|
 AT LAST I have finished A Royal Pain (A
Royal Spyness Mystery) by British author Rhys Bowen, as well as the
first of the series, Her Royal Spyness. Incidentally, readers do not
need to read the first book to understand the latest release. Bowen is a
prolific author from Bath, with three series in her repertoire: Molly Murphy,
Constable Evans, and now Royal Spyness. The Royal Spyness
books are light, funny mysteries that weave together English history, culture,
romance, and fiction with apparent ease. These books (and I assume Bowen’s
other series) would make great reads for the post-holiday winter doldrums. As I
read A Royal Pain, I found myself at times entranced and at others,
laughing out loud. It also gave me what felt like an accurate glimpse of both
upstairs and downstairs British society, especially in royal circles.
A Royal Pain
takes place in 1930s England, during the rise of Hitler in Germany. The
heroine, Lady Georgiana of Rannoch, is a poor relation of the royal family,
though she is thirty-fourth in line to the British throne. The Queen enlists
Lady Georgiana in a scheme to prevent the Prince of Wales from marrying Wallis
Simpson. Hence, she asks (and one does not refuse the Queen) Georgie to host
Princess Hannelore of Bavaria at the Rannoch home in London in the hopes the
young princess will catch Edward’s eye. Unbeknownst to the Queen, Georgie has
been secretly working as a maid to keep herself above water and is financially
unprepared for the sudden onset of royal visitors. What follows is a deftly
composed symphony of hilarity and intrigue as Lady Georgiana tries to protect
the Rannoch name, the Princess, and the Queen herself.
The characters are
thoroughly developed, which made them real enough to easily keep straight the
large number of players in the story. Princess Hanni’s penchant for
shoplifting, Gussie Gormley’s parties for the “smart set,” and Georgie’s
struggles to keep up a façade for the sake of the family were strokes of
genius. Of course, some of the characters are straight out of history books,
while others are the author’s creations. I loved the parties and the people, as
the author juxtaposed a sense of duty, expectations garnered by birthright,
utter debauchery, quaint traditions, and heroism.
The writing is spot-on, and I especially
enjoyed the author’s choice of language, including Cockney rhyming slang,
aristocratic pretense, and English as learned from Gangster movies. The book
was fun to read and I recommend it highly!
Bowen has won seven Edgar awards for her work,
and after reading these two books, I can understand why.
Please email me at
okeefekg@gmail.com or visit my
website at www.snark-hunter.com.
Until next month… |
