Crowned and Dangerous

By: Rhys Bowen

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

Nothing is simple when you're 35th in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau, Darcy O'Mara, hope to bypass a few royal rules....

With Darcy driving me out of London in a borrowed motorcar, I soon discover that he isn't planning to introduce me to the pleasures of sinning in secret - as I had hoped - but to make me his wife! Of course there are some quibbles to be dealt with, such as my needing special permission from the king to marry a Roman Catholic and the question of where we might live after the honeymoon. Though he will inherit a title, Darcy is as broke as I am. Even his family's Irish castle has been sold to a rich American who now employs Darcy's father as a hired hand.

Throwing these cares to the wind, nothing could deter us from our mission - except perhaps the news that my future father-in-law has just been arrested. It seems the rich American was murdered, and Darcy's father had more than enough motive to do the deed. With the elopement postponed, we head for Ireland, where he insists he's innocent, and it's up to us to prove it - for better or worse.

©2016 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

I always adore Lady Georgiana

What did you like best about this story?

Finally feels like Georgie and Darcy are FINALLY and TRULY getting somewhere.

What does Katherine Kellgren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Katherine Kellgren is untouchable as a narrator. She brings every character to life so effortlessly.

Any additional comments?

My only negative is that after 10 books there are some repetitions that could be removed. I feel like they are fillers. But I always enjoy the story and always enjoy the setting of each story.

No, it looks like he isn't! Thank goodness!

Most of you will have no idea what that headline was all about. Sorry about that:
It is the answer to the question I asked in the headline to my review of "Malice at the Palace":
"Is Darcy becoming another Daniel Sullivan?". Basically I was all ranting about how Darcy had started to show some very annoying old-fashioned tendencies (just like Sullivan) was being overprotective and mostly absent, and how the wole relationship between Darcy and Georgie was going nowhere and had become boring and superfluous ...

So, now I'm happy to say that this novel basically was more than I could have hoped for! No really: all I had been ranting about has changed. Well, not completely maybe, but finally Georgie and Darcy are working well together, both as a couple AND as detectives, Queeny is less of a pain in the *** and we even get to know more about Darcy and his family. Brilliant!

Thank you Mrs Bowen. In case you ever read this: You really really made my day!!

Delightful book

I love this series because it's different, charming, and funny. It's not the run of the mill mystery/love story. The story is really good and I love the characters.

More background on Darcy

Crowned and Dangerous is the tenth book in this cozy mystery series. Georgie is 35th in line to the throne in the late 1930s, put penniless. Darcy is the son of an Irish lord and just as penniless. The pair of them, while trying to survive, continue to solve mysteries and take care of problems for both the royal family and their friends. But they are getting a bit frustrated with propriety keeping them from getting married. So Darcy decides to whisk Georgie away to get married and worry about propriety later. As is normal in the series, a problem happens and they are prevented.

Darcy’s father is accused of murder, so Darcy goes away to support his emotionally distant and unlikable father. And because the situation looks grim, attempts to break things off with Georgie so that her (and the royal family) will not be associated with the crime. Georgie flutters around a bit before going to him.

Crowned and Dangerous corrects several of the problems that have been going on in the series for a while. Queenie, Georgie’s incompetent maid, is mostly out of the book and by the end seems to have mostly stopped being a punch line and allowed to be a real person. Georgie mostly stops worrying about Darcy’s past and whether he really loves her or not. There is not a lot of whining in the book.

The actual mystery in Crowned and Dangerous and its discovery is pretty thin. I kept expecting there to be more. Solving the mystery is less about smarts and intuition than just following the leads and being hopeful in light of the early bad news. But the character development and the central relationship make some real progress. All in all, this is better than the past couple of books. It is more believable and has some good potential for future books. I breezed through it in less than two days. But after several heavy books, it was a nice chance.

Crowned & Dangerous

Love love Katherine Kellgren! Her accents & voices were so good and love the sense of humor by the narrator, Lady Georgiana. Good mystery, funny, clean language ( such a novelty nowadays!).

If you enjoy a good, but lightweight mystery every now and then, Rhys Bowen is clever author.

A great and fun listen!

The last couple of books in this series seemed to have lagged a tiny bit, but this book more than brought it all back up to speed! As Lady Georgianna and Darcy O'Mara are en route to Gretna Green to elope, he gets word that his father, Lord Kilhenny, has been arrested for murder. So he must rush to Ireland to be with him. Although he urges Georianna not to come--in fact, tries to break off their engagement so she won't be tainted by the gossip--she, of course, will find a way to be there.

