Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

There were so many aspects of this book to enjoy! There was a lot of history of the era woven painlessly into this tale. The limited options available to women were explored and expanded by Georgie who is a very likeable, intelligent, and resourceful heroine. The characters are well-developed and there are many twists and turns to the plot. Add some romance and lots of humor to this story and the result is a very engaging read. I just read this first book in the series, but had read a later book earlier. I plan to read more in this series. They are a treat!

A fun read on a rainy day. These light reads are perfect for a drizzly autumn day in the Sierra foothills! For people who love to let their imaginations play in the last century England from whom they descend, this is a story that served up a nice visit to the Mother land.

This is a great opening book to what I’m sure will be a wonderful continuing series. It definitely does not take itself too seriously, but lets the reader see bits into the royalty across the pond. Georgie, the title character is quite likable and down-to-earth. If you’d like a quick, amusing read, this is the one!

Set in London in the 1930s our protagonist, Georgie, decides to declare her independence and travel from Scotland (where she lives with her half-brother and sister-in-law) to London. As a distant relative of royalty, Georgie has a title to her name - however, that title is not accompanied by any funds, so, she must do her best to learn how to live on her own without a maid and discover a way to earn a living for herself without Her Royal Highness the Queen discovering her ventures. It isn't until about halfway through the book that the mystery begins. A murder has been committed, and Georgie (for reasons I'll not spoil) must figure out who committed the crime. The plot starts to pick up when Georgie begins to suspect that the murderer may be from her own class and her own mix of friends. I enjoyed the concept of this book and only wish it had been executed a little better. The mystery, I found, to be a tad thin. Not that I knew "whodunnit" - but there wasn't much to ponder as the main suspects are fairly obvious, and yet there's not enough information to try and surmise anything further. I think this, and the fact that the book wasn't really a full blown mystery (as the title seems to suggest) hampered the read for me. Plus, while I *liked* all the characters, I didn't really *adore* any of them (expect maybe one or two minor characters), and it seemed there was something about each character that kept me from being totally behind them. I greatly appreciated the lightness of this book (I'm not a hard core murder mystery reader as I have a queasy-reader's stomach!). I was pleased that nothing was really bloody or detailed or depressing. That said, I found it a tad *too* light from the characters' perspectives at times. Someone did die, after all, and I thought some of the characters should have handled it a tad more delicately. All that said, I really did enjoy the book! Bowen had many clever quips and many lines that made me laugh! And the beginning where Georgie is starting her independent life is most enjoyable! Overall, I thought it was a clever premise and a unique twist for a murder mystery.

This is the first book in a new series by Rhys Bowen. The book is set in 1930, and the spy of the title is Lady Georgiana Rannoch of Scotland. She is the younger sister of the current Duke of Rannoch. Their father impoverished the family by gambling away his children’s inheritance. When her brother tells her he can no longer give Georgie an allowance, but she can stay and be a nanny to his children, Georgie flees to London and their home there. She knows she has to find work, but has no skills. Because she is in line for throne of England, the Queen wants to control who she marries and what she does. Georgie, on the other hand, wants to be mistress of her own fate. Bowen spends the first half of the book setting the scene and introducing us to the characters. Then she introduces a murder of a blackmailer and the police believe either Georgie’s brother and/or herself are responsible. Then, there are several attempts on Georgie’s life. In the meantime, Georgie starts her own business - opening up the London homes of the very rich who hire her to remove dust cloths from the furniture, prepare the fireplaces for fires, dust the furniture, etc. And the Queen asks her to attend a weekend party in Essex to spy on her son, David, and his latest romantic entanglement with a married woman, Wallace Simpson. Needless to say, the second half of the book moves along much faster than the first half did. The writing is very good, the plot (once it gets going) intriguing, and overall, this is a very good read. Bowen is very adept at recreating 1930s London and the lifestyle of the very rich. I’m looking forward to reading the second in the series - hopefully, Bowen doesn’t spend half the second book reintroducing the on going characters.

As the granddaughter of Queen Victoria's least noteworthy daughter, Georgiana is thirty-forth in line to the throne and has all the expensive responsibilities of royalty, like having the proper wardrobe for official functions, but none of the money and being royal she's not supposed to work. While rattling around her family's Scottish estate she discovers she's about to be married off to an Eastern European prince whose unfortunate personality, fish-like looks and likelihood of being assassinated combine to make him highly undesirable as a husband so she flees to London and camps out in the family mansion without servants, proper food, heat or hot water. Even living in genteel poverty it's fun to be in town, hobnobbing around with her bright young things friends, but problems begin piling up immediately. She doesn't know how far to trust the roguish but very appealing future Irish Lord she's party crashing with in order to eat, she needs to find a way to earn money without her royal relations finding out about it, she discovers a body in her bathtub causing her well-meaning but none too bright duke brother to be wrongly arrested, and she's commissioned by the Queen to spy on her cousin David's married lover Wallace Simpson. Fortunately Georgia is resourceful, smart and game. She's learned a thing or two from her commoner Cockney grandfather, a retired police officer and the father of her decidedly not royal mother, a globe-hopping former actress with a penchant for men who bears a strong resemblance to Nancy Mitford's Bolter. And Georgiana is upper crust enough to be able to place people based on their vocabulary, a distinction Mitford labeled U and non-U, which she uses as a linguistic tool in her quest to exonerate her brother. It all makes for a perfectly fun book, and fortunately it's the first of a series.

After finishing the second book in a very intense fantasy series and needed something a bit more light to calm my mind down. “Her Royal Spyness” by Rhys Bowen was perfect. The first book of the series, it is a wonderful throwback to the great mystery who-done-its of the past. The plot was intriguing, the characters fun, and set in London and Scotland - of course I was reading with an accent the whole time! An absolute joy to read and I will definitely be continuing the series. 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “London, 1932. Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the English throne, is flat broke. She's bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed. London is a 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...”

This is the first book in the Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen, and I found it fun and entertaining. The main character of this series is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (her friends call her Georgie), and she is the sister of the current Scottish Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch. As the series begins Georgie is 34th in line to the British throne. The series also begins in the early 1930s when the world (including Great Britian) is economically depressed. The royal family is also concerned that their heir is cavorting with the American woman, Wallis Simpson. We discover that Georgie has no way to support herself, although Queen Mary of Teck likes her and finds 'jobs' for her to undertake. I have read all of the books in this series, and have enjoyed them all. Along the way the books take the readers to Scotland, Translyvania, the old Hollywood of California, the south of France and Ireland. The reader of the series meets her wonderful non-royal Grandfather; her neglectful and reckless mother; the play write, Noel Coward; her friend, Belinda (who is sexually liberated before the times, and her interesting, loving, and mysterious boyfriend, Lord Darcy O'Mara. Here are the books of the series, and they are all worthy of at least a four star rating: 1. Her Royal Spyness 2. A Royal Pain 3.Royal Flush 4. Royal Blood 5. Naughty in Nice - We meet both Coco Chanel and Noel Coward 6. The Twelve Clues of Christmas 7. Heirs and Graces 8. Queen of Hearts 9. Malice at the Palace 10. Crowned and Dangerous - my favorite 11. On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service 12. Four Funerals and Maybe A Wedding (coming soon)