Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #1)

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Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #1)

by Rhys Bowen (Goodreads Author)

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 5,623 ratings · 867 reviews

The Agatha Award winner debuts a 1930s London mystery series, featuring a penniless twenty-something member of the extended royal family.

Her ridiculously long name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. And she is flat broke. As the thirty-fourth in line for the throne, she has been taught only a few things, among them,...more

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published July 3rd 2007 by Berkley Hardcover (first published January 1st 2007)

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Apr 12, 2013 Txkimmers rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ADORBS! Mitford-esque without the anti-semitism, this novel was tons of fun. The actual mystery itself trod over not-very-original ground, but the characters are sharply done, and the wit is sly as can be. I listened to the audio version, absolutely wonderful performance by Katherine Kellgren, the narrator.

ETA: I have to amend my enthusiasm after a bit of time, not for this novel, but for the series. After consuming the second book and the first chapter of the third, I am not as high on this se...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Jamina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fun read! Liked Georgianna as the plucky heroine/detective/spy. The mystery part isn't particularly hard to figure out, but the colorful characters and historical references made it worth my time. You spend some time getting to know Georgie, her half-brother, Binky, and his wife Fig. Yep, Binky was preferred to Roderick, the man's given name. And for those fans of Pride and Prejudice, there's a Darcy in the story. If you wished that he were an Irish rogue in the original, you get him here--Darcy...more

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Feb 02, 2009 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lady Georgiana is thirty-fourth in line to the English throne, but the distinction of being a royal, albeit a minor one, hasn't kept money woes at bay during the Depression. However, since royals - no matter how minor - aren't supposed to get "common" jobs, Georgiana's only option, according to the Queen, is marriage to the highly repulsive Prince Siegfried. Georgiana resolves to support herself, even if she has to do it clandestinely. And so she decides to work as a maid (horrors!). When a blac...more

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Jan 30, 2009 Gayle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rhys Bowen, who has already achieved a certain notoriety because of Evan Evans, a Welsh policeman, and Molly Murphy, an Irish immigrant, launches a new series and a new heroine with Her Royal Spyness. The lady in question is a lady indeed--Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, thirty-fourth in line for the British throne. Georgie, as she is called by her intimates, has a position to uphold, but no income upon which to uphold it. Her family offers the unappetizing options of unpaid governess...more

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Nov 23, 2012 LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-star, read-2009, historical, mystery-or-thriller, format-print, acquired-library

It's the 1930s and just about everyone's having money problems, including Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (aka Georgie). When she overhears her brother and his wife discussing marrying her off to a cold fish of a man, Georgie decides to take a trip to London (Georgie lives in dreary Scotland). Of course, the family can't afford to send a maid with her, and Georgie can't afford to hire one while in London (her brother cut her allowance off ages ago), so she's left to fend for herself. T...more It's the 1930s and just about everyone's having money problems, including Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (aka Georgie). When she overhears her brother and his wife discussing marrying her off to a cold fish of a man, Georgie decides to take a trip to London (Georgie lives in dreary Scotland). Of course, the family can't afford to send a maid with her, and Georgie can't afford to hire one while in London (her brother cut her allowance off ages ago), so she's left to fend for herself. The Queen asks her to spy on her son and his newest lady friend and hints that Georgie might be sent off to be a lady-in-waiting in the middle of nowhere. Georgie has to do what the Queen has asked and somehow figure out how to earn a living while at the same time avoiding any actions that might get her assigned to a life of boredom in the country.

Georgie tries a job at Harrod's - she doesn't even make it through a day. In the process of learning to take care of her own living quarters (her grandfather, who's a commoner and a former cop, tells her how to light a fireplace, and she figures out how to toast bread and clean things), Georgie has what she thinks is a brilliant idea - become a one-woman cleaning service. She'll change sheets, do a bit of scrubbing and dusting, and try to make sure that no one of her class finds out what she's resorting to for money.

While Georgie tries to figure out how to support herself, she meets a handsome minor royal, an Irishman who's also short on funds. He's interesting, fun, and attractive, but he's not suitable husband material - that doesn't stop Georgie's best friend from encouraging her to have a fling with him and finally cease being a virgin. Unfortunately, Georgie's life isn't just work and a handsome man. Her brother has come to London with bad news: apparently, their father gambled away the family estate, and now the winner has come to collect. When that man turns up dead in the family's London home, Georgie and especially her brother are suspects. Georgie has to figure out who killed him before whoever did it manages to kill her, all while doing some spying for the Queen and cleaning other people's houses.

