Customer Reviews

Royal Flush (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Twenty-something Lady Georgiana ("Georgie" to family and friends) is thirty-fourth in line to the British throne during the summer of 1932. The younger sister of the Duke of Rannoch (aka Binky), Georgie is also quite impoverished and has not yielded to efforts to marry her off to undesirable men of appropriate rank.

As the story opens, she's living alone (no servants) in the family's London house, somewhat at loose ends in the August heat, a situation not improved by her lack of money. Her annual trek to visit the Royal family at Balmoral is two weeks away.

A visit with her glamorous socialite friend Belinda gives Georgie an idea for a money-making scheme. But alas she's too naive to know what her innocently-intended ad in the Times for upper-class "escort" services means to the men who read it and call her. Saved from disaster by the handsome enigmatic young Darcy, she's packed off by Scotland Yard to her Rannoch family estate in Scotland, with a secret assignment: to keep an eye out for attacks on members of the royal family. Balmoral is practically next door and some odd things have occurred.

She finds her brother Binky laid up with a nasty foot injury and her sister-in-law struggling to cope with a a houseful of American guests - including Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Simpson - who are being entertained by the Rannochs as a favor to the Prince of Wales. From the first moments, Georgie's visit home is anything but restful. There are close calls, physical danger, off-putting strangers who want to get close to her, several encounters with the attractive Darcy, and murder.

This story deftly blends fast-paced action, romance, and insight into Georgie's character, with bits of British history. The handful of continuing series characters are well-drawn, including Georgie's commoner grandfather, her awkward sister-in-law and clueless brother, her glamorous friend Belinda and her elegant, distant mother (who bolted with a lover when Georgie was a tyke, leaving her to be raised by her father).

This was a fun and engaging read from start to finish.

Lady Georgiana is having a hard time in London. Thanks to the summer heat, she's finding few takers for her house cleaning service. But she things her friend Belinda has just handed her a winning meal ticket - dinner companion for out of town men. But advertising it as an escort service proves to be disastrous, and it is strongly suggested that Georgie return home to Scotland avert a royal scandal.

To her surprise, Georgie is greeted at Castle Rannoch with open arms. Her sister-in-law, Fig, is being driven crazy by a house full of demanding Americans. Since Her Majesty requested a place for them to stay, Fig can't demand they leave. So she enlists Georgie's help in running them off.

But the more pressing matter is the accidents that keep happening to the royal family. It looks like someone is trying to kill off the heirs to the throne. Worse yet, it might even be someone from the upper class. Georgie sets out to figure out who it is before things turn deadly. Can she do it?

This is another delightful romp from the pen of Rhys Bowen. The cast of characters is sharply drawn, and I had to laugh at the way Georgie described them at times. I got interested enough in 1930's England to see how many of these characters are real.

The book is always entertaining with the memorable characters. The plots a little slow in the first half, but it really picks up steam in the second, providing us with a memorable climax.

This is a fun, lighthearted mystery. If you need a smile of your face, you've come to the right place.

The setting in the Highlands is beautifully described, the large list of characters very inyeresting in their variety, and some of them clearly very well researched. The mystery is beautifully constructed; the danger at times very real; and the touches of wit sometimes absolutely hillerious. Lady Georgiana Rannoch {Georgie to her friends} is in her ancestoral element in many ways including the danger she is either involved with or comes close to. In this third Her Royal Spyness novel the main characters are well developed and accurately fitted into the British social situation of the mid 1930's. It is clearly a well researched novel. I found it also a very enjoyable read with many amusung moments amongst the suspense. It was a book I found hard to put down.

Tony Trethowan

In 2007 the author of the Evan Evans and Molly Murphy series started off her new Lady Georgiana series with HER ROYAL SPYNESS. She followed that up last year with A ROYAL PAIN, and now Georgiana returns in ROYAL FLUSH.

Georgiana is 34th in line to the British throne, but that doesn't mean she is wealthy. Her brother Binky struggles to maintain the family estate at Castle Rannoch in Scotland, and Georgiana lives in the family's London house with no servants. It is the 1930s and it wouldn't do at all for her to look for work, so she has had to be inventive and engage in subterfuge to obtain paying employment.

When one of Georgiana's moneymaking schemes backfires, she is persuaded to leave London for a few weeks and return home. On her return, she is surprised to find Castle Rannoch overrun with a large party of Americans, consisting of Wallace Warfield Simpson and her friends. The royal family is in residence at nearby Balmoral and Binky has been asked by the Prince of Wales to host his paramour and her friends, much to the chagrin of Binky's wife, Fig.

Georgiana learns that several of those in line of succession to the throne have recently met with serious accidents that could have been fatal. The Home Office has taken note of these developments and asks Georgiana to keep her eyes open and report on anything she learns. The accidents become more frequent, bizarre and dangerous, and Georgiana is soon convinced that someone is targeting the royal family.

This is a lively cozy with a charming lead character. You might occasionally feel that Georgiana is a little slow on the uptake, but you will probably enjoy this story if you like lighter-weight historical cozies. It includes glimpses of many members of the British royal family, including a very young Princess Lilibet, who will become Queen Elizabeth II.

