Cozy Review: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

 

Title: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding (Royal Spyness Mystery #12)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkely Books Expected publication date August 7, 2018. 304 pages in hardback.
Source: Netgalley.com

Publisher's Summary:
Georgie is finally able to plan for her wedding in the summer. It is going to be a summer of weddings: her mother is marrying Max, her German beau; Georgie's grandfather is marrying his next door neighbor, Mrs. Huggins; and Darcy's father is getting up the courage to ask the princess to marry him. Georgie is staying at the princess's London house when she receives a letter from one of her mother's former husbands, Sir Hubert Anstruther. Georgie is now his sole heir, and he's offering her the use of his lovely country house. He suggests she move in right away to keep an eye on the place because all might not be well since his butler died.

Georgie talks this through with her husband-to-be, Darcy, who is off to Europe again, this time to Berlin. They decide that she will take Sir Hubert up on his offer. However, when Georgie arrives, it becomes clear that she is definitely not wanted in the house. Strange things are happening, including a lively ghost and a less than friendly reception from the new butler. When a body shows up, Georgie realizes that Sir Hubert's invitation may not have been entirely altruistic and begins to wonder if she'll even make it to her wedding day.  


My Review:  

Another great addition to a great series! A few things I particularly liked:

*Georgie doesn't lean on Darcy in this one. She figures most of it out herself.

*Other characters who've been on the fringes get some real screen time, including Georgie's mother and her grandfather (the Cockney).

*Georgie's maid, Queenie, has finally become a human, not just a punchline. Big improvement.

So how's the mystery? That there is something pretty nasty going on at the house is obvious from the beginning. Georgie might even be a little slow to believe someone is really trying to get rid of her, but of course she's not the one reading a murder mystery. I even got a pretty good idea of what was up fairly early on, so again maybe thought Georgie could have been a little quicker on the uptake. But she is careful with her suspicions, and there are some real questions about who is involved in what ways. That's a big part of what she has to work out, and I loved that her beloved grandfather (a retired policeman) comes to help. He keeps them grounded in the right behaviors toward the police.

Since this is primarily a comedic series (aside from a tendency to strew corpses about), none of the really awful possibilities come to pass, and we have a great time watching the characters work it all out. Oh, and the setting is England between the wars, a favorite of mine, and the author does her research thoroughly, so it works well. What's not to like?

My Recommendation:
This is far and away my favorite of Rhy Bowen's series, and I think it just keeps getting better. There has been a tendency for Georgie to be sort of stupidly insecure vis-a-vis Darcy, and the author is getting that under control, which makes it all the stronger. We don't need romantic uncertainty to enjoy Georgie's trials and tribulations. This might be my favorite addition to the series, but that might just be that each on is my favorite while I'm reading it. ;)

FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher via Net Galley, and was given nothing further from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Mystery Monday: Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bowen

Title: Queen of Hearts (Royal Spyness series)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkely Prime Crime, 2014 295 pages

Summary:
It is July 1934, and Lady Georgianna Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne, is relaxing after her last adventure. But her mother puts an end to all that, and in minutes Georgie is packing to sail for America. Her mother is headed to Reno for a divorce, but she meets Hollywood movie mogul Cy Goldman on the ship, and soon Mummy and Georgie are off to Hollywood to make a movie with Cy. Georgie couldn't be happier, especially when her sweetheart, Darcy, shows up. Even murder, arson, and theft can't completely dim her pleasure in his company.

Review:
This is another fine addition to my favorite of Bowen's three series. Lady Georgianna is a lively and humorous narrator, with a keen eye and a dry sense of humor. The plot is, as usual, a bit intricate and characters are sometimes over the top, but that is not so much a flaw as a deliberate stylistic choice. I think I prefer the books set in England--maybe because England is exotic and Hollywood is just down the coast. Of course, for Georgie it's just the opposite, and American fashions and manners give her all sorts of fun troubles. I enjoyed the entire romp, and only figured out part of the mystery, and that only about half a page ahead of Georgie.

Recommendation:
The "Royal Spyness" mysteries aren't for everyone, but if you enjoy a bit of absurdity with your murder and mayhem, you are the right audience. This is a worthy addition to the series, which I recommend reading in order. Queen of Hearts may have a greater appeal to English readers than American, but I could be wrong. The author certainly captures the period well, whether in the US, aboard ship, or in Hollywood--or that wild frontier town of Reno, Nevada.


Full Disclosure: I checked Queen of Hearts  out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Mystery Monday: Heirs and Graces

Title: Heirs and Graces  (Royal Spyness #7), by Rhys Bowen.  295 pages
Publisher: Berkeley, 2013.
Source:  Library digital editions (Overdrive)

Summary:
Lady Georgianna Rannoch is 35th in line for the English throne, and in 1930-something that's not a place that gives her a lot of options.  So she's pretty happy when the Queen sends her to Kingsdowne Place, the fabulous country seat of the Duke of Eynsford, to help the new heir overcome his Ausrtralian-Outback coarseness.  Regular meals are a bonus.  Finding the current Duke with a knife in his back rather takes the edge off, however.  And when everything starts to point to her protege as the guilty party, Georgie has to take matters into her own hands.

Review:
 I do enjoy this series!  Georgie is a good narrator with a self-deprecating sense of humor and just enough blind spots that we can feel a bit superior. But we also like her and care about her.  Other characters are also well-developed and though there is some tendency to caricature, it's all in the service of fun and even the more ridiculous characters still manage to feel like real people.

In this series the mystery is always a bit secondary to the rest of life, which for Georgie has a lot to do with finding her next meal and a place to live, and wishing she could marry her fiance, Darcy O'Mara, and get on with learning about sex (her friend Belinda gives her no end of trouble about her naivete).  But the mystery is also well-developed, plausible, and has at least two good red-herrings, though Georgie likes one a little too well for us to believe in his guilt. The final reveal is a surprise, in more ways than one.

The Royal Spyness mysteries are fun first and foremost, and this is a worthy addition to the collection.

Recommended for those who enjoy a little humor with their corpses, and maybe a side of romance.