Her Royal Spyness

For those of you not familiar with Rhys Bowen, she is a wonderful "cozy" mystery writer. She has two well-established mystery series. The first is her Molly Murphy series, which is set in the 19th century. Molly is a young Irish woman who immigrates to New York and manages to embroil herself in several mysteries. Her other series is her Constable Evans series, which is set in the Welsch village of Llanfair and features Constable Evan Evans. Both are lovely series, with interesting characters and settings.


Bowen has just realeased her first novel in a new series, Her Royal Spyness. This novel is set in 1930's England and features Lady Georgiana, who is 34th in line to the throne. After her father gambled away her family's money and her allowance is cut off, Georgie must find a way to make ends meet. This is easier said than done, since it is frowned upon for members of the royal family to have jobs. Fearing that the Queen will marry her off to a boring foreign prince, or send her to the middle of nowhere to be a lady in waiting to an old royal, Georgie agrees to spy on the Prince for the Queen. In the midst of this, Georgie tries to make a living cleaning houses while in disguise, crashes parties with a dashing penniless Irish nobleman, and becomes embroiled in a murder. Bowen has introduced another character who will no doubt become a favorite. This is another light, fun mystery with a great description of 1930's England, the royal family and interesting characters.