I'll be mentioning Rhys Bowen's blue-blooded heroine and Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey in the same sentence now, and chances are I'm about to trigger someone's outraged button. So be it. We're always craning our necks to get a gander at the royals, aren't we? I think one irresistible draw to the Her Royal Spyness series is that Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 34th in line to the English throne, gives us somewhat of a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to be of the privileged born. And, of course, that young Georgiana (or Georgie, to her pals) happens to be also dirt poor and actually trying to do something about it just adds to her appeal. Her Royal Spyness is a more lighthearted, fluffier series than Lord Peter's novels and, no, Georgie isn't quite the dazzling sleuth that Lord Peter is. Georgie, in fact, is barely a sleuth, although she demonstrates pretty good instincts for the thing. But where Wimsey is a calculating machine, Georgie tends to stumble into the solution to the case.

ROYAL FLUSH is the third in the series, and in the sweltering summer of 1932, in the thick of the global depression, Lady Georgiana is in even more dire financial straits. Still residing at the impoverished Rannoch house in London, her gig as a cleaning maid (light cleaning only!) has dried up, what with her clients having fled to cooler climates. When she notes all the lonely gents dining alone in restaurants, she hits on the idea of offering herself as a "charming dinner companion." Except that she shouldn't have advertised it in the paper as an Escort Service. A disapproving Scotland Yard sends a humiliated Lady Georgiana packing to her Scottish ancestral home. Where she promptly lands in a mystery.

In the previous novel, A ROYAL PAIN, our girl was instrumental in exposing a deadly plot against Their Majesties. So the Home Office feels comfy enough about Georgie to ask for help. Someone, it seems, is trying to harm members of the royal family by arranging "accidents" and evidence points to an inside job, to someone in the royals' inner circle. All sorts of nobility, including Their Majesties, are attending the grouse shooting at Balmoral, which isn't too far from Rannoch Castle. Georgie, of course, already has an invite. And now she has an undercover mission.

The accidents keep piling up, the suspects are plenty. Factor in, among others, a sleazy gossip columnist, a bold aviatrix, Georgie's prankish cousins, a dodgy former school mate of the Duke of Rannoch (Georgie's brother) saddled with the sad, sad name of Beasley-Bottome. Not to mention the gaggle of intrusive Americans which drop on Rannoch Castle like a nattering plague.

A strength of this series is Georgie's regular supporting cast, and these folks are all here, my favorite still being Georgie's down-to-earth non-royal ex-bobby of a grandpa. For the female readers, the dashing, mysterious Darcy O'Mara shows up again to confuse and aggravate our smitten heroine. And, yeah, Georgie's flighty mother also shows up and as always tries to make it all be about her. She's a hoot, especially when she's warring with snooty Americans.

But Lady Georgiana remains the best character in this series. A bit clumsy and a lot sheltered, she's more at ease back in her beloved Highlands. And if there's a downer in this book for me, it's that I relish Georgie's misadventures in London when she hobnobs with them common folks or when she's in her guise as a maid and toiling for the upper crust. Her scrape with the "Escort Service" earlier in the book is a fine example.

But it's also fun to see a change in the dynamics between Georgie and her sour, stingy sister-in-law Fig. The ugly Americans' invasion of the castle has made Fig a kinder soul eager for Georgie's advice (in, basically, how to get the Yanks the eff out of there). ROYAL FLUSH follows the series pattern in that it often reads like a comedy of manners, and Georgie and friends do get up to shenanigans.

The mystery is well drawn out, Rhys Bowen gradually escalating the danger. Georgie may not have the keen wits of Lord Peter Wimsey, but she's level-headed and a sharp enough observer. Is it her snooping or her being 34th in line to the throne that soon puts her life in jeopardy? And what's that monster in the loch got to do with things, anyway? Georgie is up to her neck in murder. But it probably beats cleaning houses.

Georgiana ("Georgie") Rannoch is a distant relative of the British monarchy, a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, but penniless and without any means of support. She lives in London, far away from the Scottish castle in which she grew up. Nevertheless, she is of royal blood and is invited to spend time with King George and the family at Castle Balmoral during the Scottish grouse-hunting season.

But before the scheduled time to visit, she's still in London, attempting to find a way to earn a living, and her solution proves to be an embarrassment. She is persuaded by Scotland Yard to travel to Scotland early and keep her eyes and ears open because there have been a few "accidents" concerning the royal family, especially the Prince of Wales, who is there involved with Mrs. Simpson, the future duchess. Further mishaps take place, including an accident in which Georgie is almost killed when a rope breaks while she is climbing a mountain. For whom was it intended? Prince George or Georgie?

The novel is kind of a mishmash, but full of light fun, especially concerning Georgie's love life, or lack thereof. The mystery of the "accidents" slowly evolves, but not as Georgie envisions. A lot of the historical background on the royal lineage and the gossip about the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson is interesting and cute, and the story has merit. Well-written, the plot moves forward at a fast pace, and the book is recommended.

