A Royal Pain

By: Rhys Bowen

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

The Queen of England has concocted a plan in which penniless aristocrat Lady Georgie is to entertain a Bavarian princess and conveniently place her in the playboy prince's path, in the hopes that he might finally marry.

But queens never take money into account. Georgie has very little, which is why she moonlights as a maid-in-disguise. She must draw up plans: clean house to make it look like a palace; have Granddad and her neighbor pretend to be the domestic staff; un-teach Princess Hanni the English she's culled from American gangster movies; cure said princess of her embarrassing shoplifting habit; and keep an eye on her at parties.

Then there's the worrying matter of the body in the bookshop and Hannis' unwitting involvement with the Communist Party. It's enough to drive a girl crazy.

Listen to more Royal Spyness mysteries.

©2008 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Macavity Award, Historical Mystery, 2009

"All the characters from the first book in this rollicking series are present here - Georgie's much-married actress mother, her kind-hearted and resourceful Cockney grandfather, her sophisticated friend Belinda and the enigmatic Darcy O'Mara, a penniless Irish peer to whom Georgie finds herself attracted. There are also fleeting references to the war clouds that are gathering in Europe and the rise of fascism at home and abroad, both of which are neatly tied in with the murders and their solution. It works - both as a grand period piece and a lighthearted and completely diverting mystery." (The Denver Post)

I love this series.

I just found this series not long ago. The stories are entertaining and upbeat. The characters are amusing and diverse. It's enjoyable to see how they progress through the stories. I look forward to listening to the rest.

A whodunit that's a complex, plot-driven story.

Would you consider the audio edition of A Royal Pain to be better than the print version?

The characters come alive in this audio version, that your imagination can't quite develop on its own. Katherine Kellgren does a great job in developing each character through her voice and intonation.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Royal Pain?

The most intense segment is when Lady Georgiana, is locked inside the meeting hall, where the Communist Party had just met, not knowing if she is alone or not. As she stealthily sneaks around in the dark, my heart started pounding as I feared her being detected.

Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren – was your favorite?

Belinda Warburton-Stoke, Is Lady Georgiana's best friend. Her breathy voice depicts the high society attitude of an aristocrat that could care less what others think.

More bodies keep piling up around the 34th in line

A good narrator really makes or breaks the audiobook.

In this case, Katherine Kellgren has done a great job with the light humor that sets this these two books (and presumably the whole series) apart from a lot of other cozy mysteries.

This second books feels less like Dorothy Sayers. Georgie, the 34th in line for the throne, has established herself in London. She is living out from under the influence of her brother and his wife, but also without any financial support. So in spite of her title and position, she is broke. In the last book she started a house cleaning service to make money while trying to discover her place in London society (she grew up in a Scottish Castle) and keep her work a secret from the Queen.

But Georgie has caught the eye of the Queen for another reason. After Georgie solved a murder and got her brother released from jail, the Queen is interested in Georgie’s other uses and so asks Georgie to host an 18 year old Bavarian Princess and introduce her to London Society. (Of course, Georgie is broke and can’t afford to do that, but you don’t say no to the Queen.)

Eventually dead bodies start piling up and there is a concern that someone may be trying to kill the princess or maybe blame the princess for a murder in order to create international hostility.

In this book, Georgie is much more clearly using detective skills and reasoning and putting clues together than in the last book (which was presented as more accidental discovery.) But the series resists the Sherlock Holmes style random small clues and instead is more of a modern detective novel with interviews, clues and more police-style beat work. (Georgie’s grandfather is a retired beat cop that she turns to a lot in this book.)

The series continues to be quite enjoyable and I will keep reading, probably picking up the next one on kindle as a change of pace.

(originally posted at my blog, Bookwi.se)

Fun Listen! Light Hearted and Entertaining

This is the second book in the series about a impoverished noble lady--only 32 or 34 persons removed from the throne! She has quite a time fullfilling the Queen's plans on a shoestring budget but you don't refuse the Queen. This time our lady has her hands full dealing with the gangster-crazy Princess of Bavaria that the Queen requests that she entertain. Have a good time and chuckle over her antics!

Katherine Kellgren does a delightful job of narrating this mystery.

Soothing and Adventurous

This is a exceptional reader of this story. The story is well written and engaging,but I believe the reader of this story adds much to it and keeps you listening. It's a win win. I am still listening to the series and so far I love it.

Quite Entertaining

If you are looking for deep, meaningful literature, you will have to look elsewhere, of course. That being said, this is a very entertaining read with an absolutely excellent narrator. It's a whimsical fun story that brings joy to read. Off to the next book in the series it is for me!

Over all a lot of fun and kept me interested

Great voices and interesting stories. Im just getting to know the characters and I like them. So far very enjoyable.

Second Royal Spyness Mystery does not disappoint

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys light mysteries and particularly if they listen while they drive. You don't have to have listened to the first book, but I think you will have missed out on the build-up of the characters. It is the characters that make it so funny. Although the situation here is amusing too. Lady Georgiana has to chaperone a Bavarian princess who is the Royal Pain of the title.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Royal Pain?

The most memorable moment for me was when the Princess's love interest was stabbed upstairs while Georgie was downstairs. A nasty bit of business that made the book more serious for several chapters.

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

Frankly, I am not sure that I would sit down and read any of these books - it is Katherine Kellgren's performance that makes them enjoyable for me. She brings out every bit of comedy there is by

Any additional comments?

These are light hearted mysteries for entertainment purposes.

A delight

This series is so charming. Not the most challenging mystery in the world, but the characters are interesting, the setting is charming and narriator is top notch. I recomend this series to anyone who likes their murders cozy and Agatha Christy-ish.

Graphic episode

Bought this for my grandmother who loved the Mrs. Pollifax series and this was listed as similar. The first in the series was a light, fluffy read and so I got the second. So glad I pre-read... there is a near rape scene as Georgie encourages the wrong guy. It was surprisingly graphic for such a fluffy novel and then treated like a joke. Grandma won't be reading this one.