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Book Review of A Royal Pain (Royal Spyness, Bk 2)

A Royal Pain (Royal Spyness, Bk 2)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2262 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


I love the wit and wisdom in this series. Amidst all the laugh-inducing lines and scenes, Bowen gives her readers a real sense of England in the 1930s. I'm not just talking about the Queen trying to steer her son away from the horrifyingly unsuitable American divorcée either. The cars, the clothes, the attitudes, the lingering effects of World War I, Communism, the rise of the Nazi Party... it's all here, wrapped up in a romp of a book (and series) that Bowen has to love writing.

Readers also get a glimpse into the life of the royals from meals to telephones to acquiring antiques. Georgie is such a fun main character. She's been brought up, not to be useful, but to be "thirty-fourth in line to the throne." Nevertheless she's twenty-two and wants her independence from the drafty ancestral castle in Scotland, so she's learning how to cope in London on very little money. She may have been raised to be ornamental, but she's got a good head on her shoulders and thinks on her feet-- which is a good thing because between her own proclivities and those of the Queen, she finds herself in some amazing situations.

Georgie's not the only character who shines. Her glamorous actress mother who left that castle years ago for a procession of handsome and wealthy men slinks through her scenes oozing sex appeal and style. Her retired policeman grandfather is a treat as is his next-door neighbor Mrs. Hetty Huggins, a woman who never met an H she couldn't drop. And then there's that incredibly handsome (and penniless) Darcy O'Mara who makes Georgie's heart flutter and always seems to be around when he's needed most. Although I don't care much for romance in my mysteries, I have to admit that I like keeping an eye on this relationship.

If you're in the mood to have fun, Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series is the one for you!