Royal Flush (Royal Spyness Series #3)

by Rhys Bowen

Overview

Lady Georgiana must outwit two clever hunters who are after the Prince of Wales in the third novel in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness Mystery series.

Scotland, 1932. Back home until a little London scandal blows over, minor royal Lady Georgiana Rannoch has two equally important objectives. Queen Mary wants Georgie to keep the divorced, American, and entirely unsuitable Wallis Simpson from seducing the Prince of Wales, while Scotland Yard wants her to stop one of the members of the shooting party at Balmoral from turning their sights from the quails to His Royal Highness...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101104910
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/07/2009
Series:	Royal Spyness Series , #3
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	49,164
File size:	706 KB
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.

Editorial Reviews

Set in 1932, Bowen's winning third Royal Spyness whodunit to feature Lady Georgiana, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and 34th in line to the English throne (after 2008's A Royal Pain), will please fans of romantic, humorous historicals. Georgie makes an ill-advised attempt to start her own business, before discovering, to her embarrassment, that her definition of a female escort is not the same as that of her clientele. Fearing scandal, the authorities send her off to the family castle in Scotland, where a shooting party that includes the prince of Wales is in residence, with a brief from the Home Office to keep her eyes peeled for threats to the Crown. A series of serious accidents suggests that someone is targeting members of the royal family. The violence soon escalates to murder. The secret behind the attacks has been employed by such other mystery writers as David Dickinson and Robin Paige, but Bowen, who's won both Agatha and Anthony awards, puts a fresh slant on it. (July)

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Publishers Weekly

Still penniless, still 34th in line to the British throne, and living alone in the family house in Belgrave Square, Lady Georgiana launches her latest attempt at a business venture: an escort service for men needing a young lady of good family to have dinner with them. But her first client has the wrong idea about her services. To avoid what could become a scandal, Scotland Yard sends Georgiana to her family estate in Scotland to keep American houseguest Mrs. Wallis Simpson away from the Prince of Wales as well to keep an eye on the Prince's shooting party at nearby Balmoral since someone is trying to kill royal family members.

VERDICT This third entry (after A Royal Pain) in Bowen's charming, delightfully fresh series earns high marks in painting a nostalgic picture of 1932 England enriched by a look into the royal family's everyday life. Fans of historical cozies who like Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series will snap this up. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ3/1/09.]

—Jo Ann Vicarel

Library Journal

A penniless aristocrat has a wild adventure in the Highlands of Scotland. Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 34th in line to the throne of King George V, is forced to return to Scotland from the family's London house after a badly worded advertisement makes her sound like a prostitute. Rescued from a sleazy nightclub by Darcy O'Mara, the man she loves but seldom sees, Georgiana is sent home to Castle Rannoch, from which Scotland Yard has asked her to keep an eye on the Royal Family, who are staying at Balmoral for the hunting season. Her usually cold sister-in-law Fig greets her with delight. Georgiana's brother Binky is laid up after almost losing a foot in a trap, and the frugal Fig has been forced to play host to a group of complaining American visitors, including the notorious Mrs. Simpson and the husband she has in tow. Upon her arrival, Georgiana notes that a suspicious number of accidents seem to be plaguing the Royals. Even Georgiana is shot at while riding with Princess Elizabeth. Although a number of friends and her rarely seen mother are in the neighborhood, no one but Darcy can help Georgiana when a member of the hunting party is shot dead. The too-trusting Georgiana narrowly escapes death when she discovers the identity of the killer. Fans of Georgette Heyer will enjoy the nice mix of romance and mystery in Georgiana's third adventure (A Royal Pain, 2008, etc.) from the period between the wars.

Kirkus Reviews

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