Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery) | 
| Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkley
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 3373
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0425222527
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780425222522
ASIN: 0425222527
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
INTRODUCING A FEISTY NEW HEROINE (JACQUELINE WINSPEAR) whos thirty-fourth in line for the throneand flat broke.
From the Agatha Award-winning author of the Molly Murphy and Constable Evan Evans mysteries!
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the throne, is flat broke. Shes bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where shell experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRHoh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Very light, but fun September 3, 2008
HER ROYAL SPYNESS (Cozy-Lady Victoria-England-1930s) - G
Bowen, Rhys - 1st in series
Berkeley Prime Crime, 2008, US Paperback - ISBN: 9780425222522
First Sentence: There are two disadvantages to being a minor royal.
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie may be 34th in line for the throne, but she is also broke. She is staying at the family mansion, Rennoch House, in London and learning to be self-sufficient.
A disagreeable Frenchman shows up at the door looking for her brother. He claims their father, a gambler who had lost the family fortune, had also lost the family home, Castle Rennoch. Victoria later finds the Frenchman dead in the bathtub and her brother her brother headed back to the Castle. She doesn't believe her brother killed the Frenchman; how she just has to prove it.
This first book in Ms. Bowen's new series introduces us to a cast of delightful characters. While some seem to be social stereotypes, it's hard not to be drawn to Lady Victoria and her non-titled grandfather, an ex-policeman. In fact, almost the first half of the book introduces us to the characters. Only after that do we get into the mystery, which is decently done except for way too many coincidences.
The book is a bit too light for my taste, but it is a fun.
Fun concept, needs more focus on the mystery element... August 19, 2008
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 blackmailing Frenchman winds up dead in her bathtub with her brother as the prime suspect, Georgiana decides to use her newfound freedom as an incognito maid to root out the real killer.
Her Royal Spyness is a light, fairly enjoyable (if predictable) read that's heavy on chick lit elements and short on a solid, well-developed mystery. The novel's biggest strength is the character of Georgiana and her often-hilarious attempts to learn basic skills that most people take for granted - such as making one's own breakfast. Bowen also provides some fascinating "insider" glimpses into the royal social scene of the 1930s (such as the royal reaction to the infamous Mrs. Simpson). However, the story falters a bit by being a little too much of a modern chick-lit novel and not enough of a solid historical mystery. The pacing also tends to plod a bit as it gets bogged down in Georgiana's flirtation with a rakish Irishman and her Bridget Jones-style obsession with will-they-or-won't-they jump in the sack. There's too little focus on the murder mystery and the story is in desperate need of some balance. The novel's concept is cute and original - here's hoping sequels build on this foundation and deliver more solid mysteries.
 Marvellous sense of humor August 18, 2008
This book was an absolute stitch. I have to say that I took a chance on it merely because I liked the clever title. The author's delightful sense of humor was so engaging, however, that I checked for further titles. This is the introductory book of the series, currently only two (the other being A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery))), but I look forward to its extension. If the second book is as witty as the first one, I have no doubt I will enjoy it just as thoroughly as I did this one (although I feel that it will be a tough act to follow)!
I had read the autobiography of the Queen of Romania, and this author's presentation of Prince Siegfried as an effete bore bears striking resemblance to the personality as he appeared in his mother's book! I had also read a book on Queen Victoria's daughters which gave me insight into Bowen's ability to create believable fiction--all of which earns kudos for good research.
The story is well plotted, the characters are interesting, captivating, and a little off the wall, and the mystery itself is tightly woven. Very readable.
 A pauper for a Royal, and foul play in the bathtub - meet Rhys Bowen's newest sleuth July 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's 1932 and, for the Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (but call her Georgie), prospects are looking grim. Thirty-fourth in line to the throne of England, 21-year-old Georgie is nevertheless penniless and faced with either becoming a lady-in-waiting to a distant and creaky princess or the future wife to a cold fish of a Romanian prince. But Georgie has a strong streak of pluck. So, in a bid for independence, she sets out for London, leaving behind her ancestral home in Scotland, that dank and drafty Rannoch Castle.
But what's a royal to do when on her own for the first time in her life, and left without the recourse of funds and family retinue? If you're the determined Georgie, you get a real job (from which you then get fired after five hours). You try to figure out how to make tea and light the fireplace. And you might even gatecrash posh weddings (because one has to eat). Georgie's resourcefulness also leads her to establish her own light-duty domestic service, with herself as sole employee. This is all done incognito, naturally, as a blue blood pulling maid duty is simply not done.
But, lest we forget that this is a mystery novel, Georgie's wits are soon put sorely to the test when a French gambler claims that her late father had lost Rannoch Castle to him. Then, there's the matter of the tea outing at Buckingham Palace, in which Her Royal Majesty, Queen Mary, tasks her with spying on her princely son, who just may be falling for a crass and much older American socialite. The scandal!!
Just when things couldn't be more challenging for Georgie, a corpse turns up in her house's bathtub. And, soon, Georgie begins to suspect that her very life might be in jeopardy... Oh, what's a liberated young thing to do? Luckily, Lady Georgiana isn't your typical simpering, helpless royal.
So, yep, this is another cozy. And because the writer is Rhys Bowen, it's a top drawer cozy. HER ROYAL SPYNESS (Solves Her First Case) introduces Bowen's third ongoing series and debuts her newest heroine: the klutzy, clever and very agreeable Lady Georgiana. Georgie happens to be as engaging as Constable Evans and Molly Murphy, so it looks like I'll be greedily scarfing up this series.
HER ROYAL SPYNESS is ideal for a lazy Sunday afternoon activity. Rhys Bowen knows how to instantly plonk her readers into her characters' world. She's got this easygoing writing style and she peoples her books with easy to digest characters. Here, we meet Georgie's ongoing supporting cast: her outgoing school chum Belinda; Georgie's capricious mother; her genial but plank-headed half-brother; and her steadfast, blue-collar grandfather, who happens to be a retired bobby and Georgie's favorite person in the world. Then there's Georgie's projected love interest, that minor lord, Darcy. The romance turns out to be blah, leaving me to bemoan the presence of yet another rakish, slightly shady romantic lead (man, these types just come out of the woodwork!).
The mystery, I have to say, is pretty tame, and the villain easily scoped out. The draw of the novel, instead, lies in reading of Georgie's excursions in depression-era London as she hobnobs with her royal peers and with the salts of the earth. Georgie makes for an amiable tour guide as she casually dispenses insights regarding royal custom and protocol. She is such a likable character.
HER ROYAL SPYNESS isn't as gritty as the Molly Murphy novels, although both these heroines are equally plucky and both series are set in a historical backdrop. HER ROYAL SPYNESS, however, is closer to the gentle spirit of the Constable Evans mysteries. It's light, comfy escapist stuff.
And how much fun is it seeing one of the nobility posing as a lowly maid? Even if this particular royal is fairly down to earth and not afraid to get her hands dirty? Okay, it's a lot of fun. The scrapes Georgie gets into are amusing, and she proves to be brainy enough to solve the mystery and save the day, after which the Queen Mum then tells her, "I think I have another little assignment for you..." I can't wait.
Lady Georgina is a Keeper July 19, 2008
A fun, charismatic sleuth, dashing and titled members of the nobility who are so penniless that they need to gate-crash parties, stunning gowns, fancy cocktails, the Queen, and a 1930s London setting - who could ask for more? Bowen's delivered a charming mystery and a series of characters that will appeal to a wide audience. Looking forward to A Royal Pain.
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