Her Royal Spyness

Review of Her Royal Spyness

Photo retrieved from Rhys Bowen’s website: https://rhysbowen.com

            Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie is the thirty-fourth in line for the throne. She is without money, despite her being a Royal. She decides to move out of her family’s estate in Scotland (Castle Rannoch) and move to Rannoch House in London. She tries to find a job. Georgiana only lasts one day in a department store, but then decides to start her own cleaning service.

            This is book one in a mystery series set in the 1930s. The fact that someone in the Royal family is desperately trying to find a job when there are bread lines forming in London, since this novel takes place during the Great Depression, is ridiculous. To me, it represents the artificiality of social class. At one point in the novel, Georgiana receives an invitation from the Queen for tea. During the tea, the Queen focuses the conversation on artifacts that she would like to acquire for her collection. It shows how out of touch the aristocracy are when that is their concern, and not the condition of the working class. Not to mention, the Queen does not seem to care about Georgiana’s financial situation.

            The situation worsens when a French man is found dead in Georgiana’s bathtub. He supposedly had acquired Castle Rannoch through a bet made by Georgiana’s father (who is no longer alive and committed suicide). Binky, Georgiana’s half-brother, hastily escapes to Scotland leaving Georgiana to handle the mess on her own. Binky ends up in prison and Georgiana turns into a sleuth. Along the way, she meets Darcy O’Mara, a mysterious Irishman who grows to be her love interest. It is a clever and interesting mystery. It shines a light on the scandal and moral degradation of the upper class. Due to Georgiana’s position, she finds a way to inhabit both the elite and working-class world. As a result, she becomes a very intriguing amateur sleuth. I intend to listen to the rest of the series. I highly recommend it.

            I listened to the audiobook version of this novel. In addition to this series, I am also going to be listening to the audiobook versions of the Lady Emily series by Tasha Alexander and the Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. And as always, I will have reviews for those books when I finish listening to them.