Naturally, they are tackling this new mystery together. Not only has Rhys Bowen crafted a fun story, she seems to have brought some of the original charm back to it, including several new characters--a couple of whom might wind up being in future books perhaps. (I sure hope so!) But most of the characters we have come to love--Queenie the maid, Fig, her wretched sister-in-law, and of course, her beloved grandfather all make appearances. But they are less featured than some new people--Darcy's father and a Polish princess. Plus Darcy's elderly aunt and uncle. They are wonderful characters and I hope to see all of them playing roles in future books.

This book is a five star on every level. Although it is light reading in a way, that does not detract from the twists and turns of the plot. The characters are a hoot, and there were several places I laughed out loud. Love the series, and this is among the best so far! This series has decent mysteries, but the delightful characters and especially the stellar narration are the best reasons to listen!

Rhys Bowen's Finest Royal Spyness Novel

I've read every one of the her novels and although I was thrilled with every one of them, they were beginning to get stale. Then Ms Bowen does this!
Absolutely charming, entertaining, and intriguing. Reading the previous novels is a requirement to get the full benefit of the effect the shocking turn around of events has on the lives of the usual characters.

Words cannot express how delightful the story is and of course Katherine Kellgren does an excellent job acting out the story for us.

THANK YOU!

Loved it!

I enjoy Georgie so much! I'm looking very forward to enjoying the next story. I know Georgie is Rhys Bowen's creation- but I have truly enjoyed getting to know Georgie and Darcy and love all the crazy fun things that happen. I'm sure 'Mom will be in the next story- she's a kick! Please keep Queenie. She's Good for Georgie- plus she's a scream!

Fantastic!

Love love love!

We need more Georgie/Darcy corroborations! I loved to see them working together.

This is one of my favorite Georgie books. I'm so sorry that I have to wait for the next one.

The only negative was Queenie. I am ready for her to find a place and Georgie to move on. She's not funny anymore.

Narration by Katherine Kellgren is, again, flawless.

We need more

Love the family, dad, auntie, and Zulu. Can't wait for the next installment. Love that Queenie finally improved some and may have ended up in the right household! Really hope for great details on the wedding!

The Winter Warmer

I love these books, they are so easy to listen to while I work and are both funny and highly enjoyable. They have a very vintage feel to them and lack bad language or any real violence, all in all they are wonderfully twee!

Grating

The author mentions numerous times that Darcy has only a hint of an Irish accent. So it makes it even more annoying to listen to this awful version of the narrators take on one - it’s kind of northern Irish and every sentance ends with the same annoying upward inflection. Considering 75% of the characters in this book are Irish it becomes almost impossible to listen to it without permanently cringing.

The story goes on a bit as well - losing the will to finish it tbh. Love these books for light listening but this is t doing it for me :-(

Very enjoyable

Where does Crowned and Dangerous rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Lovely addition to the series, as always interesting and very entertaining.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but it was too long to do this

Annoying screeching reading.

There's quite a lot of screeching, high-pitched very load reading. It's really annoying to me.

Fabulous!

Another wonderful murder mystery featuring George and her friends and family. Not forgetting the handsome Darcy and the mishap prone ladies maid Queenie. The story is narrated well and you are drawn into 1920's life.

Such fun!

The Royal Spyness stories are ones I fell upon by accident and I absolutely love listening to them. There are one or two phrases that grate a bit like December 4 instead of 4th of December but that’s just me being pedantic. Would definitely recommend.

Crowned and Dangerous

Another really funny detective story where she puts herself in danger to find the jewels and the killer. Read brilliantly again by Katherine Kellgren.

Royalty, Gangsters and Irish Peers

What a romp this episode is in the life of Georgie and Darcy. There are problems in Ireland, a foreign princess gets involved, the American Press and the Garda are all over and we meet some of Darcy's family.

Another great installments. Best read in order.

Another fun royal shyness mystery

This is a great listen. The narrator brings all the characters to life and having listened to so many now - they all feel like part of the family. Can't wait for another ........will Darcy and Georgie finally make it to the alter? I am buying a hat Jin readiness and just in case!

Like a roaring fire -cozy and relaxing

I love the Royal Spyness books. They are fun, easy going but a charm that is really compelling. The mysteries are not complex but that does not make them any less entertaining. In this book Georgie travels to Ireland meeting Darcy's relatives, and local people. There are no spoilers but the stereotypical stupid local police inspector makes an appearance. For a relaxing Sunday afternoon listen you won't be disappointed in the continuing tale.