London, 1932. Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie is 34th in line for the throne and flat broke. Her half-brother has cut off her allowance, so she has bolted Scotland, her greedy brother and her fish-faced betrothed for the family’s empty London house. Berkley Prime Crime published the novel in July 2007, the first of the Royal Spyness Mysteries.
What Happens in Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Georgie, as everyone calls her, tries a job at Harrods that lasts a few hours. Then she secretly starts a cleaning service, opening up London houses for families who are coming to town. She hopes no client recognizes the duke’s sister on her knees with a scrubbing brush.
Two problems arrive at once. Queen Mary asks her to do a bit of spying. The Prince of Wales is seeing a married American woman, and the Queen wants to know more. Meanwhile an arrogant Frenchman, Gaston de Mauxville, claims that Georgie’s late father lost the family’s Scottish estate to him at cards. Soon after, Georgie finds him dead in her bathtub, and her brother Binky becomes the prime suspect. We won’t tell you who did it.
Lady Georgie, Darcy O’Mara and the Rannoch Family
Georgie was raised to curtsey perfectly and do little else, so the simplest housework is new to her. Her father, the old duke, gambled away the family money and shot himself. Binky, now the duke, is no help, and his wife Fig is no friend of Georgie’s.
The people who actually help her come from outside the castle. Her grandfather on her actress mother‘s side is a retired Cockney policeman who teaches her how ordinary people live. Darcy O’Mara is the son of an impoverished Irish peer who crashes society parties for the free food. Her school friend Belinda Warburton-Stoke is trying to make it as a fashion designer. Georgie and Darcy’s romance starts here and runs through the whole series.
Our Review: A Royal Comedy With a Light Mystery
The comedy works because Georgie is both inside the royal family and penniless and trying to survive. Bowen uses that gap well. A lady who has met the Queen of England cannot boil water, and the bread lines of Depression London sit next to debutante balls. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and compared it to P. G. Wodehouse, which fits.
The mystery is the thinner part. The clues are few, and some readers guess the killer early. Bowen also moves the Prince of Wales’s affair with Wallis Simpson a little earlier than it happened. It is an easy read, best taken as a historical romp with a murder in it.
Royal Spyness Books in Order
Nineteen novels have been published in this cozy mystery series, and book 20 is due in November 2026. Each cozy mystery has its own murder, but Georgie’s life moves forward. She is about to marry Darcy in book 12 and is a new mother by book 19. Read the series in order to avoid those spoilers.
- Her Royal Spyness (2007)
- A Royal Pain (2008)
- Royal Flush (2009)
- Royal Blood (2010)
- Naughty in Nice (2011)
- The Twelve Clues of Christmas (2012)
- Heirs and Graces (2013)
- Queen of Hearts (2014)
- Malice at the Palace (2015)
- Crowned and Dangerous (2016)
- On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service (2017)
- Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding (2018)
- Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (2019)
- The Last Mrs. Summers (2020)
- God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen (2021)
- Peril in Paris (2022)
- The Proof of the Pudding (2023)
- We Three Queens (2024)
- From Cradle to Grave (2025)
- To Crown It All (November 17, 2026)
The Prequel: Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
A short prequel novella, Masked Ball at Broxley Manor (2012), takes place at the end of Georgie’s first London season, just before book 1. You can read it before or after Her Royal Spyness; it is short and not needed to follow the series.
Will There Be a 20th Book? When Is the Next One Released?
Yes. To Crown It All comes out from Berkley on November 17, 2026. It is set around the 1937 coronation of King George VI. Georgie’s mother arrives with a German official, and a house guest is found dead. No book 21 has been announced.
Which Rhys Bowen Series Is Best?
It depends on what you want. This one is the funniest, and three of its books have won the Agatha Award for best historical novel. The Molly Murphy series follows an Irish immigrant detective in early 1900s New York and is grittier. Its first book, Murphy’s Law, won the Agatha for best novel. The Constable Evans mysteries, ten books about village policeman Evan Evans in Wales, are the gentlest and are finished. For a light cozy, start here; for a more serious historical detective, try Molly Murphy.
Who Is Rhys Bowen, and Is She Still Writing?
Rhys Bowen is the pen name of Janet Quin-Harkin, born in Bath in 1941. She worked in BBC drama in London before moving abroad. Under her own name she wrote children’s and teen books, then turned to adult historical mysteries. Her husband’s family has royal ancestry, and she has met the Queen Mother, which helps explain how easily she writes about palaces.
She is still writing. In 2026 alone she has three new books. Vanished in the Crowd continues Molly Murphy, The Castle in the Glen is a standalone, and book 20 of this series closes the year.
Quick Facts
| Title | Her Royal Spyness |
|---|---|
| Author | Rhys Bowen |
| Series | Royal Spyness Mysteries, book 1 |
| First published | July 2007, Berkley Prime Crime |
| Setting | England in 1932: London and Castle Rannoch in Scotland |
| Sleuth | Lady Georgiana Rannoch, 34th in line to the throne |
| Award | Agatha Award finalist, best novel, 2007 |
| Audiobook | Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, 8 h 4 min (Audible Studios, 2010) |
| Next book | A Royal Pain (2008) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Her Royal Spyness a clean read?
Yes. The romance stays at kisses, and the only violence is a body in the bath.
Is Georgie a real royal?
No. Georgie and the Rannochs are invented, but Queen Mary, the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson are real, and Bowen says the Queen’s dislike of Mrs. Simpson is accurate.
What should I read next?
For another young sleuth in an English country house, try The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. For a more serious look at England between the wars, read Maisie Dobbs, or browse our historical cozy mysteries.