Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen

First Line: It is my opinion that there is no place on earth more uncomfortable than London during a heat wave.

Ever in search of ways to earn an honest living, impoverished Lady Georgiana Rannoch (great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and thirty-fourth in line to the throne) neglected to check the wording of an advertisement she placed in the newspaper. As a result, she's been hustled off home to Scotland just in case scandal should rear its ugly head. As luck would have it, Castle Rannoch is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Balmoral where the Prince of Wales is in residence, and the Home Office instructs Lady Georgie to keep her eyes peeled for threats to the Crown. You see... it appears that a series of serious accidents is targeting the royal family. Hopefully Lady Georgie isn't high enough on the list to warrant her own brush with death....

Once again Rhys Bowen has crafted another sparkling outing for Lady Georgie, a young woman with a good heart, a marvelous dry wit, and the misfortune to be related to royalty. Although these books are intended to be lighthearted and  fun, Bowen skillfully provides a glimpse into the upper class British world of the 1930s while George V was on the throne.

Since She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (AKA Wallis Simpson) is a member of the shooting party the Prince of Wales has gathered at Balmoral, what could be better than to schlep her and her group of loud Americans off on Lady Georgie's mild-mannered brother and her hateful sister-in-law at Castle Rannoch? It's a plot element that works a treat because we get to see Georgie's sister-in-law in an entirely different light, as well as getting to see Georgie's (very non-royal) grandfather again.

I was fairly certain of who was causing mayhem early on in the book, but I couldn't care less because the emphasis in these books is to have fun, and I've learned that I can always count on Lady Georgie to make me laugh while I get to be a voyeur in the world of the rich and the royal.

Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen

ISBN: 9780425236390

Berkley Prime Crime © 2010

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Historical Mystery, #3 Her Royal Spyness mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap 

A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen

First Lines:

Rannoch House

Belgrave Square

London W.1.

Monday, June 6, 1932

The alarm clock woke me this morning at the ungodly hour of eight. 

The Queen of England has done it again. Lady Georgiana Rannoch, thirty-fourth in line to the throne and so broke that she sneaks around London cleaning houses to earn some cash, has been given an assignment. Princess Hannelore of Bavaria is in town with her chaperone and maid, and Georgie has to accommodate them in Rannoch House. 

This isn't a cut-and-dried tour guide/chaperone package: the young princess is fresh out of convent school, speaks gangsterese from watching too many American films, and she's not just boy crazy, she's boy ravenous. Hannelore's flirt switch is flipped any time someone of the male persuasion comes within half a block. Her German chaperone is a gluttonous grump, and the non-English speaking maid flits around in the shadows like a bat. Georgie is supposed to control the trio and-- to fulfill the Queen's second objective-- make sure Princess Hannelore is shown off in front of the Prince of Wales often enough to ensure his abandonment of Wallis Simpson. When Georgie and Hannelore stumble upon a body in a bookshop, it's enough to turn this whole assignment into a fiasco.  Being in line for the throne isn't all it's cracked up to be!

I love the wit and wisdom in this series. Amidst all the laugh-inducing lines and scenes, Bowen gives her readers a real sense of England in the 1930s. I'm not just talking about the Queen trying to steer her son away from the horrifyingly unsuitable American divorcée either. The cars, the clothes, the attitudes, the lingering effects of World War I,  Communism, the rise of the Nazi Party... it's all here, wrapped up in a romp of a book (and series) that Bowen has to love writing.

Readers also get a glimpse into the life of the royals from meals to telephones to acquiring antiques. Georgie is such a fun main character. She's been brought up, not to be useful, but to be "thirty-fourth in line to the throne." Nevertheless she's twenty-two and wants her independence from the drafty ancestral castle in Scotland, so she's learning how to cope in London on very little money. She may have been raised to be ornamental, but she's got a good head on her shoulders and thinks on her feet-- which is a good thing because between her own proclivities and those of the Queen, she finds herself in some amazing situations.

Georgie's not the only character who shines. Her glamorous actress mother who left that castle years ago for a procession of handsome and wealthy men slinks through her scenes oozing sex appeal and style. Her retired policeman grandfather is a treat as is his next-door neighbor Mrs. Hetty Huggins, a woman who never met an H she couldn't drop. And then there's that incredibly handsome (and penniless) Darcy O'Mara who makes Georgie's heart flutter and always seems to be around when he's needed most. Although I don't care much for romance in my mysteries, I have to admit that I like keeping an eye on this relationship.

If you're in the mood to have fun, Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series is the one for you!

A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen

eISBN: 9780425221631
Berkley Prime Crime © 2008
Kindle digital edition, 307 pages

Historical Mystery, #2 Royal Spyness mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon

               

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

First Line: There are two disadvantages to being a minor royal.

No one would know what those two disadvantages are better than Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch. This twenty-something young woman is thirty-fourth in line to the British throne, and it's a drag. Learning that Queen Mary wants to dangle her like a juicy piece of bait in front of some fish-faced European prince, Georgie makes up an excuse to bolt from the drafty ancestral castle in Scotland and head for London.

Being without any servants means that Georgie has to learn how to get hot water and heat going in the family's London house-- and even cook her own meals. Heaven forfend! It's not long before Georgie comes up with a plan to make a bit of money, but Queen Mary's minions track her down, and off to the royal palace Georgie must go. There she learns that HRH wants Georgie to spy on the Prince of Wales. You see, David seems to be paying altogether too much attention to some dreadful American divorcee.... However, before Georgie can begin spying on the prince, she finds a dead Frenchman in her bathtub. Clearing her family name must come before spying on an errant royal!

This book is just plain delightful, and I have no idea why it took me so long to read it. Georgie is the perfect voice for this light, witty, and oftentimes hilarious romp of a mystery. I felt as though I were getting the inside scoop on the royals-- both major and minor-- in 1930s England. With Georgie's family connections and her lack of money, she's tailormade for a long-running mystery series, and I definitely will be checking back with her regularly to see what she's been up to.

Her Royal Spyness has an intriguing mystery, boatloads of royal tittle tattle, an irresistible heroine, and is filled with laugh-out-loud humor. In other words, it's a fantastic way to spend an afternoon!

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

ISBN: 9780425222522

Berkley Prime Crime © 2008

Mass Market Paperback, 336 pages

Cozy/Historical Mystery, #1 Royal Spyness series

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.