Royal Blood (Her Royal Spyness)

When I go for a diverting and non challenging read I look for a few things: atmosphere, characters that I find charming, and an evenly paced plot that is not overly obvious. I think this book hit the mark. Fairly well written (although not well edited!) and absorbing. I read it for part of a 14hr plane flight and it was perfect. Will be buying more in this series.

I love lady Georgiana and her intricate adventures. Rhys Bowen really has a way with words and manages to keep you guessing till the end of the story (and sometimes even after it is finished). Her characters are rich and the surroundings interesting.

This was not my favorite book in the Royal Spyness Series. I found the Vampire story-line to be very unbelievable to the point it was not even humorous. Lady Georgiana is chosen by HM because she has a good head on her shoulders, but not in this book. I also agree with other reviewers who have pointed out how repetitious some of the back story has become. This is especially difficult to overlook when you have read all the previous books in the series like I have.

As a shameless Anglophile, and a devotee of PG Wodehouse and classic 30s English country house mysteries, I will happily curl up with Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness mysteries any rainy afternoon that I don't feel like thinking too much. They are great escapist fun and Royal Blood is no exception. That said, I do weary of the poor editing and the lazy writing that result in precisely the same passages being repeated from book to book, and in some within pages of each other in the same book. I am currently at the third (inaccurate) use of the phrase "Lead on Macduff" in Royal Blood, while in Royal Flush two different horses within the same number of pages reared and pranced "like a medieval charger." By book four I am desperately wishing that Ms. Bowen would put herself to the trouble of finding another way to describe Georgie's education than that it taught her "how to walk around with a book on her head, speak good French and know where to seat a bishop at dinner." One of about seven stock passages used in evey book in the series. Finally, I'm pretty sure that the assertion that Belinda is an "Honorable" as the daughter of a baronet is incorrect. The daughter of a Baron or viscount yes; the child of a baronet, not a noble title, is I believe styled simply as Mr. or Miss. These are fun stories and nobody expects great literature here, but it definitely takes away from the escapist experience to be presented again and again with evidence that the writer and her editor are pretty much just going through the formulaic motions with this series.

This series has been so enjoyable - really loved this latest book and can't wait for the next one. The writing is great - found myself laughing out loud at times. Lady Georgianna is a great character - I'm dying to see what the outcome will be with her male friends/relationships. Wish this aspect of the book would develop more.

Just love these stories...the English atmosphere...the characters and the Royal Family influence.

Fun and tongue in cheekness....the edge of romance keeping you guessing. Lighthearted suspence.

Excellent writing, interesting plot, great characters, and terrific settings. Sex is suggested, hinted at, claimed by a few characters, so it isn't absent, it's just . . . under the covers, so to speak. I don't read "chick-lit," so this isn't that. "Chick literature," if you haven't heard the term. This is great. I'll happily read more of them. Next up for me is "Naughty in Nice."

Cute series set in the 1930s. Hi jinks and period detail add color to the adventure. Darcy is a dream- demon lover, who appears in the nick of time. Georgiana's obsession with vampires is stupider than she usually is, but it doesn't affect the story much.

"Royal Blood" is another outstanding addition to the work of Rhys Bowen. It is at once fun and serious. By the end of the book, I was delighted that the incredibly incompetent Lady's Maid will be a continuing character in the series.

I read through this whole series in a month. They are a little light and silly, but you end up really liking the characters and they are the kind of books where you feel happier after you read them than before.

The last thing her Ladyship expected to see while peering into the dark, Transylvanian night was some "thing" or some "one" climbing up Bran Castle wall.

Such are the things that tend to happen to poor Lady Georgiana Rannoch. She's twenty-two, "depressedly" single, and thirty-fourth in line to the British throne. The King is her second cousin, and his wife, Her Majesty Queen Mary, loves to give Georgie little tasks. Most recently, she dispatched Georgie to keep tabs on the Prince of Wales' new American lady friend. Prior to that, Her Majesty put Georgie in charge of a visiting German princess with a fondness for shoplifting and American gangster slang.

This time Queen Mary appointed Lady Georgiana to represent the Royal family at the wedding of Georgie's old school mate, Princess Maria Theresa of Romania, to Prince Nicholas of Bulgaria. Adding to the atmosphere of the royal wedding is its location, the dark and dreary Castle Bran, Transylvania, purported home to vampires and werewolves. And then there's Prince Seigfried, whom Georgiana unceremoniously dumped earlier in the year, ensconced in the bedroom right next to hers.

