Her Royal Spyness

As the granddaughter of Queen Victoria's least noteworthy daughter, Georgiana is thirty-forth in line to the throne and has all the expensive responsibilities of royalty, like having the proper wardrobe for official functions, but none of the money and being royal she's not supposed to work. While rattling around her family's Scottish estate she discovers she's about to be married off to an Eastern European prince whose unfortunate personality, fish-like looks and likelihood of being assassinated combine to make him highly undesirable as a husband so she flees to London and camps out in the family mansion without servants, proper food, heat or hot water.

Even living in genteel poverty it's fun to be in town, hobnobbing around with her bright young things friends, but problems begin piling up immediately. She doesn't know how far to trust the roguish but very appealing future Irish Lord she's party crashing with in order to eat, she needs to find a way to earn money without her royal relations finding out about it, she discovers a body in her bathtub causing her well-meaning but none too bright duke brother to be wrongly arrested, and she's commissioned by the Queen to spy on her cousin David's married lover Wallace Simpson. Fortunately Georgia is resourceful, smart and game. She's learned a thing or two from her commoner Cockney grandfather, a retired police officer and the father of her decidedly not royal mother, a globe-hopping former actress with a penchant for men who bears a strong resemblance to Nancy Mitford's Bolter. And Georgiana is upper crust enough to be able to place people based on their vocabulary, a distinction Mitford labeled U and non-U, which she uses as a linguistic tool in her quest to exonerate her brother. It all makes for a perfectly fun book, and fortunately it's the first of a series.

This is the first in a series of novels featuring a interesting woman who is 34th in line for the Queen of England in 1932. This leads to a number of interesting situations since she must keep up appearances but she is broke. The author pulls this off with humor mixed with suspense as it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill her and frame her half brother for murder. This novel is reminiscent of Agatha Christie`s writing. It is comfortable, action moves steadily, there is danger for the heroine, but there isn't any horror, and the reader knows it will all work out in the end. There are clues to help the reader figure out who is the bad guy. There is a good deal of humor, reasonable character development, and good action. This is an excellent book and I look forward to others in the series.

I loved this whole series of books. I almost passed it up because the title seemed frivolous but after reading the description and being familiar with some of the author’s other books I decided to take a chance. I bought the audiobook versions and have enjoyed the heck out of them more than once. It’s fun reading/hearing about a different lifestyle and another country. Ms. Bowen’s other books are good too but these just hit the right spot for me. I am glad to see there is a new book about to come out too !

Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the late Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch, is a great grandchild of Queen Victoria and 34th in line for the throne. She is also as poor as a churchmouse. Her father squandered the family fortune, and her brother (the present Duke) cut off her allowance when she turned 21, expecting her to get married so that someone else would support her. Set in 1932, when commoners were standing in lines at soup kitchens, and the wealthy were still living very well in their own separate world, she sets off to London to seek her fortune. But what is she to do - a member of the royal family cannot take a common job (unheard of), at least not using her own name. She finds that other people (poor and well connected) have means of survival - like attending people's receptions and dinner parties, always good for at least a meal, or perhaps being someone's house guest.

Of course there is a murder, and Georgiana becomes involved and finds herself in some personal danger. Along the way you meet a variety of characters - her mother, an actress who is involved with her most recent conquest; her grandfather on her mother's side of the family (definitely not royal, but with useful connections of his own); the German nobleman people keep trying to marry her off to (but there are a few problems with that); her friends from the Swiss boarding school she attended (one friend in particular); and various suspects and spear carriers.

Off course you meet the Queen, who enlists Georgiana's services to check out that horrid Simpson woman that the Prince of Wales has become infatuated with (an American, no less, and soon to be divorced - not suitable at all). You get a look at the society of the time period.

I am surprised that I did not come across this novel before. It is very well researched and well written, and a very enjoyable book to read.

The tone was soft and engaging and her integration of the fictional heroine into the very real events of the royals of that time was very nicely done. What I wondered about were the sexual mores of the times for young ladies - had it really loosened up as much in 1930s England as suggested by the novel? I did some research and found that Wallis Simpson and all the men and women of her set were married multiple times, usually a minimum of 3 marriages, so if puritanical United States saw that as an option to sexual experimentation, then it is at least plausible that Europe would be more fluid.

However, I found all that edge of the plot distracting. It didn’t fit with the overall tone and perspective of the heroine - genteel. True, she maintained her gentility, but that seemed at odds with her early indications that she wanted more sexual experience. As I said, it didn’t fit.

Even so, the story was well-written and I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. to finish it, so I am intrigued and we will read more in the series and also consider her Constable Evans series. How can I resist the puny titles?