Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness Series #1)

well crafted Depression Era mystery

The year is 1932 and Great Britain is in the middle of the Depression which is even affecting the aristocracy. Lady Victoria Georgiana ¿Georgie¿ Charlotte Eugenie is ultra feeling the pinch of poverty while living with her brother Binky the Duke of Rannoch at Rannoch Castle in the wilds of Scotland. When she hears him and her sister-in-law trying to marry her off to Prince Siegfried of Romania, who she believes has the Fish-Face of a cod, she bolts for London. --- She works at Harrods for only a few hours before her own mother gets her fired. While learning to live in a house without any servants Binky comes on a business matter. Gaston de Mauxville has proof that her father gambled Rannoch Castle away to him. When Georgie comes back to Rannoch House after leaving on an errand she finds de Mauxville dead in the bathtub and Binky nowhere to be found. When Scotland Yard arrests him for the murder of de Mauxville Georgie tries to find out who the really killer is because Binky is too wishy-washy to even contemplate murder. A series of accidents any one of which could have killed Georgie has her wondering if someone close to her is the killer --- Rhys Bowen has two successful historical mystery series to her credit and this book starts a fresh one that will succeed as well. It is very different in tone and scope from her other words as she takes reader into the lives of the aristocracy at a time when poverty is beginning to take root. Readers will adore Georgie who finds that life is better when she ignores her thirty something line to the crown so she can live life her way. HER ROYAL SPYNESS is a well crafted Depression Era mystery with an interesting pool of suspects. --- Harriet Klausner

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Her Royal Spyness

Georgie is a fun, engaging character that not only do you enjoy reading her story but you almost want her to jump off the page and hang out for a day. I rarely ever fall for a character this quickly but Georgie is just so much fun. She has a sense of self that you rarely find in fiction or in real life for that matter. She knows who she is, it's that simple. There is no illusion or pretense to her.


As far as the story goes, it quick and fun. I managed to read the book in one sitting simply because I didn't want to stop reading it. It had me engaged from the start. Once Georgie arrives in London, she finds herself unemployed with no money and a big old house that she doesn't know how to run. She has no servants to clean or take care of her so she ends up boiling water and giving herself sponge baths to clean up and eats as little as she can get away with.


The rest of the books is a fast paced whirlwind. She meets Mr. Darcy O'Mara, a penniless Irish Peer who she can't help but be attracted to even when she thinks he may be the bad guy and runs into her old school friend Belinda Warburton-Stoke, a budding fashion designer who is living way beyond her means. Both of these characters are well written and you find yourself wishing they could join Georgie in jumping out of the story. They and the other supporting characters add to the book. There is not badly written or un-needed character which is a refreshing change.


The mystery itself, the whole point of the book, is cleverly done and well mapped out. After finding the dead man in her bathtub, Georgie does what she can to protect her brother, who has come under suspicion, and find the real murderer. After several near death experiences, including a near drowning, a fall down the stairs, and a falling statue; Georgie uses her brain and quite a bit of luck to solve the case.


Now this is were my real only problem with the mystery aspect of it appears. I figured out who the killer was way, way before Georgie did. Normally, this would ruin the story for me as I like a book that surprises me by the killer's identity but I will forgive this book and this author for that. The villain is so much fun and whiny at the end that you can't help but get a chuckle out of it.


The is a light, quick read that is so well done that I almost wished there was more to it. I didn't want to the book to stop and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the books in the series.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic Historical Mystery

This was one of the most fantastic historical mysteries that I have read in a while. I honestly could not put it down. The main character, Georgie, is an extremely likable heroine. I liked the author's decision to write in the first person, which made each scene very vivid and intriguing. I got to see the inner workings of her mind, as she searched to unravel the mystery. I would highly recommend this book, and I can hardly wait to start book #2, A Royal Pain.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Cute Storyline

I found this book to be a quick read, easy to follow and an enjoyable way to pass time in an airport or at home. The lead character, Georgie, is sweet, easy to like, and a person you want to get to know better. Her immediate family is just eccentric enough to hope Georgie always gets the last word in. And of course her royal relatives seem fairly true to form. Rhys Bowen uses some real people and places, but not quite enough for my tastes. Hopefully they will play a bigger part in her coming novels. I also hope in the next novels in this series Georgie has a little more spunk. All and all I do recommend reading this novel.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fun read

Read the abridged version from Readers Digest partners for sight. This story had me from page one. The insigt of a minor royal, not such a royal life. It was not very hard to figure out who the bad guy was here but delightful enough for me to purchase number two in this series.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great Read for any historical/mystery fans

Plot a trifle hackneyed, but charming well-drawn characters blended with a detailed historical background makes a delightful 'can't-put-it-down' read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

JUST AMAZING

I can't even describe how amazing these books are. I end up reading them in a day or two because i can't put them down... i just wished Bowen came out with the new books FASTER!