ROYAL FLUSH provides a satisfying 'Royal Spyness' mystery with a feisty heroine in a return of Lady Georgiana, 34th in line to the throne and a penniless heiress. Her idea to hire out as a dinner-and-theatre companion results in a change in summer plans and a secret Scotland Yard mission in this zany first-person mystery spoof.

I really love this series and I think this was the best of them all. Lady Georgiana is thirty-fourth in line to the throne but her family has very little money. Georgie has been living alone in her family home in London, but now it is summer and her secret (secret because if the Queen found out, Georgie would be shipped off to marry a foreign prince) maid service business is quite slow. Georgie's friend Belinda sets her up on a date with a man from out of town who is looking for a dinner companion. This gives Georgie the idea to start a new business, and she puts in add in the paper offering escort services. However, the naive Georgie did not realize what kind of men that would attract. She is saved by Darcy O'Mara, the penniless lord she has a sort-of relationship with. The Home Office discovers what Georgie has done and they ship her back to Scotland, to avoid any scandal for the Royal Family. But Georgie discovers the real reason; someone may be out to harm members of the Royal Family and the police think it is an inside job. Who better to look for clues than Lady Georgie, as the Royal Family is vacationing near her family's castle.

This series is full of great characters. We see more of her long-suffering sister-in-law Fig and brother Binky. Fig is at her wits end as she has a houseful of unwanted American guests, including Wallis Simpson, the married lover of the Prince of Wales. Georgie's mother, who fled castle life when Georgie was two, to marry many other rich men, is also present and the bickering between her and Wallis is very amusing. Darcy pops up in Scotland, mysterious as ever. There is also a female daredevil pilot and Georgie's loud Scottish cousins.

I can't wait for the next book to be released, this is a fun, delightful series.

my rating 4.5/5

It's August in London and Lady Georgiana is, as usual, flat broke. She comes up with a money-making scheme that backfires spectacularly, and to avoid scandal she heads to the Scottish Highlands, home to the Rannoch family estate. When Georgie arrives home, she's greeted by her beleaguered sister-in-law, Fig, who has been coerced into entertaining a group of obnoxious Americans, most notably one Mrs. Wallis Simpson.

When a series of "accidents" befall various members of the household (including her brother Binky), Georgie suspects that someone has it in for the royal family. At the request of Scotland Yard - and with the help of the enigmatic Darcy O'Mara - Georgie does a little snooping around...and the usual mayhem ensues.

I loved the setting for this third Lady Georgiana adventure - the Scottish countryside, Balmoral and Georgie's own Castle Rannoch. It's fun to read about a time when train travel was actually glamorous, with roast pheasant being served in the dining car and passengers dressing for dinner. There was a lot of humor, and Georgie's first person narrative is witty and clever. She really is a very endearing character. And I have to confess that I found all the royal gossip and speculation entertaining - even if it is fictional, it's still fun! Also nice to learn more about Darcy and to see if the two can finally get their romance off the ground.

This is the third book in the series and I'd recommend reading them in order:

Book One:Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

Book Two:A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

No strong language or sexual content

This is the third book in a new cozy mystery series by the author, and it is a winner. This is a charming, funny look at life among the upper crust in 1930s England, as seen through the eyes of Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, known as Georgie to those near and dear. Her grandmother was one of Queen Victoria's daughters, making Georgie thirty-fourth in line to the throne.

Georgie is definitely a thoroughly modern Millie, who is currently living alone in her family's New Hyde Park London townhouse, where she fends for herself as best she can. While there, she meets old acquaintances, makes new friends, and feels romantic stirrings for an irresistible and handsome Irish peer, Unfortunately, she is flat broke, as her brother, Binky, cut off her allowance due to a reversal of fortune.

So, what is a girl to do, especially a royal who is not supposed to work? Well, having already tried a stint as a cleaning lady, Georgie decides to do something else. What Georgie comes up with is sure to set tongues wagging were members of her set to find out, and it would certainly get the Queen in a tizzy were she to discover Georgie's new occupation and means of support. Apparently, Georgie has decided to advertise herself as an escort, and what she thinks the duties of an escort are is at odds with what her clients think they are.

Of course, all this is great fun, and it leads to Georgie being set up on a secret assignment involving the Royal Family by Scotland Yard. So, mystery abounds. There is also a certain amount of hilarity when Georgie is on her family's estate in Scotland, and her brother and sister-in-law are entertaining a group of Americans that includes Ernest and Wallis Simpson. Coincidentally, the Prince of Wales is close by at Balmoral. This leads to a lot of delicious and humorous encounters.

As with all cozy mysteries, it is the lives of the characters that propel the story forward. While the mystery is intriguing, it is merely the framework around which the characters evolve. The combination of some history with mystery, as well as a touch of romance, is irresistible. Set within the social mores of the time, all the characters, both downstairs and upstairs, manage to add to the ambience of the book. Those who enjoy cozy British mysteries will find this one to be an entertaining and humorous romp.