Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen *****

Her Royal Spyness (1/15) by Rhys Bowen is the first novel in a series set in the 1930s about Georgiana, 34^th in line to the British throne, penniless, on her own in London, as in no servants, granddaughter of Queen Victoria on her father’s side and quite common on her mother’s side. In this installment, Gaston de Mauxville, a French gambler and blackmailer, is murdered in her brother Binky’s London house, and someone is after her also. More like Sex and the City than James Bond, ignoring that Georgiana is a 21-year-old virgin.

What is the spy part? Queen Mary (married to King George V) asked Georgiana to spy on her eldest son Edward who was flirting with an American Mrs. Simpson. The Queen was concerned that her son was getting too involved. Beyond the timeframe of this book, we all know what eventually happened.

Much of the book is about the social life of the upper-class. Her friend Belinda from a fancy finishing school in Switzerland dances and parties and has enough sex for both of them. On the male side of the social circle are Darcy O’Mara from Ireland, Prince Siegfried an undesirable suitor, Whiffy Featherstonehaugh a murder suspect, and Tristram, ward of a very sick man.

From the author’s website: 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 fiancé 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 long family name.

A pleasant romp through London in the 1930s contrasting the life of the commoners and the rich.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.