The cover of this book makes me think "lively and fun" and that's exactly what this book is. I wasn't sure what to think of Georgie, at first - she's well-bred, which often translates to "annoying and stuck-up" in books and movies, and she complains about her circumstances but refuses any of the quickest solutions to her problems. I came to like her pretty quickly, however. Although I never really could understand why becoming a lady-in-waiting was such a bad fate, I enjoyed the ways she tried to solve her own problems. She didn't ask her grandfather to fix everything, especially after she realized that he was probably in more dire monetary straits than she. She lost the job at Harrod's through no real fault of her own, and her decision to become a cleaning lady was fairly logical, if naive (which fits her character, anyway).

Mystery fans should be warned that it takes a while for the mystery (the murdered man) to be introduced - the first part of the book establishes Georgie's character and her predicament and sets the story's fairly light and humorous tone. Once the murder does happen, it becomes extremely easy to forget all the other things Georgie is supposed to be doing - Bowen does try to remind the reader here and there, but in the end Georgie doesn't do much cleaning, and spying for the Queen just sort of swoops in and takes over the whole story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more of this series. The historical details, humor, and tiny bit of romance were tons of fun, and the book itself was a very quick read (I finished it in a day).

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)(less)

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Sep 08, 2012 lia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

I really like this book, the 3 stars was just me saying that it lacked action and the mystery somehow very easy to solve. We can guess who the killer and his motive in the middle of the story. But i like the setting and i like the main character. So i will continue with the second book and hopping the plot will get better.

It is the 1930s England where the country just came out of the first great war and about to enter another one. Where depression is everywhere and affecting anyone, including t...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Melissa Railey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was sold on these books by the name alone. And it's that kind of humor that just really makes this book. One of those little things that I always enjoy is a good little cozy mystery and this is the definition of a cozy. Georgie is a terrific character. She's fun, hilarious and caring. Plus, she thinks pretty quickly on her toes. Rhys Bowen created terrific side characters in Belinda, Georgie's non-royal grandfather, her mother, and some insignificant little Irishman named Darcy. ;) The series...more

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Jun 26, 2012 My Sister's Bookshelf rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

For my full review (and others!) please check out my blog! http://mysistersbookshelf.com/marys-b...

Review: So I believe I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy a good mystery with a female detective-heroine, preferably set between the two World Wars? KThnxBye! This is one of those. The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is thoughtful and intelligent – Maisie’s character and the mysteries gently unfold before you across each book in the series. Her Royal Spyness on the other hand is a romp, pu...more For my full review (and others!) please check out my blog! http://mysistersbookshelf.com/marys-b...

Review: So I believe I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy a good mystery with a female detective-heroine, preferably set between the two World Wars? KThnxBye! This is one of those. The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear is thoughtful and intelligent – Maisie’s character and the mysteries gently unfold before you across each book in the series. Her Royal Spyness on the other hand is a romp, pure and simple. And what a fun romp it is!

That is not to say our heroine, Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line to the throne, does not find herself in serious situations: she stumbles across a corpse in a bathtub at the beginning of this mystery. But despite having been educated in Switzerland at a finishing school named Les Oiseaux (how perfect is that?), “Georgie” is smart, capable, and has a sense of the ridiculous that makes you want to be her friend. Her friend Belinda Warburton-Stoke lends her a sense of glamour where necessary and reminds Georgie, and the reader, to have fun. For all of these reasons, conveyed through Bowen’s lively wit, things never seem too dire. When in doubt, Georgie has an old grandfather, a retired Essex police officer – from the non-royal side of the family, obvs – who keeps things grounded.

Which brings me to my favorite part about these books: the secondary characters. They are wonderful. For starters, Georgie has a ridiculous brother and a domineering sister-in-law, known as Binky and Fig, respectively. (See what I mean? You want to pick this up already!) She and Binky have one of those relationships where she tries to make him understand what’s going on and he dismisses her cheerfully, all the while referring to her as “Georgie, old thing.” We also meet the Queen, referred to as “HM” throughout the books, and even she is hilarious, partly because of the ways in which she manages to pull the strings of Georgie’s life, even while making infrequent appearances throughout the books.

