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)

Enjoyable

The narrative was brisk , a little too from time to time. It's like Agatha Christie with a sillier sense of fun.

I love this series up to Katherine Kellgren

Audible, this is ridiculous!!! I just wanted to rate this book and not write a review. Having to write reviews in order to rate has prevented me from rating at all. I just want to give props to enjoyable reads . I will just copy and paste this "review" going forward.

a good followup to the first book

This is the second book in the series, and it held itself up well to the expectations I had after reading the first. Funny, engaging, with a hint of mystery. It was a little over-the-top with some of the characterizations and accents, though, so it was a little less believable than the first. It won't keep me from listening to the rest of the series, though.

Katherine Kellgren makes this series superb

Katherine Kellgren is an excellent narrator. As good, or better, than Barbara Rosenblat or Kate Reading.
These aren't the type of books I would normally read but listening to Katherine Kellgren reading this series is a true joy. She makes the characters come alive.
This story wasn't as enjoyable as the last. I knew the culprit as soon as the character was introduced, so not much from a mystery perspective.
I will keep on with the series. Highly recommended because of the narration.

This was so much fun to listen to.

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

I did not read the print version. I love audio because I can listen any time. When I cook, clean or ride for long distances in the car. Just listened to several chapters while at the doctors office waiting room.

What did you like best about this story?

The narrator did a wonderful job of the different accents. Makes you want to live in London or Scotland back then, but only if you were Rich!

Which scene was your favorite?

I always like Georgi's encounters with Darcy. He is like her Guardian Angel.
Any scene with Georgi's grandfather.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both

It's the narration!

The story is fun, tho kinda silly, the Royal references are entertaining especially as we have the benefit of history at this point and we all know what eventually happened between the man who would be king but tossed the crown for Wallis Simpson, and so forth. But in this book his destiny is still up in the air.

Rhys Bowen inevitably creates such memorable characters, like Georgie, her Granddad, her best friend Belinda, and her maybe sometimes beau Darcy. You become so attached to these people, you root for them, worry about them, and mostly just enjoy hanging out with them.

These characters are elevated to new heights by the brilliance of the narrator. She appears to have an endless supply of British accents, from the most proper, to the most quirky and everything in between. Honestly I don't know how she managed to keep track of so many different character voices. And she is one of the few female narrators that does male characters really well.

Oh, and sometimes she sings. There is one scene, can't recall the specifics, where she voices the utterly shocked and comically over the top reaction, of an upper class British woman. That sentence alone, so funny, so evocative of the different classes portrayed in the book, is, by itself worth the price of admission.

Love Rhys Bowen, love Lady Georgianna, love the narrator Katherine Kellgren.

A Fun Series

A lighthearted, well-written book that takes a humorous lens to life as a noble and the associated social perils as the protagonist navigates life as a lady detective for the queen. Well-rounded and well-read characters make me very glad to have stumbled upon my new favorite series!

Just fun to listen

Where does A Royal Pain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I love the series so far

What other book might you compare A Royal Pain to and why?

The stories are great and I look forward to the next book

Which scene was your favorite?

Always love the scenes with Darcy

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It catches me off guard with a phrase or an accent and I laugh out loud.

Any additional comments?

Just love the performance of all the characters and accents

Charming mystery set in England 1932

Charming, breezy, fun listen. Our heroine is 21, single, 34th in line for the throne of England, from Scotland, dead broke and takes a odd cleaning jobs for the upper class to make ends meet while solving an alarming number of murders. There's a romantic interest but it plays a minor role and doesn't detract from the main attraction of 'plucky girl solves the case against all odds'.

I've enjoyed two of the books from this series and will listen to another when I need a bit of light hearted distraction. I think they may get cloying eventually.

Loved this

What made the experience of listening to A Royal Pain the most enjoyable?

Georgie is a delightful character. The plot is wonderful. It hold my interest! I can't stop listening.

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

Georgie

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed alot.

Any additional comments?

I want more of these books.