Heirs and Graces

The books in this series provide great entertainment. The plots are always enjoyable, the characters well developed, and the writing style easy to digest.. I have read a couple of Rhyss Bowen's standalone novels and enjoyed them as well.

In this seventh entry in the "Royal Spyness" series the Queen calls upon Georgie for yet another little favor. The long-lost heir to one of England's grandest estates has been imported from the wilds of the Australian outback. The Queen asks Georgie to educate the young man in the ways of the aristocracy and ease his transition into their rarified lifestyle.When Georgie arrives at elegant Kingsdowne Place her first thought is that she's finally landed on her feet for once. But while the estate is breathtaking, the current Duke is full of hot air. When a murder takes place on the estate Georgie calls upon her investigative skills to solve the crime, and in her spare time schools the new Aussie heir in proper upper class etiquette. It's a toss-up as to which chore is more difficult.I enjoyed this cute "cozy" mystery. Lady Georgie has certainly grown a bit since the series started. She actually has developed a knack for solving crimes and manages to live fairly well for a penniless young woman with no marketable skills. It was fun to get a glimpse of a few of the series "regulars", like Darcy, Belinda and Georgie's grandfather. As with all "cozy" mysteries the mystery itself is not particularly gripping, though there are a few twists and turns that make figuring out "whodunit" rather tricky. Overall it was entertaining and helped soothe my "Downton Abbey" withdrawal.For those not familiar with the "Royal Spyness Mysteries", it is a "cozy" series involving a minor British royal, Lady Georgiana Rannock. The setting is pre-WWII and Georgie is perpetually broke and always scrambling to make ends meet. It's a nicely written, light mystery series that captures the glamour and absurdity of the period and the British aristocracy. Georgie is a delightful protagonist and her first person narrative is charming. There is no strong language or sexual content.Book One:Her Royal Spyness (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Two:A Royal Pain (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Three:Royal Flush (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Four:Royal Blood (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Five:Naughty In Nice (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Six:The Twelve Clues of Christmas (A Royal Spyness Mystery)Book Seven:Heirs and Graces (A Royal Spyness Mystery)There's also a short story that is a prequel to the first book: Masked Ball at Broxley Manor

This is a fine froth of a book, a tonic for the dragged out days ofAugust. It's 1934 and Lady Georgiana Rannoch is about to be left tofend for herself. Opening lines:"One thing I should have learned about my mother was that I could notcount on her. After all, she bolted from the family home, abandoningmy father and me when I was two, and by the time she resurfaced againin my life she had worked her way through a global list of men.""Mummy" is an actress, the daughter of a policeman but stunning enoughto snare the late Duke of Glengarry and Rannoch. That marriage allowedher to move effortlessly in royal and privileged circles. Deciding towrite her memoirs, she takes a house in London and invites herdaughter to come along as her secretary. Within the month she gets abetter offer. Max, a wealthy industrialist, buys a villa for the twoof them on Lake Lugano.Poor Georgiana. Her mother has only paid rent on the London houseuntil the end of the month. The Great Depression is on "and there wereno jobs even for people with oodles of qualifications. My education ata posh Swiss finishing school had only equipped me to walk around witha book on my head, to curtsy without falling over (most of the time)and snag a suitable husband."Enter Queenie, the maid whose only qualification is that she workscheap. She scorches the ironing and pops off expressions like "Bob'syer uncle," but she has a helpful suggestion: "You got a typewriternow. You could be a proper secretary with a bit of practice."Georgiana ("Georgie" to close friends) begins to practice.(Quote)I sat at my typewriter over the next few days and worked away.The queick brown fox jumps over the lazy dogThtqujivk brown box jumpsd over the lacy dobn.Rats.Ttj quick briwnficjunbpsobnerthf lax ...(End Quote)It's no use. She will never find work as a secretary but she does haveconnections. She's a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, a firstcousin (once removed) of King George, and 34th in line to the throneof England. Her royal relatives come to her rescue.Quicker than a brown fox jumping over a lazy dog, Georgie isdispatched to Kent. There she meets the family living in a magnificentstately home at the graceless pleasure of Cedric, the Duke ofEynsford. He's an unpleasant man who refuses to marry and produce anheir, preferring to spend his time producing plays and takingphotographs.The family includes three grandchildren, two widowed duchesses and aprincess whose husband was hacked to death during the Russianrevolution. Cedric's only equal seems to be his mother, the formidableDowager Duchess Edwina. She's about to upstage him by welcoming along-lost grandson who was found on a sheep station in the Australianoutback. The title and estate, worth millions, will pass to JackAltringham upon Cedric's death.Jack is the spitting image of Edwina's son John, who was killed inWorld War I. Like his father before him, Jack sees English nobility asshallow and outmoded. Edwina intends to change that opinion. Georgie'sjob is to "show him the ropes and help him to learn his new positionin life."Jack is an attractive young man, not intimidated by his surroundingsor his new status, and he might as well be speaking a foreignlanguage. His favorite expression seems to be "Stone the flamin'crows!" A disgusted Cedric announces his own preposterous plan forproducing an heir.Adding to this development, Princess Charlotte persuades everyone togather round for a séance, hoping to contact Jack's father. Out comesthe Ouija board. To Jack's delight, the board spells out "Bugger off."When asked how to prevent Cedric's plan the board answers "Death." Andthe plot thickens ...Reading HEIRS AND GRACES was pure delight. I plan to read the earlier books in this series.

