Queen of Hearts

By: Rhys Bowen

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 35th in line for the British throne, knows how to play the part of an almost royal - but now she's off to Hollywood, where she must reprise her role as sleuth or risk starring in an all-too-convincing death scene...

My mother, the glamorous and much-married actress, is hearing wedding bells once again - which is why she must hop across the pond for a quickie divorce in Reno. To offer my moral support, and since all expenses are paid by her new hubby-to-be, Max, I agree to make the voyage with her.

Crossing the Atlantic, with adventure in the air and wealthy men aboard, Mother all but forgets about Max and matrimony - especially when movie mogul Cy Goldman insists on casting her in his next picture.

Meanwhile, I find myself caught up in the secret investigation of a suspected jewel thief. Lucky for me, the lead investigator happens to be my dashing beau, Darcy!

Mother's movie and Darcy's larceny lead everyone to Cy's Hollywood home, where the likes of Charlie Chaplin are hanging about and there’s enough romantic intrigue to fill a double feature. But we hardly get a chance to work out the sleeping arrangements before Cy turns up dead - as if there wasn’t enough drama already.

©2014 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Enjoyable Read

Enjoy listening to this series. This particular book portrayed Americans in a bad light. A reputation brought about to our bad behavior overseas.


If you want a good series to listen to, with light-hearted intrigue, this is the series for you.

Always fun

Fun easy listen. Can't wait for more with Darcy and Georgie it's time they get engaged and have adventures as a couple

Mystery & Downtown Abby Fans will love these books

If you could sum up Queen of Hearts in three words, what would they be?

Funny, entertaining, heartwarming.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Queen of Hearts?

Every interaction between Georgie, the main character, and her rich self-absorbed mother is fascinating. In this book, they are traveling from England to Nevada so Mommy can get a divorce from her 4th husband. They take a ship to New York and then a train cross country. So many great scenes, conversations. It is a trip to an interesting time in history--1930's before WWII.

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

I've listened to all of Katherine Kellgren's performances of Rys Bowen's "Royal Spyness" series and I believe she makes the books better. Her accents, and ability to switch from Scottish to proper English to cockney English to Irish to upper class American, is stunning. I'm now looking for other books she narrates regardless of the author.

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

Each of the Royal Spyness books has made me laugh out loud a number of times and I for the rest of the time I am just riveted by story and by the narration. I usual finish these books in two days or less.

Any additional comments?

Love Audible!! Thanks to Audible for introducing me to these books. I don't know that I would have ever found them if I had not been browsing your offerings. And what a wonderful pleasure they have been--all of the Royal Spyness series.

Entertaining

Good addition to the series. Bowen does a great job of moving her British characters to an American setting. In the process we get a good view of early 20th century America and the wonders and challenges it presented to foreigners. The plot, continued character development, and settings are all well advanced in this book.

Kellgren does an excellent job of narration! Men's and women's voices and the various British and American accents are rendered with consummate skill. A pleasure to listen too.

Awesome book

I really enjoy these books and the performance is fantastic. This particular book was very entertaining and I love the time period it is set in.
There is only one little drawback with these books and that is that since the performance is so fantastic with so many different voices for different people, the volume varies quite a lot so one has to set the volume rather loud to hear the lovest character voices. This means it's hard to listen to it before bed. That being said all the different voices made of course by the same performer really adds to the feeling of reality.

Love the narrator

The narrator definitely makes these books. I love the accents; she does an amazing job. Sometimes Georgie is dense batter mysteries when the answer is so obvious, so that irritates me. All in all, I’m ready to get to them just getting married already.

Still love the series

Another fun chapter in Lady Georgiana’s adventures. It was fun to bring it to Hollywood.

Good but not her best

I think this story pushes the envelope a little too far when it ventures to Hollywood.....had most of the story stayed on the ocean liner crossing the Atlantic, I think it would have been much better. I like the central cast of characters (all except for Queenie - she should have stayed with her new boss), but things reached ridiculous with the wild animals and movie plans. It was a fun romp up to and including New York, and I hope the next installment will stick a little closer to home for the 34th in line to the throne and her Irish beau.

And I hope Queenie gets a job elsewhere and exits from the series!

Katherine Kellgren's narration is always great, but even she was stretched a little too far, especially with the Spanish and Mexican accents. She managed a range of American accents fine, though she was a little over the top with the Western twang too. I'm hoping for a more Euro-centered story next time. Maybe even within the UK. A trip to Darcy's old home, maybe?

I WANTED to love it but….

I’m not in love with this instalment. The humour is still great, I love the writing, I adore the characters… the plot just felt a little recycled.

Doesn’t matter, I am still a huge Rhys Bowen and Georgie Rannoch fan. This blip in my interest won’t dim my enthusiasm for the series in any way, in fact I am willing to just call it a mood-thing.

interesting take on 30s USA

Performance was great - she has to deliver Irish, Spanish (Spain), various UK areas, Russian, Indian and American accents. Only American even seemed to challenge her, which is impressive.

The story is fine, if you like the series, you'll like this.