In Royal Blood, the highly anticipated fourth book in author Rhys Bowen's "Royal Spyness" series, we find Lady Georgiana in the middle of another murder, and this time a mysterious vial is found in her room. Everyone is snowed in, the pass is closed, and there are no tracks leading from the castle. Just who is trying to frame Lady Georgiana and why?

Among the supporting cast of players in Royal Blood are many familiar faces in this series: Georgie's trusty bed-hopping best friend, Belinda Warburton-Stokes, Georgie's brother Binky, the current duke, and his tiresome, penny pinching wife Fig. As always, the mysterious and handsome Darcy O'Mara pops up at just the right moment! New additions to the mix are: Georgie's royal traveling companion Lady Middlesex, Queenie Hepplewhite her bumbling new maid, and a mysteriously dark butler named Dragomir.

Let me be honest, I love this series and was somewhat apprehensive about reviewing Royal Blood. Often times, at this point in a series, the plot and characters can become flat and repetitive. Not so in Rhys Bowen's latest! Quite the opposite, the characters remain fresh and interesting. The plot is crisp, and the turns are sharp and deadly. Ms. Bowen wisely gives the reader just enough information about the history of the players to allow a first time reader to feel right at home in Castle Bran. Rhys Bowen has written another brilliant, not-to-be-missed addition to this well loved series.

I generally enjoy the Royal Spyness series but this particular book was pretty inane. It's impossible to take a mystery seriously when the amateur sleuth not only overlooks the most obvious of clues, but suspects the crimes are committed by vampires and werewolves. I mean, come ON.

If you're a fan of romance novels, you might enjoy this one. If you prefer an intelligent mystery, there are better options.

After fending off would-be assassins in Scotland, Lady Georgiana Rannoch, thirty-fourth in line to the English throne, is sent to Romania at the requests of both their majesties and an old school friend, to attend a royal wedding. The bride, a former schoolmate (though not necessarily 'friend') of Georgie's, is the Princess of Romania; her fiancé, Nicholas, is heir to the Bulgarian throne. To add some "romance" to the events, the nuptials are held at a medieval castle in Transylvania.

Georgie cannot attend the wedding alone, so Her Majesty the Queen decides to send Lady Middlesex, whose husband is stationed in Baghdad, along with her companion, Miss Deer-Harte. In need of a maid for the event, she decides to bring along a girl named Queenie, who has not only never been in service, but is quite bad at the job. However, she is willing to work for free and is okay with traveling abroad, so the foursome set across Europe for a wedding in one of the creepiest of places.

Almost immediately, strange things begin to happen. A strange man tries to break into Georgie's compartment on the train, and upon arriving at the scene of the festivities, Miss Deer-Harte has both a premonition of evil and a fear of vampires. When an unusual painting goes missing and someone is seen scaling the castle walls, Georgie begins to think that there might be something to this vampire thing. But when a man is killed at dinner, she realizes that the strangeness is more likely due to a human than a member of the undead.

Hampered by an old friend, a bumbling Romanian police official, and a staff that speaks no English (not to mention being snowed in), Georgie is determined to solve the murder before someone else is hurt - or worse, becomes a vampire. "Royal Blood" is just as good as its predecessor, and I like Georgie out of London. It gives her character more personality, and this one definitely hit the spot.

