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Summary
Summary
Lady Georgiana Rannoch learns that not everyone knows their table manners when a knife ends up in a duke's back in the seventh Royal Spyness Mystery.
London, 1934. Entrusted by Her Majesty the Queen with grooming Jack Altringham--the Duke of Eynsford's newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of Australia--for high society, Georgie now has the luxurious opportunity to live in one of England's most gorgeous stately homes. But upon her arrival at Kingsdowne Place, Georgie finds herself in a manor full of miscreants, none of whom are pleased with the discovery of her new ward.
Then the duke announces he wants to choose his own heir and causes quite the hubbub. Somewhere along the way Jack's hunting knife ends up in the duke's back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal weren't enough of a handful, now he's suspected of murder. But while Jack may be wild, Georgie would bet the crown jewels it wasn't he who killed the duke...
Author Notes
Rhys Bowen was born Janet Quin-Harkin in 1941 in Bath, England. She earned her bachelors degree from the University of London. Soon after graduation she worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation as a studio manager and writer. She then took a job working for a textbook company developing reading texts before writing her own books. Her first picture book - Peter Penny's Dance - was published in 1976 and changed her career to children's book author. The book earned praise and won numerous awards. In 1981 she wrote a teen novel entitled California Girl which became the first installment in Bantam's Sweet Dreams series. This series grew to include novels such as Love Match, Daydreamer, and Ten-Boy Summer. These Sweet Dreams books started a major trend in young adult publishing. they were praised as an encouragement to reading. Janet Quin-Harkin also authored non-series fiction for adolescents such as award winning novel Wanted: Date for Saturday Night and Summer Heat. She also wrote the young adult historical novels Madam Sarah and Fool's Gold. She then moved on to writng mystery novels whcih included her Constable Evans series. Her book Royal Blood made the New York Times Bestseller list.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1934, Bowen's rollicking seventh Royal Spyness mystery (after 2012's The Twelve Clues of Christmas) finds Lady Georgiana Rannoch, a distant cousin of George V, typing up her mother's life story. But once Mummy decides her memoirs are too scandalous for publication, Georgiana must seek new employment. With options limited, she writes Queen Mary, who rewards her with a royal audience and a business proposition. The son of the dowager Duchess of Eynsford, a friend of the queen's, has not produced an heir, and the future of the family hinges on a newly discovered relation, Australian Jack Altringham. But Altringham, an uncouth sheep farmer, needs help acclimating to British high society, which is where Georgiana comes in. Inevitably, a murder crosses her path, and the quasi-royal again gets to show off her detecting chops. The appealing lead and breezy prose will remind many of James Anderson's period mysteries featuring the Earl of Burford. Agent: Meg Ruley, the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The seventh in the Royal Spyness mystery series finds Lady Georgiana Rannoch, second cousin to King George V and thirty-fifth in line to the throne of England, facing the prospect of having nowhere to live. Then she catches a break. The dowager Duchess of Eynsford has uncovered a long-lost relative, an Australian, who, if he can be civilized in the pre-World War II era, the British still viewed Australia as an upstart colony could carry on the family title. The Queen asks Georgiana to go down to Kent, where she'll stay at the duchess' family estate and introduce the young, rough-around-the-edges Australian, Jack Altringham, to genteel society. Problems arise when, almost immediately after Georgiana's arrival at the estate in Kent, Cedric, the Duke of Eynsford, is murdered, apparently with Jack's knife. Like an Agatha Christie novel, the tale is leisurely paced, introducing the cast of characters, establishing their various relationships, then finally introducing the crime (the murder occurs about halfway through the book). A nice entry in this popular series, a favorite among British-cozy fans.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist
Kirkus Review
Grooming an Australian heir to a dukedom turns into a murder investigation for a very minor member of the royal family. Although Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 35th in line for the throne, she's constantly struggling to survive. After her flighty actress mother leaves her in the lurch to spend some time with her latest lover, Georgie's note to the queen produces a job she seems well-suited for. The queen's friend Edwina, the Dowager Duchess of Eynsford, has discovered that Jack, the only heir to the dukedom, was brought up on an Australian cattle station. She wants Georgie to come to Eynsford and help smooth off his rough edges. The estate is magnificent, the food is extravagant, but the present duke, Cedric, a nasty piece of work who's more interested in young men than in siring an heir, refuses to help any of his family members. In addition to her two odd sisters, Edwina is also housing her daughter Irene and her children--Sissy, Nick and Katherine--whose father was a Russian count. Cedric not only refuses to pay for the children's education and an operation that might restore Sissy's ability to walk after a riding accident, but is also tearing down estate cottages to build a theater and threatening to adopt his valet as his heir. Jack, who arrives escorted by Darcy O'Mara, the man Georgie would like to marry if they can ever raise the money, considers the whole class system nonsense and would rather be back in Australia. When Georgie finds Cedric with Jack's knife in his back, she's certain that he's innocent of the crime. But getting the police to agree promises to be a difficult task. Bowen's seventh Royal Spyness mystery (The Twelve Clues of Christmas, 2012, etc.) is loaded with country-house charm and capped by an unexpected denouement.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Once again, Lady Georgiana Rannoch must use her wits when Jack, a young heir from Australia, needs her help. He's been accused of murdering a duke, and things quickly tumble apart from there. This is the seventh entry (after The Twelve Clues of Christmas) for the lauded series, set in 1930s England. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
