Mostly Murders

Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, known as Georgie to her friends, is a cousin of King George V of England and 35th in line to the throne. Unfortunately her family has fallen on hard times, and as Georgie refuses to marry for anything but love, she is basically penniless. Determined to fend for herself without resorting to marrying some entirely hopeless noble or royal personage, Georgie hatches a plan to find work in London. But a lady of the royal line is not supposed to work for a living, so before long Georgie is engaged in a secret work scheme involving disguises, faked references and covert cleaning. She is also commissioned by the Queen to spy on her son who has developed a troublesome relationship with a married American woman, and her best friend Belinda is dragging her to parties, eager for her to find love, or at least have a scandalous affair or two.

As if all of this isn’t enough, Georgie’s half-brother Binky is accused of murder, and though Georgie is convinced of Binky’s innocence, she has to admit that he has no alibi and a pretty good motive for murdering the victim. But Georgie has always been the smart one in the family, and with her newfound independence fuelling her forwards, she throws herself into investigating the crime. But someone close to her is watching her every move, and as she gets closer to uncovering the truth, strange accidents begin to happen all around Georgie.

Her Royal Spyness is a fun, cozy, historical mystery set in 1932. Georgie is a plucky heroine who isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty even if she is technically royalty, and she is a very relatable and likeable main character and amateur sleuth, even if the mystery only takes up the second half of the book. The first half is spent getting to know Georgie and her family and friends, especially Binky, his wife Fig, Georgie’s grandfather and Belinda who are all quite quirky and colourful in their own ways. And of course there is the honourable Darcy O’Mara who makes Georgie’s heart beat faster, but can he really be trusted?

Cozy mystery – Historical fiction – Romance