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

A Royal Dissapointment!

This was my first Rhys Bowen novel to read and I was a bit dissapointed. Nice story idea, but action was dull and other characters were not very convincing. Easy book to put down. Will try the second book and see if its any better. I took a chance and read the first of Ms. Bowen's Molly Murphy Series and it was fantastic. Highly recommend "Murphy's Law". Hopefully Georgianna will get a little more personality and spunk and the "Royal Mystery" series will improve.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This was a really wonderful, light-hearted mystery. Georgie is a

This was a really wonderful, light-hearted mystery. Georgie is an endearing, if somewhat silly, heroine, and the mystery was engaging without taxing one's brain cells too much. The historical details lent it a nice feel, and overall, it was a fun, quick, and cheerful read!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

from missprint.wordpress.com

Her Royal Spyness (2007) is the first is Rhys Bowen's new Royal Spyness mystery series, as the complete title, Her Royal Spyness Solves Her First Case, suggests. The year is 1932 and, like many others, the Rannoch family is in monetary distress thanks to the stock market crash of 1929. Unlike most people, the Rannoch's problems stem from finding money to maintain a scary, draft castle in the Scottish highlands when the family estate has, for all intents and purposes, run dry.

Younger sister to the new Duke of Antholt and Rannoch, Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (Georgie to most everyone) knows that she is on the cusp of a great change. What Georgie does not expect is to leave her home in Scotland for the hustle and bustle of England to seek her fortunes, which will hopefully amount to more than the non-existent allowance from her family. Thirty-fourth in line to the English thrown on one side, daughter of a stunningly beautiful and unreliable actress on the other, Georgie is ill-equipped for life alone in a big city. She is even less equipped when it comes to finding a job to continue living in said city--Swiss Finishing Schools do not pride themselves on their resume building courses after all.

With limited options are her disposal, Georgie has no choice but to find a job. As if that isn't complicated enough she also has to spy on the Queen's playboy son to see if he is really involved with an American and deal with a beastly Frenchman who claims he owns the Rannoch family estate. When said Frenchman turns up dead in said family's home, well, things only get worse as Georgie is thrown headfirst into a murder investigation.

Her Royal Spyness is a fun, light read by a critically-acclaimed mystery writer. Fan's of Bowen's Molly Murpy Mysteries (starting with Murphy's Law) will definitely enjoy this book and realize that the similarities between the series do not stop at their strong-willed heroines. Bowen also once again include a bad-boy Irish love interest in the form of one Darcy O'Meara--a more likable character than Molly's Detective Daniel O'Sullivan if not perhaps as original a character. Fans of historical, humorous mysteries will also enjoy this title.

That said, the story does often run thin on mystery. The narrative also verges toward the pretentious though, to be fair, that might be a necessary fault when the narrator is practically royalty. (And, on a completely personal level, I found Georgie's best-friend Belinda completely insufferable but that might be me.) In the world of mysteries, Georgie is a relatively young narrator at twenty-two years of age. As a result off-the-case chatter often involves youthful topics like suitors and (excessively) bedroom matters (nothing bawdy though of course). If you want a true mystery this might not be your book, if you want a quick and fun mystery Her Royal Spyness is just the ticket.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Clever

Delightful little mystery to read. It's clever and entertaining. Can't wait for the next one to be released.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

What an enjoyable story!

Georgie is a cute little heroine. She seems to create as much trouble as she accidentally falls into. And Josephine Winspear keeps on the edge of your seat until the last few chapters.

Enjoyed.

This was a light mystery with some romance. No graphic sex scenes. Good for any age group. Loved the british history. Many twists and turnes. Will be reading the next in series.

Was an enjoyable easy read.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed what I could read of it...

I bought this as a nook book and it only came with the first 7 chapters. What happened?

0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

A Charming Beginning

I love when I find a new series that hooks me from the beginning. Georgie is a delightful character that I will enjoy getting to know. I will definitely be picking up installment #2 of the series.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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