“Her Royal Spyness” is the first book in a new mystery series by award winning author Rhys Bowen. I loved it in all its flirty-flighty-girly-glory. I was not looking for a heavy read and was delightedly not over-burdened with this. I must say, I really liked it .
Set in England and Scotland in the 1930s, the heroine/sleuth is perfectly likeable. Lady Victoria Georgianna Charlotte Eugenie is the daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch. Lady Rannoch, aka Georgie, is unceremoniusly cut off by her brother Binky, the current Duke. With no money of her own, she goes to London to work.
She is very momentarily daunted. The sepulchral voice in her head wonders, ” Was I stupid to have come alone to London? How was I going to cope on my own?”
Ever one to reconnoiter and bounce back, Georgie quickly realizes that it was, “About time (she) found out what (she) had been missing.”
Her cousin, the Queen, would not approve, but Georgie stealthily takes jobs that only she feels are not beneath her. Georgie is, in fact, a very good egg and does what she must without being whiney or elitist. It is a wonderful lesson for anyone who has had a silver spoon unceremoniously removed from their mouth.
As the cast of Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage (think Social Register) cavorts and schemes, Georgie must battle her outrageous and oft-married mother, her sweet but entitled brother Binky, her sister-in-law and, lord knows, how many others. As Georgie tries to stand on her own two feet, she becomes unwittingly embroiled in a murder. With her brother as the prime suspect , Georgie is the only one not paralyzed by indecision. The flurry of prevarication does not deter her in the least.
Nor us.
Being the stalwart gal she is, she decides to solve the murder rather than become a victim or take the blame herself. She evades tantalizingly nefarious characters whilst innocently carousing. Endless parties provide ample cover for her escapades in sleuthing.
With wonderful insight into the world of the peerage in 1930 – in reality, not too different from their world today – the plot unfurls. From house party to party, Georgie and her cohorts face scorn, privilege, too much champagne, and plots for revenge. Ah, love and money. Always the same problems.
Georgie is a super character in a devilishly good plot and we root for her unequivocally. You go, girl … um, Lady!