A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
by Rhys Bowen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rhys BowenEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-07-07
ISBN: 042522872X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780425228722
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
Book Review: A great joy to read.
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoy these mysteries. The characters are so delightfully "off the wall." The repartee between the central characters is wonderful. I can hardly remember a time when I've laughed so much at the witticisms of imaginary people.
Lady Georgiana is a down at the heels aristocrat, a member of the House of Windsor, and second cousin to the current King, George V. She's 34th in line for the throne, so she has a status to protect--ergo she cannot have a legitimate career or job--but she has to make some kind of living or face marriage to the Prince of Romania, Siegfried Hohenzollen-Sigmaringen(whom, I believe, is an actual person, the son of Queen Marie of Romania, and another of Queen Victoria's many descendants), whom she has dubbed "fishface" This situation creates many social situations of precarious nature for Lady Georgiana as well as a number of personal problems. In this instance it puts her at the disposal of the Queen in searching out the threats to a Royal visitor in the person of Princess Maria Theresa Hannelore Wilhelmina Mathilda of Bavaria. A sheltered individual, the Princess Hanni is hoping for exciting adventures in London and determined to have them despite her Baroness escort.
The mystery is somewhat convoluted, but it definitely pulls you from chapter to chapter. I read it in one sitting. I was pleased that the author finally introduced the heroine's maternal grandfather in a more active way. He's a wonderful man: practical, genuine, loyal, unaffected, and definitely unflappable. Though his granddaughter is a member of the aristocracy by virtue of her father's membership, he himself is an ordinary working man, a retired policeman, of the 1930s, a good resource for someone with a tendency to get involved in murders!
Returning too is the ever resourceful Belinda Warburton-Stoke, a couturier of remarkable ability, a self made woman of the 1930's, and a faithful, though slightly crazy, friend of the heroine, Lady Georgiana Rannoch. She functions as a source of indirect information, working often behind the scenes, which allows the author to clarify situations without unnecessary detours. I think I enjoy her antics almost as much as the central character's.
I would have enjoyed more of the heroine's mother, a Cockney born beauty, a one time actress, and the much married ex-Duchess of Rannoch. She brought many a haughty lady, including Wally Simpson, mistress of the Prince of Wales, to their comeuppance in the last book with a witty flair that was positively to be envied, and this was much missed in this book.
The plot of this volume involves a variety of characters, many of them amusing, and some of them sinister. The setting is the 1930s. War with Germany, though still distant, is definitely in the wind, and socialists and anarchists, ever menacing the privileged, are abundant. It's a lovely period piece, and the author has managed to include much of what was going on at the time into her story, giving it a wonderful authenticity.
I look forward to Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie of Glen Garry and Rannoch's next adventure.
Summary of A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)
1930s London. Poor Lady Georgiana-thirty-fourth in line to the throne-has nothing to serve her Bavarian princess houseguest, even though the Queen of England has requested that she entertain her. Then there's the matter of the body in the bookshop and the princess's unwitting involvement with the Communist party. It's enough to drive a girl mad.
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