On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service

Zusatztext Praise for the Royal Spyness Mysteries Wonderful charactersA delight.#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris An insightful blend of old-fashioned whodunnit! clever satire and drawing room comedy of errors. New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear BrilliantThis is so much more than a murder mystery. It's part love story! part social commentary! part fun and part downright terrifying. And completely riveting.#1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny The perfect fix...for Downton Abbey addicts. New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie Fans of P.G. Wodehouse looking for laughs mingled with some amateur sleuthing will be quite pleased. Publishers Weekly (starred review) Georgie's high spirits and the author's frothy prose are utterly captivating. The Denver Post A smashing romp. Booklist (starred review) Informationen zum Autor Rhys Bowen Klappentext Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, her beau, and her mother in this mystery in the Royal Spyness series. When royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who's in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way-her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited, and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding. What luck! A chance to see Belinda, even if it is under the guise of stopping unwanted nuptials. Only that's as far as Georgie's fortune takes her. She soon discovers that she attended finishing school with the hostess of the party-and the hatred they had for each other then has barely dimmed. Plus, she needs to hide Belinda's delicate condition from the other guests. And her dashing beau, Darcy's (naturally) working undercover on a dangerous mission. Then her actress mother shows up, with a not-so-little task to perform. With all this subterfuge, it seems something is bound to go horribly wrong-and Georgie will no doubt be left to pick up the pieces when it does. Zusammenfassung Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen! her beau! and her mother in this mystery in the Royal Spyness series. When royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda! who's in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby! she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected wayher cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited! and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding. What luck! A chance to see Belinda! even if it is under the guise of stopping unwanted nuptials. Only that's as far as Georgie's fortune takes her. She soon discovers that she attended finishing school with the hostess of the partyand the hatred they had for each other then has barely dimmed. Plus! she needs to hide Belinda's delicate condition from the other guests. And her dashing beau! Darcy's (naturally) working undercover on a dangerous mission. Then her actress mother shows up! with a not-so-little task to perform. With all this subterfuge! it seems something is bound to go horribly wrongand Georgie will no doubt be left to pick up the pieces when it does. ...

Praise for the Royal Spyness Mysteries

“Wonderful characters…A delight.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris

“An insightful blend of old-fashioned whodunnit, clever satire and drawing room comedy of errors.”—New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear

“Brilliant…This is so much more than a murder mystery. It’s part love story, part social commentary, part fun and part downright terrifying. And completely riveting.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny

“The perfect fix...for Downton Abbey addicts.”—New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie

“Fans of P.G. Wodehouse looking for laughs mingled with some amateur sleuthing will be quite pleased.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Georgie’s high spirits and the author’s frothy prose are utterly captivating.”—The Denver Post

“A smashing romp.”—Booklist (starred review)

Auteur

Rhys Bowen, a New York Times bestselling author, has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar®, and has won many, including both the Agatha and Anthony awards. She is the author of the Royal Spyness Mysteries, set in 1930s London, the Molly Murphy Mysteries, set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries, set in Wales. She was born in England and now divides her time between Northern California and Arizona.

Texte du rabat

Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, her beau, and her mother in this mystery in the Royal Spyness series.

When royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who's in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way-her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited, and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding.

What luck! A chance to see Belinda, even if it is under the guise of stopping unwanted nuptials. Only that's as far as Georgie's fortune takes her. She soon discovers that she attended finishing school with the hostess of the party-and the hatred they had for each other then has barely dimmed. Plus, she needs to hide Belinda's delicate condition from the other guests. And her dashing beau, Darcy's (naturally) working undercover on a dangerous mission. Then her actress mother shows up, with a not-so-little task to perform. With all this subterfuge, it seems something is bound to go horribly wrong-and Georgie will no doubt be left to pick up the pieces when it does.

Échantillon de lecture
Chapter 1

Monday, April 8, 1935

Kilhenny Castle, Ireland

Darcy has gone. Not sure what to do next.

I should have known it was too good to last.

I had spent the last two months at Kilhenny Castle, Darcy's ancestral home. I had experienced the merriest Christmas I had ever known, with Darcy, his eccentric family and the Polish princess Zou Zou Zamanska. We had fought hard to prove Lord Kilhenny's innocence when he was wrongly accused of a crime and had managed to gain back his castle. The next month was spent making it habitable again. It had been a wonderful, almost miraculous time to be close to the man I loved, to actually be planning our wedding in the summer. Darcy had also been helping his father to restore the racing stable, now owned by the princess, to its former glory and they had succeeded in winning the gold cup at the Punchestown races.

But all good things must come to an end. Darcy had never been the sort to stay in one place for long. Neither had the princess. She had flitted between Ireland and London in her little aeroplane as casually as if she was going down to the corner shop for a loaf of bread. Then one day in March she announced that she was leaving to enter a round-the-world air race. Darcy's father, usually never one to let his feelings show, had stomped around miserably for days after she had gone. They were clearly fond of each …