Her home, Castle Rannoch in Scotland, is its own secondary character. The bathrooms are papered tartan, obviously, with windows that are never shut against the freezing cold. Another supporting actor, Prince Seigfried of Romania, or Fish-Face as we come to know him, is not strictly her betrothed – the jacket is inaccurate in that respect. But he is another ridiculous character. And he comes up in later books! In fact all of these wonderful secondary characters have a delightful habit of reappearing, which I’ve loved. By the fourth book, it’s like coming across an old chum...(less)

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Apr 18, 2012 Jaylia3 rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 assassinate...more 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.

I discovered Her Royal Spyness, which it turns out my sister "Rose" and her friend Margaret Dean also enjoyed, because it was highly rated on GoodReads by Susan Elia MacNeal, author of the equally wonderful Mr. Churchill's Secretary. (less)

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Oct 26, 2011 Kathy Davie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: homey, history, mystery

First in the Her Royal Spyness mystery series set in the early 1930s and revolving around the Lady Victoria Georgiana "Georgie" Charlotte Eugenie of Glen Garry and Rannoch, 34th from the throne, second cousin to the king, and utterly fed up with the selfish baiting of her sister-in-law, Fig.

The Story
Besides getting away from Fig and her practical cost-cutting ideas such as using Georgie as a governess for her son, Georgie is also escaping a planned house party to entertain Prince Siegfried of Ro...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've read all five books in the Royal Spyness series. The first book had me debating as to whether or not I should continue on with the series. There was a 3 for 2 sale on Audible so a decision was necessary. The second book must have hooked me because I went right on through the fifth and was left wanting more.

This is light, fluffy, and sometimes silly reading but the characters, including the annoying ones (they are meant to be annoying) are entertaining and likable. Also, most important to me...more

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May 10, 2011 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Snail in Danger (Sid) by: Lauren Willig (blog)

Shelves: mystery-genre

More like 3.5. Close to but not quite 4 stars. Kept me guessing until very near the end, but then the windup seemed a little too pat. The protagonist reminded me oddly of Flora Fyrdraaca, Ysabeau S. Wilce's heroine. Not afraid to sneak around and connive to get what she wants, but in a good way. If Flora were in 1930s England and correspondingly subject to class and gender restrictions on her behavior, rather than being in a fantasy setting with fewer such restrictions, she might be very like (t...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Sarah BT rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 3.75

I decided to read this book because my mom is a fan of Rhys Bowen and I'm a fan of lighter mysteries, so I thought this would be a good read.

In many ways, I believe Her Royal Spyness would be considered a cozy mystery. It is fairly light on the mystery side, and while there is a mystery plot, it does take awhile before the mystery really takes off. The body doesn’t appear until just over 100 pages into the book and even then the story goes between Georgie’s many responsibilities-spy...more Rating: 3.75

I decided to read this book because my mom is a fan of Rhys Bowen and I'm a fan of lighter mysteries, so I thought this would be a good read.

In many ways, I believe Her Royal Spyness would be considered a cozy mystery. It is fairly light on the mystery side, and while there is a mystery plot, it does take awhile before the mystery really takes off. The body doesn’t appear until just over 100 pages into the book and even then the story goes between Georgie’s many responsibilities-spying on the Prince for the Queen, avoiding Prince fishface, visiting her grandfather, trying not to fall for Darcy O’Mara, as well as trying to catch the killer.

There was a lot happening in this book away from the mystery that I think makes it seem lighter than typical mystery fare. Georgie is very much an amateur detective and at sometimes a little bumbling in her detective skills. Her brother is accused of the murder and she's working hard to clear the family name. The mystery is somewhat easy to solve, so readers looking for a real puzzle won’t find one here. Clues are dropped early on and they are fairly easy to solve. But the story is still lots of fun and has lots of humor which I think will attract readers looking for a quick easy read with a bit of mystery thrown in.

I was a bit annoyed with how long it took for the story to get going. I think that’s partly due to the fact that the jacket flap covers a lot of what happens in the first half of the book, so I was expecting the body to show up and Georgie to start in on her case early on. It takes a bit to get there, but leading up to it is fun. Georgie’s mother is an eccentric former actress who flits from lover to lover and the relationship between the two is funny to read. The story is set in 1930’s but I felt at times the story read like a modern story so much that I forgot it was historical. There is some historical information, but not much that I got a ton of historical detail and the 30’s time period and setting doesn’t seem to further the plot.

