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With her hateful brother Binky in town, Lady Georgiana has been desperately seeking an escape. So when an invitation from the Queen arrives to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvani-legendary home of vampires-Georgiana is delighted to accept. But when the bride starts acting a little batty and a prominent wedding guest is poisoned, something must be done lest the couple's vows become "till undeath do they part..."
A member of the British Royal Family travels to Transylvania for a wedding beset by werewolves and murder.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch may be 34th in line to the throne, but her family is poor, and she must fend for herself in their London house. When Queen Mary sends her as a representative to the wedding of Princess Maria Theresa, an old school chum also known as Fatty Matty, she has no choice but to go. Having no money to hire a maid, she takes on the untrained Queenie, packs her tiara and meager wardrobe, and travels with the chaperone the Queen has provided, the intrepid Lady Middlesex, and her companion, Miss Deer-Harte. Arriving at the castle, they discover that the guests include Georgiana's love interest, the mysterious Darcy O'Mara, her much-married mother, and her best friend, whose affairs are legendary. When a cordially disliked general is poisoned at the dinner table, a small group conspire to disguise the death as a heart attack until after the wedding. Georgiana's sleuthing experience (Royal Flush, 2009, etc.) makes her sensitive to many undercurrents. The now-slim bride appears nervous, and an unidentified man seen around the castle invades Georgiana's room. Although she knows better, she can't help suspecting that werewolves haunt the grounds. She vows to do all she can to find the murderer and flee Transylvania before she's married off to a homosexual prince.
A lighthearted pastiche of pre–World War II mysteries, enjoyable for readers who know not to take the dark doings too seriously.
NovelChatter
Posted August 30, 2010
The last thing her Ladyship expected to see while peering into the dark, Transylvanian night was some "thing" or some "one" climbing up Bran Castle wall.
Such are the things that tend to happen to poor Lady Georgiana Rannoch. She's twenty-two, "depressedly" single, and thirty-fourth in line to the British throne. The King is her second cousin, and his wife, Her Majesty Queen Mary, loves to give Georgie little tasks. Most recently, she dispatched Georgie to keep tabs on the Prince of Wales' new American lady friend. Prior to that, Her Majesty put Georgie in charge of a visiting German princess with a fondness for shoplifting and American gangster slang.
This time Queen Mary appointed Lady Georgiana to represent the Royal family at the wedding of Georgie's old school mate, Princess Maria Theresa of Romania, to Prince Nicholas of Bulgaria. Adding to the atmosphere of the royal wedding is its location, the dark and dreary Castle Bran, Transylvania, purported home to vampires and werewolves. And then there's Prince Seigfried, whom Georgiana unceremoniously dumped earlier in the year, ensconced in the bedroom right next to hers.
In Royal Blood, the highly anticipated fourth book in author Rhys Bowen's "Royal Spyness" series, we find Lady Georgiana in the middle of another murder, and this time a mysterious vial is found in her room. Everyone is snowed in, the pass is closed, and there are no tracks leading from the castle. Just who is trying to frame Lady Georgiana and why?
Among the supporting cast of players in Royal Blood are many familiar faces in this series: Georgie's trusty bed-hopping best friend, Belinda Warburton-Stokes, Georgie's brother Binky, the current duke, and his tiresome, penny pinching wife Fig. As always, the mysterious and handsome Darcy O'Mara pops up at just the right moment! New additions to the mix are: Georgie's royal traveling companion Lady Middlesex, Queenie Hepplewhite her bumbling new maid, and a mysteriously dark butler named Dragomir.
Let me be honest, I love this series and was somewhat apprehensive about reviewing Royal Blood. Often times, at this point in a series, the plot and characters can become flat and repetitive. Not so in Rhys Bowen's latest! Quite the opposite, the characters remain fresh and interesting. The plot is crisp, and the turns are sharp and deadly. Ms. Bowen wisely gives the reader just enough information about the history of the players to allow a first time reader to feel right at home in Castle Bran. Rhys Bowen has written another brilliant, not-to-be-missed addition to this well loved series.
Source: This book was provided to me by the publisher at my request and in no way affected by review.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.In 1932, Her Majesty Queen Mary asks the thirty-fourth person on the queue to the throne Lady Georgiana Rannoch to represent the crown at a royal wedding in Romania. Georgie has many reasons to agree which include she is broke and bored; sick of her obnoxious brother Binky, her boyfriend Darcy will attend, and her former schoolmate Princess Maria "Matty" Theresa is the bride. The only detractors for the twentyish Georgie is her chaperone is Lady "Horse-face" and she needs a maid so as to not embarrass her country.
At the eerie looking castle in Transylvania, Queenie Hepplewhite becomes Georgie's maid though the servant has been canned for her clumsiness; she accidentally lit her previous employer on fire. Soon after the British arrives, guest Bulgarian Field Marshal Pirin collapses at dinner; he was poisoned. Unable to resist and with Queenie as her assistant or better described her albatross, Georgie investigates the killed the womanizing officer.
This is an engaging lighthearted Royal Spyness Mystery (see Royal Flush and Royal Pain) that hooks the audience with the subtle and slapstick jocularity. The amateur sleuthing whodunit and the depression Era in London and Romania fully developed for the reader to feel as if we are part of the wedding party. However, it is the comedic team of Georgie and Queenie who make for a zany frolic as the Royal Blood flows down the chin of Matty in Transylvania.
Harriet Klausner
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 4, 2012
I love this book the suspense the accusation its awsome
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Overview
With her hateful brother Binky in town, Lady Georgiana has been desperately seeking an escape. So when an invitation from the Queen arrives to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvani-legendary home of vampires-Georgiana is delighted to accept. But when the bride starts acting a little batty and a prominent wedding guest is poisoned, something must be done lest the couple's vows become "till undeath do they part..."