A creepy gothic castle high in the mountains of Transylvania, strange men found lurking in the bedrooms and a royal wedding that doesn't seem to be the "love match" it is claimed to be, all came together for a delightfully atmospheric story in Royal Blood, my favorite book so far in the Royal Spyness series. With all the characters trapped in the snowbound castle and a murderer in their midst, this installment was was reminiscent of Agatha Christie--or the game Clue. I found the characters far less annoying in this book than in the previous books, perhaps because we were away from London Society. I enjoyed the arrival of the bumbling Queenie as Georgie's maid, hired out of desperation. Georgie's inability to fire the young woman, despite her ineptness, shows the kind of heart Georgie has and it compensated in some ways for the kind of person she was just a few years ago at finishing school. The stories that come out of Georgie's school years in each book portray her and Belinda as the "cool kids" looking down with ridicule at the "not cool" kids who had the audacity to want to be friends with them. This is the case with Princess Maria Theresa of Romania. Georgie has been sent by her cousin Queen Mary to Romania for the royal wedding of the Princess to Prince Nicholas of Bulgaria. It turns out that Maria Theresa known as Matty, or Fatty Matty, as Georgie called her when they were in school together is both a former school mate and distant relative.I couldn't help but feel bad for Matty and the way she was treated by Georgie and Belinda at finishing school.I find the way Georgie looks down on others due to their looks or nationality etc, to be her greatest character flaw. I would have given the book five stars except for a couple reasons. One is repetition. This is the third book in the series and things are starting to get repetitive. The same phrases are used in every book as descriptions of people or situations. It would be nice if Ms. Bowen would change things up a bit. And, I have yet to see any growth in Georgie. As it is she allows her sister in law Fig to treat her like a servant,won't explain her difficulties with money with Queen Mary when ordered to do something for the old lady, and allows her love interest Darcy to simply come and go from her life as he pleases--even urging her to marry a suitable man, which he is not. Nothing like having the man you love tell you that you should marry someone else. I'd like to see Georgie begin to stand up for herself and to get to the point where she can call Fig, her mother, and Darcy on their bad behavior. That said, the story was an interesting, fun, escapist read and held my interest from beginning to end.

November 1932.

Lady Georgiana (better known to everyone as Georgie) thought there could be nothing worse than staying at Rannoch Castle in Scotland with her brother Binky and his overbearing wife Fig but she soon discovered that it was worse to have them stay with her in the family's London house. At least in Scotland there were servants but in London Georgie discovered that she was expected to wait on Binky and Fig herself, not what some one who was 34th in line to the throne expected to find themselves. Georgie was relieved when she was suddenly told by the Palace to represent the family at a Royal wedding in Transylvania. She was more than a bit surprised to be asked to do this but it was a trip paid for by the Palace and would get her out of waiting on Binky and Fig, at least for a time.

When Georgie arrived at the remote castle where the wedding was to take place she made some rather surprising discoveries, including that the bride, a former classmate had changed remarkably since their school days, that there were some very surprising additions to the guest list and that there was somebody present who seemed intent on killing the bridegroom. As Georgie worked to discover the truth she was delighted to discover that should was once again accompanied by the delightful but mysterious Darcy O'Meara. Perhaps one day Georgie would be the bride instead of merely another bridesmaid.

This is the fourth in the ROYAL SPYNESS series of comic novels. While it is not strictly necessary to read these books in order it is highly recommended since there is a very strong on going story arc.

I enjoy this mystery series starring the Lady Georgiana, 34th in line to the British throne and without a penny to her name. Queen Mary is fond of her and sometimes calls her to the palace for tea and a private chat, and then the queen gives Georgiana a royal undercover assignment. I suggest you start with the first book “Her Royal Spyness”. “Royal Blood” has a bold new location, a rather frightening remote castle in Transylvania. A royal wedding is going to take place there and Georgiana is to represent the royal family. A dignitary is poisoned, Georgiana and her maid Queenie are trapped in a dungeon, and the dashing Darcy O’Mara shows up for derring-do and romance. Is there a vampire lurking in the castle? Who or what is seen climbing up the outside steep castle walls and lurking over Lady Georgiana's bed? Is that blood smeared on the bride to be's face?

I really enjoy this series, so I was disappointed that when I finished reading page 134, there appeared page 139 of another book altogether, Ceremony in Death by DJ Robb, which went on until page 186, when suddenly I was back in Royal Blood but on page 183. I had missed about 50 pages, during which a murder took place. I was able to catch up eventually and finished the book, but I wanted to bring this to your attention.

Royal Blood (The Royal Spyness Series Book 4) by Rhys Bowen is delightful. Lady Georgiana travels to Transylvania for a royal wedding at the request of the Queen. I absolutely love this series. There are so many crazy escapades, mysteries of who did what, and to whom, a little romance and murders. I’m looking forward to reading my next book by Rhys Bowen.

I really like these characters and have read all of Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness series. Though my favorite is still the first volume, Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)) since it has the most truely outrageous comments on life among the royals, this one isn't a bad installment. Having read Dracula--an unusual book written in the form of diaries by all the central characters--I found it enjoyable seeing the ambiance and details of that story woven into a modern murder mystery.