I didn’t mind that the mystery was fairly easy to solve as I thought getting there was full of humorous adventures and Georige is a very likeable narrator. She has a great voice and in many ways reminded me of a 1930’s mystery-solving Bridget Jones. The only thing that really bugged me in the book was that early on the Queen asks Georgie to spy on her son, the Prince, because he’s interested in some floozy American. I expected this is where the story would take us next, but it’s another 100 and some odd pages before it’s even brought up again!

Since this is the first in the series, there is a lot of character introduction and storyline set up which can get a bit tedious. But the author has me interested enough to read the next book in the series and see where Georgie ends up next. I enjoyed the book and I think Georgie’s wit and spunk is what made the book enjoyable.

Is there Teen Appeal?: Yes, I think older teens and college students would be a good audience for Her Royal Spyness. Georgie is 21, so she's a young narrator. She’s young, she’s out exploring London with friends but also finds herself low on funds (which I think many college students can relate to!), there’s romance, and Georgie’s friend Belinda is convinced that Georgie needs to get out and explore the world of men and become a bit more wise in that area. This adds a lot of friendship dynamics to the story as well as the mother/daughter relationship and I think chick-lit readers would be attracted to these parts of the story.

Book Pairings: Size 12 is Not Fat, Bridget Jones Diary

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Jan 29, 2011 Vinaya rated it 2 of 5 stars

Let's say one of your friends sets you up on a blind date with a guy you know nothing about. You go to the restaurant to meet him, and you're filled with trepidation because the whole experiment could go either way. You've heard really good things about him from your friend, but for all you know, she could just be biased, or your tastes may not match.

You get to the restaurant, you find your blind date, and he's not bad to look at. In fact, he's quite appealing. You chat casually over cocktails...more Let's say one of your friends sets you up on a blind date with a guy you know nothing about. You go to the restaurant to meet him, and you're filled with trepidation because the whole experiment could go either way. You've heard really good things about him from your friend, but for all you know, she could just be biased, or your tastes may not match.

You get to the restaurant, you find your blind date, and he's not bad to look at. In fact, he's quite appealing. You chat casually over cocktails and starters, and everything's going surprisingly well. Blind dates haven't worked out so well for you in the past. This one may be the jackpot, however. The guy seems smart, he manages to make you laugh out loud a couple of times, and the food and ambience are adding to the mystique. You mentally thank your friend and settle down to have a good evening.

The waiter comes over to ask you for your main course choices. Your date asks for the cheapest, blandest-looking food on the menu. Uh-oh, you're a hearty-eating type of girl. But you decide to give him another chance, and ask him about your his job. It's like unleashing a veritable torrent. He tells you how underpaid he is, how everyone's out to get him, how he's so frickin' broke all the time, how his momma was a slut and his daddy was a clumsy fool, and how he's trying to escape a relationship with a fortune-hunter who sounds more than a little slutty and shifty. Oh, and he thinks his boss is embezzling from the company.

You perk up, because it sounds like there will at least be an element of drama to enliven his dreary recital. You ask him if he is doing anything to confirm his suspicions. He tells you his best friend, who is completely innocent, has been arrested for the crime. Did you rescue him? you ask. He tells you that he has made some inquiries amongst the people who work in the company but nothing is forthcoming yet. He also tells you that he has drafted a couple of friends who move in the same circles to keep an eye out for his boss and report any suspicious behaviour. But what are you doing about it? you ask insistently, and he waffles on a bit, and you realize, much to your disgust, that he is just expecting the answer to fall in his lap, without much positive action on his part.

You don't want to be rude and walk out in the middle of the date, because he doesn't seem like a completely horrible person or anything, just a weak-willed nobody, and maybe he doesn't deserve quite the amount of scorn you're mentally heaping on his head. You struggle through the rest of the evening, hoping in vain to spot some of the charm and humor you thought you saw in him at the beginning of the evening. You get nothing. Zilch. Nada. You finally get to the end of the evening, pay the tab, and walk out heaving a sigh of relief, when he tells you hesitantly that he would like to see you again. Hell, no! You bid him farewell politely and walk off, wondering to yourself how something that had such potential could turn out to be such a bust. (less)

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Aug 07, 2010 An Abundance of Books rated it 2 of 5 stars

