Heirs and Graces (Royal Spyness Series #7)

by Rhys Bowen

Overview

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...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425260036
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/05/2014
Series:	Royal Spyness Series , #7
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	145,719
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rhys Bowen, a New York Times bestselling author, has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar®, and has won many, including both the Agatha and Anthony awards. She is the author of the Royal Spyness Mysteries, set in 1930s London, the Molly Murphy Mysteries, set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries, set in Wales. She was born in England and now divides her time between Northern California and Arizona.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for Heirs and Graces...

“It’s the perfect fix between seasons for Downton Abbey addicts.”—Deborah Crombie, New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Broken Glass

...and for the Royal Spyness Mysteries:
 
 “Wonderful characters…A delight.”—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels
 
“Georgie’s high spirits and the author’s frothy prose are utterly captivating.”—The Denver Post
 
“Whimsical…Bowen successfully melds a whodunit with comedy as few contemporary writers can.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
 “A smashing romp.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“Delightfully naïve, charming and quite smart, Georgie is a breath of fresh air.”—Library Journal

“Brilliant...Part love story, part social commentary, part fun and part downright terrifying. And completely riveting...This book is perfect.”—Louise Penny
 

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the Royal Spyness Mysteries

“Wonderful characters...A delight.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris

“An insightful blend of old-fashioned whodunnit, clever satire and drawing room comedy of errors.”—New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear

“Brilliant...This is so much more than a murder mystery. It’s part love story, part social commentary, part fun and part downright terrifying. And completely riveting.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny

“The perfect fix between seasons for Downton Abbey addicts.”—New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie

“Fans of P.G. Wodehouse looking for laughs mingled with some amateur sleuthing will be quite pleased.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Georgie’s high spirits and the author’s frothy prose are utterly captivating.”—The Denver Post

“A smashing romp.”—Booklist (starred review)

From the Publisher

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.)

Publishers Weekly

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.

Kirkus Reviews