Anyone who has read earlier stories will find the reintroduction of the odious "fishface," Prince Siegfried of Romania--who really was an unpleasant person in real life--and the on going collusion among the royal houses to get Georgie married to the man familiar. She again has a "close call." My favorite character is, as usual, Georgie's rather self-centered mother, a beautiful former actress, though her friend Belinda is a close second. They're both tell-it-like-it-is types and capture in personified form the essence of the era as it has come down to us in the films of the period. I was a little disappointed in their not taking more of a key part in the stories; it was as though they put in appearences because readers would expect it. They really do deserve a greater role in affairs than they have had of late. The introduction of a new character, in the form of a bumbling lady's maid, also deserves fleshing out in future books.

I think part of the allure of the series is the delightful balance of classic murder mystery and screwball comedy, both popular film types during the period of the 1920's and 1930's in which the narrative is set. Furthermore, as with the mysteries by Anne Perry, (We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War One Novels)) and Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs (Book 1)) the reader, aware of the looming threat of world war two as they almost must be, cannot help but enjoy the events for what they are, a brief interlude of peace and prosperity before disaster. This fact gives the stories a high degree of poignance, as we know that Georgie's world will be forever changed in the future. Her would be lover might not survive the conflict--given his personality will almost certainly play a key and dangerous role--and her world will be forever changed after it.

Now we just need someone to make them all into a PBS/BBC mystery series!

Lady Georgiana is asked by the Queen to attend the wedding of an old school classmate while representing the Crown of England. She's also asked to be one of the bridesmaids.

Georgiana is happy to escape the cold foggy London - where her sister-in-law and her brother have joined her. They aren't used to her style of living and they're making her crazy. The one downside about traveling to Transylvania is that Georgiana must travel with her maid and she can't afford one.

After her grandfather works out a deal - she acquires a rough around the edges maid. Together they travel from England by boat to France and then by train to their destination.

Once they arrive at the castle, the weather changes. Everyone's trapped inside the castle due to the snow. One night, at dinner, between the toasts the man sitting next to Georgiana falls face first into his food.

He's taken into another room, where it's discovered he's been poisoned. however, because of his political connections, the few in the know decide to announce he's had a heart attack. His death could mean a civil war between the two countries uniting by marriage. they can't stop the marriage, so they whisk the body away.

As Georgiana looks into the mysterious death, she remember the glass the man drank out of was not his own. Instead, he drank from the Prince's glass. Does someone desire to stop this wedding at all costs?

This is the fourth in the Royal Spyness series - a charming blend of Royal life with everyday living as Georgiana has virtually no monies. There's always danger, a spark of romance, and snooty Royals involved.

In 1932, Her Majesty Queen Mary asks the thirty-fourth person on the queue to the throne Lady Georgiana Rannoch to represent the crown at a royal wedding in Romania. Georgie has many reasons to agree which include she is broke and bored; sick of her obnoxious brother Binky, her boyfriend Darcy will attend, and her former schoolmate Princess Maria "Matty" Theresa is the bride. The only detractors for the twentyish Georgie is her chaperone is Lady "Horse-face" and she needs a maid so as to not embarrass her country.

At the eerie looking castle in Transylvania, Queenie Hepplewhite becomes Georgie's maid though the servant has been canned for her clumsiness; she accidentally lit her previous employer on fire. Soon after the British arrives, guest Bulgarian Field Marshal Pirin collapses at dinner; he was poisoned. Unable to resist and with Queenie as her assistant or better described her albatross, Georgie investigates the killed the womanizing officer.

This is an engaging lighthearted Royal Spyness Mystery (see Royal Flush and Royal Pain) that hooks the audience with the subtle and slapstick jocularity. The amateur sleuthing whodunit and the depression Era in London and Romania fully developed for the reader to feel as if we are part of the wedding party. However, it is the comedic team of Georgie and Queenie who make for a zany frolic as the Royal Blood flows down the chin of Matty in Transylvania.