Georgie needs to get away from her family, before they marry her off or she strangles them! When an opportunity to go to London comes up, Georgie takes it, without really thinking things through. Now she's in London without money or a servant, which is problematic since Georgie doesn't know how to start a fire or find a grocery store. Her cousin, Queen Mary, requests Georgie's help in spying on the Prince of Wales' current (and very unacceptably married) lady friend. Georgie also runs into an ol...more

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Jan 19, 2010 Margo Brooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the fresh voice on this royal sleuth. 21-year-old Lady Georgianna's debutante season is over and now this royal cousin (granddaughter of Queen Victoria's least pretty daughter and daughter of an actress turned dutchess who can't stay with one man for too long) is trying to make her way in the world while following royal protocal and keeping an eye on the crown prince for the Queen.

Georgie's straight talking, but innocent character decides to run her own cleaning agency to cope with he...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Marlyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

In which we meet Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, known to her friends as "Georgie". Thirty-fourth in line to the throne, Georgie became virtually penniless when she turned 21, as her allowance was cut off. Frustrated living with her older half-brother "Binky" and his wife at the family's estate, Castle Rannoch, Georgie decides to strike out on her own, and removes herself to the family's London home, Rannoch House. After an unsuccessful few hours as a cosmetics salesgirl at Harrods, s...more

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Apr 28, 2009 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, fiction, historical-fiction, personal-library

Is it just me or is anyone else out there unreasonably attracted to cute book covers?

Most times my predilection for buying books based on cute covers comes back to bite me in the behind, but every once in a while I turn the last page feeling enormously pleased with myself.

This is one of those times.

Award-winning author Rhys Bowen - of Molly Murphy and Constable Evans fame - has hit a homerun with her newest mystery series, A Royal Spyness. Meet Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie. She is t...more

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Mar 29, 2013 Waverly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, mystery, historical-fiction

This light-hearted mystery series is just the ticket for fans of P.G. Wodehouse and Oscar Wilde at his wittiest. Rhys Bowen is a modern writer who takes us back to Britain in 1932, when the top shelf of society found itself strapped for cash following the stock market crash. Uneasiness about the Germans rumbles in the background with references to Hitler and the armaments business dropped here and there. The social setting is a front-seat driver for Georgie, the heroine, as she pursues a daring...more This light-hearted mystery series is just the ticket for fans of P.G. Wodehouse and Oscar Wilde at his wittiest. Rhys Bowen is a modern writer who takes us back to Britain in 1932, when the top shelf of society found itself strapped for cash following the stock market crash. Uneasiness about the Germans rumbles in the background with references to Hitler and the armaments business dropped here and there. The social setting is a front-seat driver for Georgie, the heroine, as she pursues a daring desire for independence without the financial means to do so; she's caught between the designs of HM (Her Majesty, the queen) and the flash modern life of the younger set in the city, with her close chum Belinda leading the charge.

When the book opens, George overhears through a fluke of acoustics while she's on the loo a conversation between her thoroughly unpleasant sister-in-law Fig (nee Hilda) and her dim-but-kind brother Binky (Hamish, Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch). Fig is complaining about the Queen's demand that they host a house party to throw Lady Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (that's our Georgie) together with Prince Siegfried of Romania. The family expects that she will dutifully marry a minor noble as royals have always done, but she's determined to marry for love or not at all.

She feels clever and adventurous when escapes their marriage machinations by jumping on a train to London... without much forethought about the practicalities of living in a closed-up house without servants. She's never so much as lit a fire before. Much hilarity ensues.

Enter Darcy O'Mara, a devilishly charming Irish peer who's just as broke as Georgie. He plans to marry an heiress eventually to fix his family's financial woes, but in the meantime, the playboy is content with an easy going life attending soirees, gambling and seducing women. When Georgie catches his eye, she's all too aware of her limited experience with men and has a heck of a time figuring out his true intentions. Is the ne'er-do-well a bit of harmless fun, or is the black sheep just a front for a darker kind of villain?

The stakes become a lot higher when a nasty piece of work arrives in London to claim ownership of the family's ancestral castle, which their father apparently lost along with the family fortune while gambling. The blackmailer turns up dead in the bathtub of Rannoch House in London, and Scotland Yard arrests Binky as the chief suspect. Meanwhile, the murderer who framed him remains at large, and it seems that Georgie is the victim he intends to knock off next.

