The Last Mrs. Summers (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

I have read all the Royal Spyness mysteries to date, waiting for the one that would be the most interesting to review. I was a little worried after reading Among the Cheetahs that Georgie and Darcy’s marriage had forever rearranged the dynamics of her literary lifestyle. I can see now that has not happened. Georgie and Belinda are back at it, and Darcy does not show up until near the end. It seems Belinda has inherited some real estate in Cornwall, a decrepit cottage that must have once belonged to a smuggler, as it has a separate entrance that goes through a cave leading to the waterfront. The grandmother who left it to her had a grand house nearby but had already sold it. Belinda had spent her summers there as a child and adolescent, and therefore knew people in the area. Her being recognized results in their being invited to stay at one of the other elegant homes. The setting is reminiscent of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, especially when the housekeeper has Georgie and Belinda wear evening gowns that had belonged to the deceased former mistress of the house. There is, of course, a murder but not the usual contact with the royal family or with Georgie’s mother. It is a good read and one of the more difficult mysteries to resolve. Don’t be lead astray by red herrings.

Lady Georgiana ‘Georgie’ Rannach aka Mrs. Darcy O’Mara and her friend Belinda Wharburton-Stoke are off to the Cornwall coast to check out a cottage Belinda recently inherited from her grandmother. The ladies reminisce on the drive to the coast as Belinda shares some of her childhood memories, including the tale of a ne’er-do-well uncle with groping hands and a dark side, and the accidental death of a boy. They get a harsh surprise when they find the cottage is in a state of disrepair, will it be worth it to fix it up?

On the hunt for a builder to plan renovations, Belinda and Georgie encounter a former friend, Rosie, the daughter of a cook who was part of her childhood clique. Rosie is now married to Tony Summers (a former beau of Belinda’s) and lady of the manor at Trewoma Hall. She invites Belinda and Georgie to stay at the hall for a few days–little do they know their journey will take a deadly twist that leads to Belinda becoming a prime suspect!

Dark secrets from childhood, deadly revenge, love triangles, and flirtatious encounters emerge during the ill-fated stay–will Georgie be able to piece together the scattered memories and events of the past and present in time to help out her friend? This is the 14th book in Author Bowen’s Royal Spyness Mystery series. I’m a huge fan and this tale does not disappoint!

Obviously, Daphne du Maurier’s famous novel occupies a unique place in readers’ hearts & minds—who doesn’t remember the delicious thrill of reading the now-famous opening line, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again,” for the first time? Even now, the memory sends a jolt of anticipation through me. Successfully pulling off a tribute to such a beloved tale is no small feat, but Rhys Bowen has managed it beautifully, while still remaining true to the essence of the Royal Spyness series. The story is expertly done, and I quite enjoyed it. Although a reader new to the series could definitely follow along, many of the nuances that make the series so enjoyable would be lost and as such I would strongly recommend new readers start at the beginning of the series. It’s quite an enjoyable and clever series, and a great way to pass the time while social distancing! Bowen’s writing entertains and lifts the spirits. Love and highly recommend!

I am a huge Rhys Bowen fan, mostly of the Her Royal Spyness series. "The Last Mrs. Summers" was excellent -- in my opinion, one of the better books in the series. The plot is engaging, the main characters continue to evolve, and the plot twists were interesting enough to capture my attention. I started to read the book as soon as it dropped to my Kindle, and for the next few nights could not put it down. My only regret is that I gobbled it down, and am now anxiously waiting to hear the publication date for the next book in the series. Well done, Ms. Bowen, well done indeed!

The Royal Spyness series of mysteries are entertaining and different from so many of the series I read. They take place in Great Britain in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, with the main character, Georgie, 34th in line to the throne. She's expected to live up to her royal heritage (great granddaughter to Queen Victoria) but with no money to do so. In this book, Georgie's friend Belinda has inherited a house in Cornwall, and Belinda asks Georgie to come with her to see the property. What should have been a lighthearted adventure ends up with murder, and Belinda is arrested. What a mess! How is Georgie going to prove Belinda's innocence, when she was caught with the knife in her hand? Well done in a plot with more twists and turns than the Cornish roads!

This story does remind me of the book Rebecca which Rhys Bowen said influenced her when writing. There is the same aura of mystery in both stories. Georgie has to save her friend Belinda without a lot of help while they are on a trip to Cornwall. I looked up information on Cornwall while reading which was interesting as well after some facts were mentioned in this story that whetted my interest.

This book is different because it’s mostly an adventure with Georgiana and Belinda, while Darcy is away on a mission. Belinda receives an inheritance from her grandmother, so she buys a fancy sports car, and enlists Georgiana to check out a cottage left to her, in the small village in Cornwall where she spent summers as a youth. The reader is introduced to some old friends and a bad egg family member, both of whom are likely to turn up in future books. Maybe. Luckily for fans of this series, Darcy does make an appearance, which is always nice. In the end, the murder(s) are solved by Georgie and Belinda, and the cliff-hanger has to do with Belinda’s future. There was a lot of detail about the remote location, treacherous road, which made me wonder how many MPG Belinda’s new car got, because they didn’t ever seem to need to stop for petrol, even though a bathroom break makes it into the book.

Rhys Bowen is prolific, and she tells an engaging story placed in Britain in the 1930s. I've enjoyed The Royal Spyness Series for the most part, but, if you care, the plots are often not realistic and the coincidences unreal. This is still true in #14; we can be sure Darcy will show up to solve his own mystery, no matter where our royally descended heroine (Georgie, now his wife) travels, this time to Cornwall. Bowen tries to recreate the time period, and that's interesting , though sometimes unsettling. There is the rise of Hitler in the background, the snobbish and sometimes abuse of the serving class woven into the story, the misbehavior of the Prince and Wallis Simpson. (in earlier books). Nonetheless her books are easy reads. Her characters are fun, like Georgie's mother and boyfriends, her grandfather and brother Binky and wife, her good friend Belinda and Zou Zou, and her outrageous maid, Queenie. If you choose to read the series, start with #1.

This is a good mystery. Lady Georgiana is bored. Her husband is off on a job, her relatives are busy and her best friend is in Paris. She needs something to do. When Belinda comes back early because she has inherited, she asks Georgiana to go to Cornwall with her to look at a house she inherited. Just getting there is an adventure the way Belinda drives. The house is really not fit to stay in so they go looking for another place to stay. They run into an old friend who asks them to stay with her and her husband. Rose is married to a man that Belinda has a brief relationship with several years before. Awkward! When the husband ends up naked and dead in Belinda's bed, Georgiana has to prove that Belinda didn't do it. So many people have a motive and Georgiana needs to figure out which person did it.

“The Last Mrs. Summers” is not a good book, nor is it a book that reflects Rhys Bowen’s unmatched skill at creating suspenseful moments or comic situations within suspense. Unfortunately, the similarities between DuMaurier’s “Rebecca” and “The Last Mrs Summers” are not a substitute for the missing historical core of the former books in the Royal Spyness series. Lady Georgiana needs Darcy present (and not dominant) just as much as the queen needs Georgie to poke around the royal family to gather information. And, therein lies the problem with the book: the essentials are missing. No Queen. No Queenie. No historical facts. No truths revealed. “Love and Death Among the Cheetahs” (book 13) is one of the best books I’ve read because the truth told is stranger than any fiction. There is no truth in “The Last Mrs. Summers”. It reads like an experiment in fiction that failed.