Her Royal Spyness

By: Rhys Bowen

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Agatha Award-winning author Rhys Bowen’s charming combination of intrigue and romance blended with a touch of humor shines when performed by Audible Hall of Fame narrator Katherine Kellgren, whose deft range and impeccable accent work make it hard to believe this isn’t a multicast performance.

In this irresistible cozy set in 1930s London, Rhys Bowen introduces the lively Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie—or "Georgie" for short. Despite standing 34th in line for the throne and occasionally having tea with (…and spying for!) Her Majesty the Queen, Georgie is penniless and down-on-her-luck. And just when it seems things might be looking up, she finds a body in her bathtub.

Listeners are sure to be hooked on this royally enjoyable series—and luckily for them, the collaboration between author and narrator only gets richer over the course of 12 books.

©2007 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Good Story, but not family fare.

I found this a fun story to listen to, but it is not something I could listen to with the family. THere are several conflicts in the story. One is that of the 'princess' who is 36th in line of seccession from the throne who is expected to live like she is royalty, but without income. THe story centers around her trying to figure out how she can support herself. A second conflict in the book is of a young woman setting up her independence from her family. The conflict of family. THe third conflict was that of victorian morals versus a contemporary lack of them. THis conflict seemed to be almost pasted on for titillation purposes. It was really unnecessary to be repetitively talking about her virginity and sex. It wasn't central to the story. There are no bedroom scenes, but the author's POV definitely seemed to want to degradate chaste behavior. I won't be getting more of this author's books.

Funny and intriguing

What did you love best about Her Royal Spyness?

The different voices of the narrator were excellent and so funny.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The murderer was my favorite character because of the way they spoke.

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

She was amazing with the different voices and accents of the characters. She switched back and forth with them in conversation and never missed a beat. It made the story like a movie.

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

It was so funny in places I laughed out loud. A lot of it was due to Ms. Kellgren's voices. The characters are great.

Any additional comments?

I am already half way through the second book in the series and am loving it too. I am not a big reader but love the audible books.

A pleasure!

I picked up this book because it was on sale, and I am so glad that I did. I loved the light hearted and fun nature of it. I am now on book number six, and looking forward to book number seven. This is a great in between easy listen book. You'll find yourself laughing a bit if you decide to listen. Highly recommend it!

Great cozy mystery

great narrator. The story was fun and engaging. I will be continuing the series on audible

Love this series!

I've listened to all the books in this series! I couldn't stop listening. I loved the naivete yet strength of the lead character. She feels real even though she is a royal.

Wow this narrator!

I just needed a lighter listen and this did the trick. thank goodness for this narrator who brought each character to life. Okay story and characters. I could have listened to the English and Irish accents all day.

Fun mystery set in the early 1930s

I have to admit, that being a new parent and trying to keep up with work and enjoying my new daughter and trying to get enough sleep, I have just not been interested in reading anything heavy. I have already finished more than my goal of books for the year (which is a new record number of books), so I don’t feel pressed to read to review.

Consequently I have been reading fun books. And this is a great example of a fun book. Georgie is the younger sister of a Duke. She is 34th in line for the throne in 1932. But that does not mean things are going well for her. She is 21, her brother has stopped giving her a living allowance. Her father has died after losing all of the family money in American investments, her mother left her father when she was a young child and has been sleeping her way through all of the rich and famous of Europe since then.

Georgie has had enough of her current life stuck in a cold drafty castle in Scotland with her very sweet, but fairly hapless brother and distant and condescending sister in law. So she heads to London to make her way on her own. But things are not that easy. She does not really have any job skills. And she can’t take just any job, because there is society to think of and her cousin (the Queen) will find out. If she doesn’t figure out a way to take care of herself, she is going to be sent off to the country to be a lady in waiting for a great aunt (the last remaining daughter of Queen Victoria). She will never find a husband (or have any fun) out there.

Things are really not going all that well when she comes home to find a dead body in her bathtub. I assume this is homage to Dorothy Sayers’s first Lord Peter Wimsey book Whose Body? which also has a body in a bathtub as the center of the mystery.

This is a modern book, where Dorothy Sayer was writing as a contemporary of the 1930s, Rhys Rowen is writing of the same time 85 years later. But there are some good parallels. Both are mysteries with real humor. And both have brilliant, but somewhat scattered main characters.

Obviously there is the difference in the gender of the characters in a time when gender mattered significantly. But also because the portrayed eras feel different. Wimsey for all of his lightness suffers from PTSD after fighting in WWI. Georgie is young, naive and stumbled into a lot of answers. Wimsey acts like a fool but is not at all the fool.

There is also the light feminist angle. Georgie is still a part of her class and station. But she is reaching out and willing to push boundaries in ways that is clearly different than Wimsey because Wimsey is both male and still rich.

All in all, this was a fun series, and I will read more of it.

(originally posted on my blog, Bookwi.se)

A Romp through Pompous Circumstances

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

Yes, this is a delightfully conceived character, imagine Downton Abbey with humor. Good stories and just fun

Who was your favorite character and why?

The best girlfriend is a total hoot.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She is excellent. I made sure she was doing the subsequent books before I bought them. What fun she brings to listening.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Well I was moved to laughter everytime she committed some naive faux paus.

Any additional comments?

I am having to pace myself with these books, so I don't get through them all. Perhaps I will try some of her other books, but I am having fun with these.

Loved it!

The story and performance were both great! I am looking forward to the next one!

What a Cheeky British Girl!

I did love this book - humor is difficult to write and British humor, I believe, it doubly hard to translate into a book. It wasn't overly cute in an attempt to be funny, I do plan to read others in the series about Lady Georgiana, 34th in line to the throne. That in itself is humorous. I recommend this for a easy, breezy, fun read. Narration is tops!