Bowen creates a well-matched complement of characters who keep the plot light with their antics, and it's easy to see from this promising start why the series is still going strong. I would say that if you enjoy this flip comedy, go find a copy of Stella Gibbon's Cold Comfort Farm (1932). This classic is an absolute gem, and Bowen's series is a worthy tribute to the spirit of Flora Poste.

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Jul 10, 2012 MissSusie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, reviewed

This is a fun little cozy similar to Maisie Dobbs but I think Georgie has way more fun than Maisie does And she is 34th in line for the throne! Being a royal even though a lowly one it is still custom for her to find a suitable marriage and when the Queen makes a suggestion to her brother to marry her off to Prince Stiegfriend of Romania (or as Georgie calls him fishface) she knows she’s got to take her life into her own hands and high tails it to London without servants or a chaperone *Gasp*.

I...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Andrea Guy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, cozy-mystery, cruisinthroughthecoziesreadingchall, royals, supportyourlocallibraryreadingchall

This is book one of the Royal Spyness series. I highly recommend this series if you are a lover of cozy mysteries and historical fiction.

Lady Georgiana is our spy. She's a member of the royal family; 34th in line to the throne. The story takes place in the 30s, when Edward was the Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson was still married to her second husband.

I absolutely love this book. I read Naughty in Nice for a book tour last autumn and I knew I had to go back and read the books from start to f...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really do like British mysteries set after the Great War, and so, it was with a song in my heart that I picked up the first book in this series, looking forward to the chummy hours I'd spend with Georgie and her set as we sleuthed around London. My exuberance gave way to a dreary sense of fatigue as it seemed that the whole thing was unfolding in real time, and we were spending not enough time with the Bright Young Things, and too much time learning to toast our own crumpets.

The story picked...more

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Apr 23, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Now here is a fun twist on the light and easy murder mysteries. Our girl crime solver is part of the extended royal British family -- 34th in line for the throne in the 30s when King George and Queen Mary are still alive and well and David, he who was to be king has just flitted from flower to flower to explore the eccentric Mrs. Simpson who is accompanied about England with the best alibi of all Mr. Simpson! Interesting to read just now, especially on the heels of The King's Speech and with a r...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Erin Stuhlsatz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

This book was like Maisie Dobbs, but not quite as good.

Similarities: Georgiana and Maisie are both young ladies in 1920-30 England (mostly London) who are solving mysteries.

Differences: Georgiana is 34th in line for the British throne (while Maisie has managed to break into middle-class England from the servant class). Georgiana is adorable with her incompetence (her grandfather teachers her how to build a fire because she doesn't have any servants with her) and inability to decide how she feels...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun book. Set in the 1930s, it's the story of a minor royal - Lady Georgiana ("Georgie") who is 34th in line to the throne of England. Georgie's family is facing financial difficulties. She has a choice of staying at the family home in a drafty castle in Scotland where relatives want to marry her off to a prince from Romania, or striking out on her own (but without any money). She ends up moving to her family's London house alone where for the first time she has to dress herself, lear...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013reads, anglophilia, audio, comedy, fiction, historical, mystery

Downloaded from Audible.com. Narrated by Katherine Kellgren.

A very light satirical mystery set in 1930’s England. Georgie is 21, a Duke’s sister and 34th in line to the throne. Despite some intimacy with royalty, her family is dead broke so she escapes from a drafty estate in Scotland to London where she hopes to earn a living and avoid being forced to marry minor European royalty. Inevitably she finds herself embroiled in a couple of mysteries that she must of course solve to save herself and h...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Lesley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cozy-mystery, 2012, england, library

I never expect much from these cozy mystery type books but I do enjoy reading them and I like finding new series that I can always go back to when I need another book to read. This one, became one of my favourites this year! Set in the 1930s, Georgie is a very minor royal (34th in line to the throne) who’s expected to keep up with social status as a Lady but has absolutely no means to do so. This is due to the fact that she was cut off financially from her brother the Duke (aka Binky) who really...more I never expect much from these cozy mystery type books but I do enjoy reading them and I like finding new series that I can always go back to when I need another book to read. This one, became one of my favourites this year! Set in the 1930s, Georgie is a very minor royal (34th in line to the throne) who’s expected to keep up with social status as a Lady but has absolutely no means to do so. This is due to the fact that she was cut off financially from her brother the Duke (aka Binky) who really has no money either. Dying of boredom in her family’s estate in Scotland, she flees to the family home in London in an effort to make some money and have some social life. Naturally, in these kind of mysteries, she gets in trouble and it’s up to her to crack the case!