Harriet Klausner

When hated relatives show up, what do you do? This is the problem for Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, otherwise known as "Georgie," 34th in line for the throne of England, and in no position to quibble because the townhome she's living in belongs to the visiting relatives, her actually amiable brother "Binky" and his annoying wife "Fig." Georgie seeks escape in any way she can, and accepts an errand from her cousin Queen Mary: to go to Romania to represent the Windsor family at the marriage of a minor prince, since the bride is an old school friend. But Georgie finds more than she can handle: not only her handsome "sometimes beau," but the odious German prince they keep trying to marry her off to--and suspected vampires, not to mention the death of an unmannerly general!

I found this outing much more appealing than the last; Georgie is more proactive even as she displays her usual talent for falling into mysteries and murder. Introduced is the clumsy country maid Georgie's affable grandfather supplies to accompany her to the wedding, and a great deal of the humor is supplied by Georgie trying to make a proper lady's maid of "Queenie." Flamboyant best friend Belinda also manages to turn up along with all the regulars. A fun romp with a not-bad mystery thread woven throughout.

For anyone who likes cozies, with a little mystery thrown in, a Royal Spyness Mystery is right up his or her alley. In a change of scenery, Lady Georgiana is asked to travel from London to the Castle Bran in Romania's Transylvania to represent the Crown at the wedding of the Princess Maria Theresa and the Bulgarian Prince Nicholas. It seems Georgiana went to school with the princess, who had specifically asked for her friend to be a bridesmaid.

Yes, that's the castle reputed to be Dracula's, giving us the opportunity to anticipate vampires, werewolves and the like, and amusement, along with royal shenanigans, sex [both requited (friend Belinda) and unrequited (Georgiana)], and other assorted goings-on. The mystery is the apparent murder by poison of the head of the Bulgarian armed forces and a favorite of the king, possibly a cause of another Balkan war.

There are some cute moments in the novel, although the formula is becoming somewhat wearisome. Georgie's love life (or lack thereof) is becoming a little boring, while Belinda's is, of course, predictable. As for Georgie's ability to solve crimes, it is more like stumbling into situations that seem to be resolved while she is present. The writing moves the story along apace, and the 1930's royal atmosphere is interesting. The novel is recommended for readers, and they are many, who appreciate the genre.

This was a promising series until a few blatant errors started to show up in the writing. Even then I could put most of them down to poor editing, but here the heavy handed and forced clues run wild and it is hard to get interested in a mystery in which the investigator is the most clueless character in the story.

Royal Blood is very nearly a love story for Agatha Christie. It pays special tribute to Murder on the Orient Express and The Mousetrap among others. It was delightful to read and try to catch all of the references (some subtle, others not so much) to Christie's work. As both a fan of the Royal Spyness series and Christie it was a truly enjoyable read.

This fourth book in the Royal Spyness series is just as much of a delight as the first three. I can rely on Rhys Bowen to present me with a perfectly rendered setting and make me laugh while I'm learning about the lives of royals in the 1930s. In many ways this is my favorite historical mystery series simply because both author and reader have so darned much fun at their appointed tasks.

In Royal Blood, we have Georgiana in a Dracula-inspired set of a castle in remote Transylvania that's filled with secret stairs, secret cubbyholes, secret rooms-- some which are known and others which seem to have been completely forgotten. Beastly weather. Some absolutely beastly guests. Add to this mix a reluctant Georgie, her new (and untrained) maid Queenie, Mum the Bolter, Belinda the gate crasher, and otherworldly people who seem to be able to climb up and down the sheer walls of the castle, and you have the recipe for a lot of fun.

I've already told you that the setting, humor, and characters all sparkle, but what about the mystery itself? Bowen really had me scratching my head until the identity of the intended victim is made clear, and then the light bulb went off above my head. Did the knowledge of whodunit spoil anything for me? Absolutely not!

Once I'd read the first book in the series (Her Royal Spyness) I was hooked, and I busily gathered up all the rest. It would be very easy for me to gorge on one book after another, but I don't let myself. Of course that rule could be subject to change! If you enjoy light-hearted historical mysteries as much as I do, indulge yourself with the antics of Lady Georgie-- and please start at the very beginning so changing relationships and growing characters will make sense right from the get go.

I must admit the vampire stuff in this book seemed out of character for Lady G.She seems too smart to fall for that. Not my favorite book in the series. I did enjoy the setting which was nicely described for the reader. Will continue on with the series for sure.