I have only recently become acquainted with Lady Georgiana, and quickly read (and listened to some via Audible) my way through the whole series. This most recent book is another fun romp with Lady Georgiana amongst the British upper class in 1934. Georgie is now 35th in line to the throne, still penniless, unwelcome in her family home due to her Scrooge-like sister-in-law. Just in the nick of time she receives an out due to Her Majesty the Queen. Georgie is asked to go to a grand estate to help teach the ways of the aristocracy to a young Australian, who has been discovered as the heir to the dukedom.Of course, there is no smooth sailing for Georgie. The current duke is a most unpleasant fellow. The young Australian would rather be back sheep ranching in the Outback. The current duke's nieces and nephew are being refused, by the duke, the schooling and medical care they need. The duke's sister is an unhappy woman, deserted by her French husband, penniless, and dependent upon her begrudging brother.And then things get worse. I'll say no more than that before all is worked out Darcy O'Mara and Belinda also get involved, there is a murder, of course, and Georgie's keen observations help bring the solution to light.Thoroughly enjoyable!

Love this series. Finally she was free from her brother's awful wife for once. But it's annoying that she has to explain everything each book... It gets boring. Loved the outcome, tho.O'Mara is a darling. I'm dying to see them getting married ❤️

Good read, amusing

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are delightful and the plot is clever. Swell story well done indeed.Makes me want to read the next one.

Je l'ai tellement aimé que j'en ai racheté un autre pour l'offrir! Au moment ou Georgina Commençait à mourrir de faim et envisageait d'aller vivre chez son grand père, La Reine Mary la convoque pour lui donner une mission. Darcy est encore loin et ne donne aucune nouvelle . Elle décide donc d'accepter d'aller dans un palais magnifique chez le Duc d' Eynsford . Celui ci n'avait pas d'héritier et voilà que l'on retrouve en Australie un neveu dont 'il ignorait l'existence . Elle doit le former au monde de l'aristocratie. Mais apparemment en arrivant sur place personne à part la grand mère n'est content de cette découverte.Le tensions sont vives et le Duc a résolument décidé de dépenser tout son argent sur ces mignons....Un crime viendra bouleverser ce petit monde .Then the duke announces he wants to choose his own heir and causes quite the hubbub. Somewhere along the way Jack’s hunting knife ends up in the duke’s back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal weren’t enough of a handful, now he’s suspected of murder. But while Jack may be wild, Georgie would bet the crown jewels it wasn’t he who killed the duke...

