice immortality seekers, Veronica and Stoker find themselves ensnared by a decidedly more sinister couple.
The professed leader of the society claims to be a creature of the night; his partner practices witchcraft and they both fancy themselves emissaries of the otherworldly. Just as Veronica and Stoker get closer to learning the true purpose of the society and unraveling this macabre mystery, another body turns up, and they quickly discover they’ve gone from being the hunters to the hunted. . . .
Mystery | Romance Historical [ Berkley, On Sale: March 3, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593815731 / eISBN: 9780593815748 ]
Intrepid Victorian amateur sleuths bring irrepressible mayhem to inquiry
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About Deanna Raybourn
New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Deanna Raybourn is a 6th-generation Texan. She graduated with a double major in English and history from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is the author of the Veronica Speedwell Victorian mystery series, and her first contemporary thriller, KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, published in September of 2022 at #9 on the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2022 Barry Award for Best Thriller. Her novels have been nominated for numerous awards including the Edgar, the Macavity, and the Agatha. She makes her home in Virginia.
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