Heirs and Graces (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries #7) by Rhys Bowen

Historical Mystery

What Goodreads says:

"As thirty-fifth in line for the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch may not be the most sophisticated young woman, but she knows her table manners. It's forks on the left, knives on the right, not in His Majesty's back.

Here I am thinking the education I received at my posh Swiss finishing school would never come in handy. And while it hasn't landed me a job, or a husband, it has convinced Her Majesty the Queen, and the Dowager Duchess to enlist my help. I have been entrusted with grooming Jack Altringham, the Duke's newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of Australia, for high society.

The upside is I am to live in luxury at one of England's most gorgeous stately homes. But upon arrival at Kingsdowne Place, my dearest Darcy has been sent to fetch Jack, leaving me stuck in a manor full of miscreants, none of whom are too pleased with the discovery of my new ward.

And no sooner has the lad been retrieved than the Duke announces he wants to choose his own heir. With the house in a hubbub over the news, Jack's hunting knife somehow finds its way into the Duke's back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal wasn't enough of a handful, now he's suspected of murder. Jack may be wild, but I'd bet the crown jewels it wasn't he who killed the Duke."

Once again Lady Georgiana is about to be with out a place to stay.  As a heir to the throne (35^th in line)  she is not allowed to work but has no income.  Again at the last minute she asked to live at a stately manor and provide help for Jack Altringham, the long lost heir to the Dukedom.

Of course there is a murder.  The current Duke, Cedric, is found dead with a knife in his back.  Georgiana is the one to find him.  On the bright side Darcy is also on the scene.  Most of the favorite characters are back.  Darcy and Georgiana still are in love but have no money to marry.  Georgina does help solve the murder and is in danger for a few pages but all ends well.  She even ends the book with a place to stay for the next few weeks or months.

I loved the character of Jack.  He is a breath of fresh air in the Duke’s house whole.  He is fresh from the Australian outback and has no desire to be a Duke.  It is fun to watch him react to British upper class in the 1930’s.  By the end of the book you could tell that he will be a great addition and will put his title to much better use than his uncle.

Heirs and Graces continues the fun that was in previous book in Her Royal Spyness Mysteries.  It is a great addition to the series and I am looking forward to seeing what is in story for Georgiana in the next book.

Berkley Prime Crime published Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen in 2013.

Musing Mondays June 10, 2013

Musing Mondays (http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/) asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits. • 
Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
 • Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
 •Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
 • Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I just finished The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen.  This is the 6th book in the Lady Georgiana mystery series.  For any of you who are not familiar with the series Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 35th in line for the British Throne.  The series is set in the mid-1930's and has both historical and fictional characters.  

This time Lady Georgiana wants to get away from Castle Rannoch at Christmas.  She answers an ad for Christmas Party Hostess in Tiddleton-under-Lovey and gets the job.  Her Mother and Noel Coward are staying in the village, her grandfather is there with her Mother and Darcy O'Mara arrives to make Christmas perfect.  Or it would be perfect if not for all the deaths.  The deaths look like accidents but with one a day everyone wonders if they are murder instead.

The mystery here is really a mystery.  The victims do not seem to have anything in common.  Like Lady Georgiana I was slow to see how they were part of a plan.  I really enjoyed the story and think this is the best book in the series so far.  Look for Georgiana and Darcy to come to an agreement and look for future mysteries for both.

Go to Goodreads for a summary.