Winter is setting in, and Lady Georgiana Rannoch is trying to figure out how she will survive the coming months without an income. But her immediately problems are solved when the Queen asks Georgie to be the family representative at a royal wedding. In fact, the bride is an old school friend and has asked Georgie to be one of the bridesmaids. There's just the little matter of finding a maid willing to work for free to accompany her. Georgie finds the worst maid imaginable, but desperate, they set off together.

The wedding is to take place at a remote castle in Transylvania, a castle that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler. Georgie doesn't believe in vampires, but she has just arrived when she sees someone climbing up the castle wall. Then people are appearing and disappearing from her room. She is quite spooked before someone keels over dead. The death has deep political implications. But was it a vampire or is the killer all too human?

This series is as much about Georgie's life as a poor, minor royal trying to support herself during The Great Depression as it is about the mystery. That becomes clear in this book as we really don't even get to the location for the main story until about the 100 page mark. Once we arrive at the castle, things pick up into high gear, and I was hooked on the story until the surprising end. And the characters were more than enough to carry me through the early part. I love Georgie and her friends, so catching up with them in any form is fun. Since you won't get some of the story here if you don't know the characters, I do suggest starting with earlier books in the series. You'll enjoy this one so much more if you do.

This series continues to grow on me with every book. The pages flew by as I read, and I can't wait for my next visit with Lady Georgiana.

Lady Georgiana Rannoch (Georgie to her friends), is again desperate. She has no job, no money, and her sister-in-law Fig has announced that she and Binky (Georgie's brother) will be joining her at Rannoch House in London. Georgie moved to London to avoid living with Fig, and wonders what to do now.

Once again, her relationship to the Queen works in her favour: Georgie is asked to represent the her Family at the wedding of her cousin (and old schoolmate) Princess Maria Theresa in Romania.

Along with a clumsy, inexperienced maid, and an overbearing chaperon, Georgie sets off for Romania. The wedding is to be held at Maria Theresa's ancestral home, a gloomy, isolated castle which was reportedly once inhabited by Vlad the Impaler, complete with a shadowy figure who prowls the halls at night.

The groom is from the Bulgarian royal family, and of course is accompanied by retainers and guards of his own. After dinner one night the Bulgarian Field Marshall Pirin collapses due to an apparent heart attack. Or is the ghostly prowler responsible for his death?

Luckily, the seemingly ubiquitous Darcy O'Mara is with the groom's party, and helps Georgie and her hapless maid to determine what's going on.

The fourth Royal Spyness mystery, despite the grim setting, is as charming as its predecessors. Highly recommended!

When I first read the summary of this addition to the series, I was a little skeptical: Transylvania? Vampires? Werewolves? However, I had trouble putting the book down once I started it. I love Lady Georgiana! Darcy is a real hunk and a true gentleman, as well. The plot was intriguing, and as I read, I wondered how in the world each character's strange behavior would be explained. I am only sorry that the next book in this series is not immediately available. I hate to wait months (or, gasp, years) for more of Georgiana's exploits. Oh, and by the way, Ms.Bowen, I'm hoping that Darcy is really a spy for the queen. Perhaps HRH could bestow an income on him for services rendered?

Rhys Bowen offers readers who love light mysteries a series of entertaining and masterfully written books. I have read all of her Royal Spyness mysteries, and several of the Molly Murphy series. Her scenarios are very believable and keeps you interested from beginning to end. You really don't have to follow the order, but you might want to because once you read one of her books, you will want to read all of them. It is rare that I find an author who is so in tuned to what makes a story interesting and fun at the same time. I am very discerning about good authorship, having grown up only reading the classics, and I am proud to say that Ms. Bowen has been instrumental in breaking me out of that reading pattern.

Lady Georgiana, a relation to the queen, is requested to represent the throne at a royal wedding in a creepy Transylvania castle. Fortunately, her sometime love interest Darcy O'Mara shows up when things start going downhill, like a wedding guest being murdered. Could vampires be involved? Or worse, was the target a mistake and the groom the intended victim? Nationalist politics comes into play as this strategic marriage looms closer. Can Georgiana unmask the killer before the nuptials are derailed? Royal Blood is another delightful installment in the Royal Spyness series.

I love the whole series. They're well written, of course, and amusing. The mystery in each is complex and hard to guess. The historical background of British royalty is interesting and makes being Royal not so much fun. The romance is just right.