Friday, August 30, 2013

Book Review: Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen

Title: Heirs and Graces (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #7)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Enjoyment Rating: ***
Source: Audible
This book would be rated: PG

At the end of book six, Lady Georgiana seemed to have her life all planned out for her-- she was going to work for her mother, helping her write her memoirs, until the adorable Darcy O'Mara earned enough money to marry her. Three months later, Georgie's mum has given up on the idea of a memoir in order to run off to Switzerland, and Darcy is nowhere to be found. Georgie has less than a week to find a new place to live and a way to support herself. So she humbles herself and decides to ask her great-aunt, the Queen of England, to find her a place as a lady-in-waiting. Georgie is soon shipped off to the Kentish countryside, where she will teach Jack, the Australian sheepherder who is the newfound heir to a large fortune, the basics of good manners. And then the Duke is found dead.

If Heirs and Graces had been my introduction to the Her Royal Spyness mysteries, I'm pretty sure I would not be a fan of the series. It's not that the book is bad, it just wasn't great. I was surprised to see that Bowen had another book out already (it's only been a few months since #6 was published) and I think that this one shows some haste in publishing. It was quite a bit shorter than some of the other novels, and missed the developments from the secondary characters Bowen usually employs. This is the second time in a row that I figured out who the murderer (or the trick with the murders) relatively early in the novel. This feels like a book written by the book more than one written to keep fans of the series wanting more.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree Sheila. it was formulaic somehow. Fun but formulaic.