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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780425215678
ISBN number: 0425215679
Label: Berkley Hardcover
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: July 03, 2007
Publishing house: Berkley Hardcover
Sale Popularity Level: 126759
Studio: Berkley Hardcover
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Product Description:
The Agatha Award winner debuts a 1930s London mystery series, featuring a penniless twenty-something member of the extended royal family.
Her ridiculously long name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. And she is flat broke. As the thirty-fourth in line for the throne, she has been taught only a few things, among them, the perfect curtsey. But when her brother cuts off her allowance, she leaves Scotland, and her fiancŽ Fish-Face, for London, where she has:
a) worked behind a cosmetics counter-and gotten sacked after five hours
b) started to fall for a quite unsuitable minor royal
c) made some money housekeeping (incognita, of course), and
d) been summoned by the Queen to spy on her playboy son.
Then an arrogant Frenchman, who wants her family's 800-year-old estate for himself, winds up dead in her bathtub. Now her most important job is to clear her very long family name.
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Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers 
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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 humour 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 very 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.
Rated by buyers 
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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 very 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.
Rated by buyers -
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.
Rated by buyers 
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I enjoy historical mysteries, particularly those placed in the Twenties in England. I was impressed at very first with the fresh perspective on the genre but ultimately was disappointed in this effort. The characters fell into familiar stereotypes which became very unsatisfying as the plot headed towards a predictable finish. It was not the fresh look I had been hoping for.
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