Here’s why I loved it:
Georgie is adorable, feisty and a bit clueless due to her upbringing. She literally can’t do anything practical because of how she was brought up. However, she’s very determined to pay her own way and not marry anyone unless it’s for love. The subplot of being a minor royal with no money to live on yet she’s not really allowed to work is very interesting. It kind of reminds me of the drama that Sarah Ferguson got into with her money problems. It’s as though we expect her to take care of herself but really, what is she qualified to do? It’s not as though they are brought up to learn any sort of trade or profession. No offense Fergie, I do admire your spunk! It’s not really as though she could try to get a job minimum wage or whatever.It’s just an interesting thing to contemplate.

I also enjoyed her relationship with her brother, the Duke. There’s really no animosity between them considering that he’s the only one who gets to inherit and he cut her off. I think if that’s the society that you’re brought up in, you’re not that surprised when you’re expected to marry your way out of a situation as a woman. Very reminiscent of Downton Abbey or Pride and Prejudice. Hey! Let’s see how many other pop culture references I can make in this review.

The best part about discovering this series? They’ve already published 6 books! Don’t you just love finding a new series to read? I’m crossing my fingers that the next books in the series are as fun as the first!(less)

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Mar 07, 2011 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Meet Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, but just plain Georgie will do. Georgie is in a bit of a pickle. Her dim and rather spineless elder brother Binky, Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch, has cut off her allowance, forcing her to live on his charity in their drafty Scottish castle to be lorded over by his harpy of a wife, Fig (née Hilda). This is not quite the pickle. The pickle is that, as a member of the royal family (her grandmother was "the least attractive of Queen Victoria's...more Meet Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, but just plain Georgie will do. Georgie is in a bit of a pickle. Her dim and rather spineless elder brother Binky, Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch, has cut off her allowance, forcing her to live on his charity in their drafty Scottish castle to be lorded over by his harpy of a wife, Fig (née Hilda). This is not quite the pickle. The pickle is that, as a member of the royal family (her grandmother was "the least attractive of Queen Victoria's daughters"), it is Georgie's duty to "make a good match with some half-lunatic, buck-toothed, chinless, spineless, and utterly awful European royal, thus cementing ties with a potential enemy [of Britain]." This will not do. One day, in the bathroom--"how many people have had life-changing experiences while on the loo?"--she overhears her brother and beastly Fig hatching a plot to bring a particularly odious Princely Specimen to the castle in order to throw the two of them together. That settles it: Georgie is off to London, without servants and without a penny to her name, to make a life for herself. But first, how does one lay a fire? Or make tea? Or boil an egg? And then what is one to do with the dead body one discovers in one's bath? A dead body, I should add, belonging to a horrid Frenchman who is trying to swipe the family estate?

Faster than you can say "Buckingham Palace," Georgie finds her brother and herself implicated in the crime. She must put off her burgeoning business, Coronet Domestics--incognito housecleaning--running with the fast city set, and her flirtation with the dashing Darcy O'Mara and crack the case before Binkie swings for it. Joining forces with her are her old school chum, fashionista Belinda Warburton-Stoke, and her Cockney grandfather (on her mother's side). Playing girl detective isn't all fun and games, though. A quick shove on a tube platform, a poisoned sugar cube, a boating accident, and Georgie begins to wonder if there is more to Gaston de Mauxville's death, if one of the bright young things has it in for her family...and for Georgie herself.

This was such a treat. Georgie is a delightful heroine--wry, witty, and plucky--you root for her from the start. Bowen's command of language is flawless and her plot, while not very demanding, completely satisfies. Picture a somewhat less capable Flora Poste meets Agatha Christie. While ostensibly a whodunit, this is really a social comedy of errors about girl meets world. The mystery is intriguing, but I was much more drawn in by Georgie's frustrations with her lack of life skills and her largely ingenious ways of obtaining them, which is something that I think all young adults, freshly out of the nest, can relate to. We all have our Macgyver moments, having no clue about how to fix something (or tools, for that matter) and being too stubborn to call Mom--I remember once mending a pair of glasses with a paper clip and a pair of scissors. Georgie's involves a ladle and a coal scuttle.