In ihrem nunmehr siebten Abenteuer hat Georgiana, die 34. der Thronfolge, einmal mehr mit Altlasten zu kämpfen. Wieder einmal keinerlei familiäre Unterstützung von Fig und Co. Auch die Mama, mit der sie derzeit an den höchst süffisanten Memoiren arbeitet, lässt sie einmal mehr im Regen stehen, als der hochherrschaftliche Max zum Skilaufen ruft. Einmal mehr keine Kohle, keinerlei Essen und die neue Schreibmaschine bringt der hochwohlgeborenen Dame auch nichts, sind die Fähigkeiten doch äußerst begrenzt.Guter Rat ist teuer, doch an Belinda, die von Coco Chanel gefeuert wurde, da sie nicht gern ihre Liebhaber teilt, die nun einen Sugar Daddy sucht, um auf die Füße zu fallen, möchte sie kein Beispiel nehmen. Auch Darcy ist immer noch Down Argentine Way verschwunden. Georgie, einmal mehr von der unfähigen Queenie genervt, beschließt bei der königlichen Verwandtschaft einmal mehr um eine Verdienstmöglichkeit nachzusuchen. Und sie hat Glück, eine alte Freundin ihrer Großmutter, Queen Victorias Tochter, die verwitwete Herzogin braucht ihre Unterstützung. Die Witwe steckt im selben Boot wie die Queen - einen undankbaren Sproß großgezogen zu haben, der sich nun den Pflichten und dynastischen Notwendigkeiten widersetzt. Zum Glück scheint es da einen Erben in Down Under - vom jüngeren Sohn, der im 1. Weltkrieg verstarb - zu geben. Georiganas Aufgabe ist es, diesem in die hochwohlgeborenen britischen Pflichten und Gepflogenheiten einzuführen.So begibt man sich auf den hochherrschaftlichen Familiensitz Landsdowne in Kent. Allerlei verschrobene Verwandte haben sich dort eingenistet.In altbekannter Art und Weise leiden und lachen wir mit Georgie und ihren kleinen und großen Alltagsnöten. Sobald der erste Hunger gestillt ist und der Pracht des Anwesens Genüge getan wurde, plagt sich Georgiana mit der Aufgabe, aus dem ungeschliffenen Juwel einen gesellschaftsfähigen Gentleman zu machen. Dies fällt bei all den skurrilen Verwandten, die glaskugellesend Vergangenem nachhängen, über diverse Affären schnattern und sich versuchen auf dem Anwesen breit zu machen, gar nicht so einfach. So ist auch gut die Hälfte des Romans vergangen, wir haben alle Beteiligten - und das sind recht viele - und ihre Verschrobenheit genügend gewürdigt, als sich der erwartete Todesfall, über den Georgie erwartungsgemäß stolpert, ereignet. Mittlerweile hat natürlich auch Darcy ganz zufällig das romantische Geschehen andeutungsvoll bereichert. Doch guter Rat ist teuer, ein eher schwerfälliger Polizist und der Hauptverdächtige aus Down Under ...Fans der Her-Royal-Spyness-Reihe ist dieser Fall, genau wie der hervorragende Weihnachtsvorgänger, nur wärmstens ans Herz zu legen. Sicherlich kommt die Spannung und auch Auflösung etwas kurz und auch zu spät, wie aus heiterem Himmel. Aber sind wir einmal ehrlich, deswegen lesen wir - jedenfalls ich - diese Reihe nicht. Auch nicht mehr unbedingt Darcys wegen (das wann ist ja nur noch Frage der Zeit). Ich für meinen Teil habe mich wunderbar bei all der übertriebenen und doch zu gleich sehr treffenden Figurenzeichnung der mitunter grenzdebilen englischen Adeligen und ihrem famosen Landsitz amüsiert. Äußert scharfsichtig, satirisch und doppelzüngig nimmt Bowen die versammelte Elite und die überkommenen Traditionen, die die Identität der Inselbewohner ausmachen, aufs Korn. Gerade in der Überzeichnung und - spitzung der Situationen findet sich die Kritik am besten wieder.Fazit: Viel besser als der 5. Fall, fast genau so gelungen wie der Vorgänger. Man darf sich auf den gerade erschienen 8. Teil der Reihe freuen. Viel Flair, Witz und immanente Gesellschaftskritik illustrer hochherrschaftlicher Kreise inklusive. DA-Fans diesmal besonders zu empfehlen, ;)!