Very engaging! Wonderful reader! Great story, really kept me turning pages. ( )

Wow! I am very impressed. This is the first ever detective fiction heroine in a full-length novel. The entire book reads like it could have been written recently but it was actually written in 1874. There is drama, suspense, romance, and some great dialogue. The author is a man and he wrote the book from the perspective of the female protagonist. From my female perspective, he did a pretty good job of it. I will definitely be reading more of Wilkie Collins' books in the future. ( )

Poco después de su boda, Valeria Woodville descubre un inconfesable secreto que empaña el pasado de su esposo y que ahora amenaza con separarlos.
Alentada por su amor, Valeria se dedicará por entero a investigar la verdad para restituir el honor de Eustace y salvar su matrimonio. Su empeño la llevará a adentrarse en un laberinto de complicaciones, y a asumir riesgos inusitados para una mujer de la Inglaterra victoriana. De la mano de Valeria, el lector descubre las grandezas y miserias de un mundo que, sin ser el nuestro, ha dejado una profunda impronta en la sociedad actual.

After a brief romance and courtship, Valeria and Eustace Woodville are married. Soon after their marriage, Valeria learns that her husband's name is not really Eustace Woodville, and that he has been lying to her about other things as well. When she learns that Eustace was tried for the murder of his first wife, and at trial received the unique Scottish verdict of "not proven" (so that he was neither found to be guilty or innocent), she decides to prove his innocence.

I quite enjoyed the other two books by Wilkie Collins I have read, his more famous The Moonstone and The Woman in White. While this was of interest as perhaps featuring the earliest female sleuth in crime fiction, this one never really grabbed me. I suspect this is due more to my state of mind at the time I read this than to the book itself.

As a needleworker myself, I enjoyed this quote:

"'women,' he said, 'wisely compose their minds, and help themselves to think quietly, by doing needlework. Why are men such fools as to deny themselves the same admirable resource--the simple soothing occupation which keeps the nerves steady and leaves the mind calm and free?'"

I so agree.

3 stars ( )

Valeria Woodville has just married at the opening of this story and is ready to depart on her honeymoon, when she discovers that her husband has married her under an assumed name and is hiding a secret from his past life. The secret is that he has had a prior marriage and his first wife has died from arsenic poisoning. He was accused of her murder, stood trial, and a verdict was returned of unproven...he was not convicted, but neither was he cleared.

Valeria sets out to solve the mystery of the first wife’s death and clear her husband’s name, despite severe obstacles, which include her husband’s lack of cooperation in her efforts. What ensues is a story that includes some very interesting and strange characters and some serious red herrings that lead the reader off the path and back again. I felt it had an anti-climactic ending, and at least one character reaction that defied my ability to believe, even given its Victorian framework.

This book would probably have been better in its original serial form. I could imagine being left hanging at the end of the chapters and having to wait for the next segment. Reading it straight through, I longed for some better editing, as some sections seemed to go on forever to no real purpose. Of the Collins I have read, this one is the least captivating. I have not exhausted his works, but I suspect I may have now read the best of them. If you have not read Wilkie Collins, by all means begin with [b:The Moonstone|54442367|The Moonstone|Wilkie Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594215855l/54442367._SY75_.jpg|1044477], [b:The Woman in White|35964975|The Woman in White|Wilkie Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1502217399l/35964975._SY75_.jpg|1303710], or [b:No Name|45205|No Name|Wilkie Collins|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388954088l/45205._SY75_.jpg|3242295], all excellent mysteries, which this one fails to rival.
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