It is also a comedy of manners and class, and I especially enjoyed Bowen's characterizations. Her Royal Spyness is a parade of types culled from British literature of the '20s and '30s, from worldly and modern Belinda (what one would call a "fast girl"), to the utterly useless Binky, to Fig's self-important frugality, the puppyish Wiffy Fetherstonehaugh and Tristram Hautbois, Darcy the Irish rogue, Georgie's actress mother, all the society matrons, and especially the royals--imperious HRH Queen Mary--and the wannabes--a perfectly vulgar Wallis Simpson.

High Literature, this is not, but I wouldn't want it to be. Highly recommended for all Anglophiles, to be consumed in one sitting with an ocean of tea and buttered crumpets. My only regret is that as soon as I started this, I came down with a disgusting cold that prevented me from going down to the library to get the rest of the series. (These are the ideal sick books.) Now I am reading Shirley Jackson.(less)

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Dec 28, 2010 Debbie Maskus rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first of a series called Royal Spyness about a fictional royal family in the 1930's in England. The story contains many instances that are probably quite true. The story centers on Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie or Georgie as she is called, about 34th in the line to the throne. Georgie is in her 20's and has completed her schooling and had her "season", now she must find a suitable husband and marry. Of course, Georgie plans something else. In this episode, Georgie has lef...more

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May 05, 2013 Lis Carey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fiction, historical-fiction, mystery

Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, a.k.a. Georgie, is a very minor royal, 34th in line to the throne, and half sister of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch. Unfortunately, it's the 1930s, and their father, the previous Duke, lost the family fortune and shot himself. Conditions at Castle Rannoch are grim, and made grimmer for Georgie when she discovers that a house party is planned to throw her together with Prince Siegfried of Romania, a potential suitor whom she has already rejected as...more Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, a.k.a. Georgie, is a very minor royal, 34th in line to the throne, and half sister of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch. Unfortunately, it's the 1930s, and their father, the previous Duke, lost the family fortune and shot himself. Conditions at Castle Rannoch are grim, and made grimmer for Georgie when she discovers that a house party is planned to throw her together with Prince Siegfried of Romania, a potential suitor whom she has already rejected as "Fish-Face." Dull, stiff, unattractive.

She decides to go to London, with an invented excuse of a school friend's wedding, and find a way to support herself and, happily, avoid Siegfried.

Georgie is a very bright young woman with absolutely no practical training of any kind. She has been educated to be a minor royal and an ornament to society, not a self-supporting working woman. On her own in Rannoch House (her sister-in-law Fig [real name Hilda; the Duke, given name Hamish, is known as Binky] insisted they had no money to send a servant with her), she has to learn to lay a fire, cook, and take care of all the practical aspects of life that young ladies of her set never have to concern themselves with.

The experience gives her some practical education, but it's not sufficient to deal with discovering a dead body in her bathtub.

Georgie is a bright, engaging character, and Bowen surrounds her with other lively characters. This is a romp through England between the wars, with dark clouds on the horizon but right now the most threatening problem seeming to be the Prince of Wales's unsuitable fascination with the American, Wallis Simpson. Georgie's mother, a former actress, her non-royal grandfather, a former cop, and a variety of old school friends and acquaintances further enliven the story. These include Belinda Warburton-Stokes, an aspiring dress designer who is having difficulty getting her clients to actually pay her, Marissa, a imposing beauty with no head for drink, and Darcy O'Mara, an utterly charming, but impoverished and therefore unsuitable, Irish peer. Darcy teaches her the art of gate crashing for entertainment and meals, while Belinda instructs her in the fine art of writing convincing endorsements of her own clandestine cleaning service.

The mystery is decent, though we're a good distance from the end when a thumping Clue is dropped on Georgie's head and she misses it. Overall, this is just a lot of fun.

Recommended if you're looking for light reading.

I borrowed this book from a friend.
(less)

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About Rhys Bowen

"I'm a mystery author, winner of both Agatha and Anthony awards for my Molly Murphy mysteries, set in 1902 New York City.

I also write the bestselling Royal Spyness series, about the British royal family in the 1930s. It's lighter, sexier, funnier, wicked satire. It was voted by readers as best mystery series this year.
I am also known for my Constable Evans books, set in North Wales, and for my aw...more

More about Rhys Bowen...

Books by Rhys Bowen

A Royal Pain (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #2)

Royal Blood (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #4)

Royal Flush (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #3)

Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries #1)

Naughty in Nice (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #5)

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Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #1)

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