Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen

 

First Lines: London. January 15, 1933. Weather forecast: showers turning to sleet later. Outlook: Depressing. The Riviera had never looked more inviting.

 

Winter is so dreary in London that everyone who can afford to is escaping to the south of France. Lady Georgiana Rannoch, thirty-fourth in line to the throne of England, can't afford to make the trip to the land of sun and fun. When she learns that her brother, detested sister-in-law, and other family members are going, it's too much. Fortunately, the Queen throws Georgie a lifeline. She will pay Georgie's fare to the Riviera, and in return, Georgie will locate and rescue the Queen's stolen snuff box.

After a few fits and starts, Georgie is comfortably ensconced in her mother's villa and hobnobbing with the likes of Coco Chanel. In no time at all, Georgie finds herself charged with finding not one but two stolen items... and identifying a murderer. 

Will she ever have time to go to the casino?

~

Imbued with the sights and sounds of the French Riviera in the 1930s, Naughty in Nice is just plain fun to read. The Queen must have her necklace and snuff box returned to her. There's a dead man in a swimming pool overlooking the Mediterranean. There's a dashing French aristocrat paying attention to Georgie as well as a very unwelcome pompous police officer. And who can resist a fashion show featuring the creations of Coco Chanel?

Amidst all the fun, there were only two annoying flies buzzing around my head. One was the voice narrator Katherine Kellgren used for Georgie's best friend Belinda. There's only so much of that bored, nasal, upper-class British whine that I can take, so it was a very good thing that Belinda had few scenes in the book. (It was bad enough that I'm considering going back to reading the physical books so I can supply my own voice for this character.)

 

The second annoyance was Georgie's maid, Queenie. I know she's supposed to be funny, but I would have sacked that woman after the first week and thought I'd been magnanimous in waiting that long to show her the door. (In case you haven't guessed, gross incompetence wrapped in humor does not work for me.)

However, both those annoyances were fleeting, and I really enjoyed the light-hearted fun in Naughty in Nice. I'm looking forward to Georgie's next escapade. It's bound to be a good one.

Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen

Narrator: Katherine Kellgren

ASIN: B005LEV0B8

Audible Studios © 2011

Audiobook. 9 hours, 34 minutes.

 

Historical Mystery, #5 Her Royal Spyness mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen

First Line: November in London is utterly bloody.

It stinks being thirty-fourth in line to the throne of England. Not just because you're penniless and don't know where your next meal is coming from. Not because you have one of the worst sisters-in-law known to mankind. No, it stinks because when the Queen wants you to jump, pretty much all you can do is smile, curtsey, and ask, "How high?"

This time the Queen wants our hapless Lady Georgiana to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. (Can you hear the wolves howling in the dead of night? So can I.) Once Georgie arrives, it's one weird happening after another. The bride-to-be found with blood running down her chin. One of the wedding guests poisoned. One thing is for certain: it's up to Georgie to save this royal wedding before anyone else dies.

This fourth book in the Royal Spyness series is just as much of a delight as the first three. I can rely on Rhys Bowen to present me with a perfectly rendered setting and make me laugh while I'm learning about the lives of royals in the 1930s. In many ways this is my favorite historical mystery series simply because both author and reader have so darned much fun at their appointed tasks.

In Royal Blood, we have Georgiana in a Dracula-inspired set of a castle in remote Transylvania that's filled with secret stairs, secret cubbyholes, secret rooms-- some which are known and others which seem to have been completely forgotten. Beastly weather. Some absolutely beastly guests. Add to this mix a reluctant Georgie, her new (and untrained) maid Queenie, Mum the Bolter, Belinda the gate crasher, and otherworldly people who seem to be able to climb up and down the sheer walls of the castle, and you have the recipe for a lot of fun.

I've already told you that the setting, humor, and characters all sparkle, but what about the mystery itself? Bowen really had me scratching my head until the identity of the intended victim is made clear, and then the light bulb went off above my head. Did the knowledge of whodunit spoil anything for me? Absolutely not!

Once I'd read the first book in the series (Her Royal Spyness) I was hooked, and I busily gathered up all the rest. It would be very easy for me to gorge on one book after another, but I don't let myself. Of course that rule could be subject to change! If you enjoy light-hearted historical mysteries as much as I do, indulge yourself with the antics of Lady Georgie-- and please start at the very beginning so changing relationships and growing characters will make sense right from the get go.
     

Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen

ISBN: 9780425243749

Berkley Prime Crime © 2011

Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages

Historical Mystery, #4 Her Royal Spyness mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap