Product Description

INTRODUCING “A FEISTY NEW HEROINE” (JACQUELINE WINSPEAR) who’s thirty-fourth in line for the throne—and 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. She’s bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where she’ll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH—oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17927 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425222522
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Set in London in 1930, this merry first in a new cozy series from Agatha-winner Bowen introduces a delightful heroine—Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie. Thirty-fourth in line for the English throne, Georgie has been educated to curtsey, host lavish fetes and marry well. When her brother cuts off her pitiful allowance, Georgie leaves the family home in Scotland for London, determined to become a liberated woman. Lasting only a few hours as a saleswoman in Harrods, Georgie starts a maid service, but she turns detective after finding a drowned man in her bathtub. When her brother is accused of the murder, she must try to clear him and the family name. Quirky characters like her lovable grandfather; her estranged, oft-wed mother; and an incorrigible, sexy Irishman add to the fun. Georgie's madcap antics are certain to leave the reader eager for the next installment. Bowen is also the author of the Molly Murphy (In Dublin's Fair City, etc.) and the Constable Evans (Evanly Bodies, etc.) series. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Bowen, the Agatha winner responsible for the popular Molly Murphy series, has come up with another winner in her new heroine, Lady Georgina, the least important member of the royal family. Thirty-fourth in the line of succession, Georgie may have the title but none of the money. What's a girl to do? Well, in Georgie's case, she tries opening her own domestic agency, with herself as the only domestic. Even her brother, Binky, the duke, is barely holding on to the family castle in Scotland, and that hold becomes tenuous when a French rogue claims to have proof that Binky and Georgie's father gambled the homestead away before his suicide. So, when the Frenchie winds up drowned in the bathroom of Binky's Belgrave house, there's reason to worry. After Binky's arrest, Georgie feels it's up to her to find the real murderer, but soon she finds her own life threatened, repeatedly. The mystery jigs and jags, but the best part here is Bowen's evocation of 1930s England. Drawing on Georgie's diary entries, she vividly portrays what daily life between the wars was like for a modern young woman bumping up against tradition. Populated with lots of neatly delineated characters, including Mrs. Simpson and a sexy Irish lord attempting to help Georgie lose her burdensome virginity, this is a smashing romp. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Rhys Bowen has written more than a hundred books for children and young adults. She grew up in Great Britain and now lives in San Rafael, CA.

Customer Reviews

Hilarious, brilliant, charming look at '30s high Brit society
Wow, this is a wonderful book. I thought I would mildly enjoy a light period mystery, but I had no idea this book would turn out to be so funny, charming, and well-written. It reminds me of the fabulous "The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets," "I Capture the Castle," and "Gone with the Windsors," two of my favorite books. While reading "Her Royal Spyness," I found myself continually looking at the cover and the back, making sure this was actually "just" a cozy mystery. It is so well-written, the characters so delightful and well-drawn, I have to say that, while I love mysteries, this book is a cut above the rest. Bowen draws a marvelous, and hilarious, portrait of young, slightly silly, but rather lovely and eccentric, royals, running around '30s London, getting into funny scrapes. More than for the mystery (although the mystery is excellent as well), read this for a delightful picture of high society amongst impoverished minor royals in the 1930s.

Lady Georgiana Sets Out on Her Own
Lady Georgiana has a problem. She's over the age where she should be married, but she's still single. And her brother has just cut off her allowance.

Now if you're thinking, "No problem, just get a job" then you need a few more details. See, Georgie is thirty-fourth in line for the throne of England and this is 1932 London. Even though she has no money, working is beneath her class. Beside, what can she really do?

Georgie doesn't let that stop her, however. She starts trying her hand at anything she can think of, as anonymously as possible of course. And she may have found the perfect way to make some money to support her self. That is, until she finds a very dead man in her own bathtub. How did he get there? And, more importantly, is Georgie's life in danger?

I've been a devoted fan of Rhys Bowen's work since I discovered it five years ago. So buying this book was a no brainer. And I must say I enjoyed it.

The mystery itself was a little slow, especially at the beginning. Once it got going, it held my interest until the end. And I was completely stumped, figuring it out only when Georgie did.

What kept me going was Georgie herself. She is lots of fun with a great sense of humor. Her narration had me grinning most of the way through the book. She's just the right mix of upper class and realist to be immediately likable.

This book is as much about Georgie's search to support herself as it is the mystery. If read as such, it will be very satisfying. Light and fun reading.

DELIGHTFUL, HILARIOUS READ.
This is the first book I have read by this author, Rhys Bowen, but I can assure you it will not be the last. To be honest, this work had me hooked after only three pages. I realize that this offering is classified as a mystery, but, in my own mind, it may be just a click or two off the standard book in this genre. Yes, there is a mystery, involving one dead Frenchman in our heroine's bathtub, but the mystery part of the book is sort of a by- product of a well told story. Observation, character development and wonderfully unlikely situations make this story. To be frank, as dense as I am, I had the "who done it" part figured out quite quickly. That is just fine tough, as the strength of this book lies elsewhere.

This work is absolutely hilarious. The plot, which has been told and retold here by other reviewers, simply put, concerns a young member of the royal family, set in England and Scotland, in 1932. The young lady has found herself cut off from what little family money there is, has no servants, is absolutely clueless as to how to even start a fire, much less prepare a meal other than toast and warmed over baked beans. She finds herself, on her own, in prewar London.

It has been pointed out by a couple of other reviewers that perhaps this work may be of more interest to women than to men. This could be true, but if you are like me, you will read just about anything as long as it is well written. Another point mentioned by a couple of reviewers is that the attitudes displayed by many of the characters in this book fit our times, socially, rather than those of England in the 1930s. I do respectfully disagree with this observation. The attitudes may not have been physically manifested during those times, but I can assure you the thoughts were there. This book is well written. Mrs. Bowen is a natural story teller with quick wit and a wonderfully understated sense of humor. Some of the observations our main character makes will have you laughing out loud as they did me.

If you are looking for a easy read, a read that is simply fun and want a few laughs, then this one is for you. I do highly recommend this one. I do hope we see more of Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch.