From Cradle to Grave

Royal Spyness, Book 19

De: Rhys Bowen

Narrado por: Gemma Dawson

Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen.

Georgie may be figuring out what it means to be a new mother but she does know one thing for sure: she absolutely despises the strict nanny who was foisted upon her by her meddlesome sister-in-law. In search of a new nanny, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man in her social circle. It quickly becomes clear there’s more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend reveals he’s also just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly died in a boating accident. But when word arrives that the son of family friend has also died tragically and unexpectedly, Georgie is certain it can’t be a coincidence. Yet the victims don’t seem to have any connection to one another.

ZouZou shares Georgie’s suspicions that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie delves deeper, she can’t help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. It seems likely there is a serial killer at work and Darcy fits the bill to be their next victim. Will Georgie solve the murders before it’s too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time?

©2025 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2025 Audible, Inc.

The new narrator is awful

I LOVE this series and was so looking forward to this new book … but, the new narrator is awful. All the characters sound the same – it was hard to tell who was speaking. Darcy does NOT sound Irish. You’d never know Zou Zou was Polish. Belinda doesn’t sound very flirty. Fig barely sounds haughty. I suggest the whole book be re-recorded with Jasmine Blackborrow or someone who can do the accents.
I give the story a 4. I love how clever and smart Georgie is. I love that Darcy has a very modern respect for Georgie’s sleuthing talent, but I wish Darcy had been given a much larger role. In the earlier books he got to be sexy and romantic. He and Georgie were fun and loving with each other. Their banter was full of witty sexual tension. Near the end of this book Darcy and Georgie have a conversation IN BED that’s so asexual it could have been between two co-workers in the middle of Hyde Park.

Not as good

With a different narrator I miss the distinctive accents of Darcy and Belinda. The characters this time come across as arrogant and boorish. The story was ok. Hopefully the next one will have the former narrator back and the characters will be more likeable.

The nanny?…

While the story overall was good. I’m reading this while I have a baby of a similar age to Georgie’s and I found it very difficult to understand why there is a forced separation with her son. It’s not what she wants, and as a mom I wouldn’t have stood
For it. Especially since Georgie was so deliberate with her intentions to raise her child differently. Obviously this is a story. But I had to stop listening because of the child’s distress. I’m glad I’m of the poorer class, and I have my children with me all the time.

The narration spoiled it

I love these books and look forward to the next one every time. This one came across as a bit snooty- even Georgie sounded snobbish. I don’t know if it was the narration or if the writing was just a little bit off, but this is my least favorite of the whole series. Darcy sounded English and very Stilted in the narration of most of it. I hope the former narrator or a better one can be found. I want the funny quirky Georgie back.

Slightly disappointed

I’ve been a fan of these books for years so I was anticipating this one. The narration was horrible and it was off putting. It seemed like the narrator forgot how character’s voices and tone. Even the accents were wrong. As usual, Georgie occasionally got on my nerves, I didn’t like the Fig and nanny outcome. I hope there’s another book to continue the story, especially with WWII looming, with better narration and a more financially stable Georgie and Darcy.