Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
by Rhys Bowen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rhys BowenEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-01
ISBN: 0425222527
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Book Reviews of Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
Book Review: A pauper for a Royal, and foul play in the bathtub - meet Rhys Bowen's newest sleuth
Summary: 4 Stars
It's 1932 and, for the Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (but call her Georgie), prospects are looking grim. Thirty-fourth in line to the throne of England, 21-year-old Georgie is nevertheless penniless and faced with either becoming a lady-in-waiting to a distant and creaky princess or the future wife to a cold fish of a Romanian prince. But Georgie has a strong streak of pluck. So, in a bid for independence, she sets out for London, leaving behind her ancestral home in Scotland, that dank and drafty Rannoch Castle.
But what's a royal to do when on her own for the first time in her life, and left without the recourse of funds and family retinue? If you're the determined Georgie, you get a real job (from which you then get fired after five hours). You try to figure out how to make tea and light the fireplace. And you might even gatecrash posh weddings (because one has to eat). Georgie's resourcefulness also leads her to establish her own light-duty domestic service, with herself as sole employee. This is all done incognito, naturally, as a blue blood pulling maid duty is simply not done.
But, lest we forget that this is a mystery novel, Georgie's wits are soon put sorely to the test when a French gambler claims that her late father had lost Rannoch Castle to him. Then, there's the matter of the tea outing at Buckingham Palace, in which Her Royal Majesty, Queen Mary, tasks her with spying on her princely son, who just may be falling for a crass and much older American socialite. The scandal!!
Just when things couldn't be more challenging for Georgie, a corpse turns up in her house's bathtub. And, soon, Georgie begins to suspect that her very life might be in jeopardy... Oh, what's a liberated young thing to do? Luckily, Lady Georgiana isn't your typical simpering, helpless royal.
So, yep, this is another cozy. And because the writer is Rhys Bowen, it's a top drawer cozy. HER ROYAL SPYNESS (Solves Her First Case) introduces Bowen's third ongoing series and debuts her newest heroine: the klutzy, clever and very agreeable Lady Georgiana. Georgie happens to be as engaging as Constable Evans and Molly Murphy, so it looks like I'll be greedily scarfing up this series.
HER ROYAL SPYNESS is ideal for a lazy Sunday afternoon activity. Rhys Bowen knows how to instantly plonk her readers into her characters' world. She's got this easygoing writing style and she peoples her books with easy to digest characters. Here, we meet Georgie's ongoing supporting cast: her outgoing school chum Belinda; Georgie's capricious mother; her genial but plank-headed half-brother; and her steadfast, blue-collar grandfather, who happens to be a retired bobby and Georgie's favorite person in the world. Then there's Georgie's projected love interest, that minor lord, Darcy. The romance turns out to be blah, leaving me to bemoan the presence of yet another rakish, slightly shady romantic lead (man, these types just come out of the woodwork!).
The mystery, I have to say, is pretty tame, and the villain easily scoped out. The draw of the novel, instead, lies in reading of Georgie's excursions in depression-era London as she hobnobs with her royal peers and with the salts of the earth. Georgie makes for an amiable tour guide as she casually dispenses insights regarding royal custom and protocol. She is such a likable character.
HER ROYAL SPYNESS isn't as gritty as the Molly Murphy novels, although both these heroines are equally plucky and both series are set in a historical backdrop. HER ROYAL SPYNESS, however, is closer to the gentle spirit of the Constable Evans mysteries. It's light, comfy escapist stuff.
And how much fun is it seeing one of the nobility posing as a lowly maid? Even if this particular royal is fairly down to earth and not afraid to get her hands dirty? Okay, it's a lot of fun. The scrapes Georgie gets into are amusing, and she proves to be brainy enough to solve the mystery and save the day, after which the Queen Mum then tells her, "I think I have another little assignment for you..." I can't wait.
Summary of Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
INTRODUCING ?A FEISTY NEW HEROINE? (JACQUELINE WINSPEAR) who?s thirty-fourth in line for the throne?and flat broke.
From the Agatha Award-winning author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries!
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the throne, is flat broke. She?s bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where she?ll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH?oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name.
From the Agatha Award-winning author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries!
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the throne, is flat broke. She?s bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where she?ll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH?oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name.
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