Royal Blood

Royal fun in Transylvania

STORY (mystery) - I usually find humorous mysteries stupid and totally lacking any entertainment value, but I love this series and this book. The main character, Georgiana, who is a distant relative of the English Queen, travels to a castle in Transylvania to be a bridesmaid for a dear friend. She takes with her Queenie, her bumbling Cockney maid. When she arrives at the castle, she finds that her promiscuous best friend, Belinda, has finagled her way onto the guest list, as has Georgiana's mysterious romantic interest, Darcy O'Mara.

Things become creepy as the characters get near the castle. They hear wolves howl, and peasant villagers stare at their coach and cross themselves. Upon arrival at the castle, they meet Count Dragomere, a mysterious Romanian servant. Georgie thinks she sees someone wearing a black cape climbing up the castle wall late at night, and she is later visited by a dark stranger standing over her bed. She doesn't believe in vampires, but the hints are hard to ignore. Then there's a murder and a suspicious death. I won't give anything away, but Georgie and company set out to solve the mystery, and there's lots of royal fun along the way.

PERFORMANCE - Katherine Kellgren must be heard to be believed. She's my favorite female narrator, hands down. She gives the pompous royal characters a humorous twist and performs great foreign accents. The voice of promiscuous Belinda is a hoot, as well as her portrayal of the Cockney maid Queenie. Listen!

OVERALL - This is Book 4 of the series and the mystery in each book stands alone, though there is character development that runs throughout the series. It is light and humorous, even though there's a murder and some mild promiscuity. I would recommend this book for girls/women high school age and above. You'll thoroughly enjoy it!

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Good Adventurous Fun

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

For some reason all Royal Spyness books are a good laugh. At times they can feel a little repetitive with some elements but each story is full of detail and fun. One can pick up almost any book in the series and just enjoy!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not the edge of my seat, but it was fun! And the climax of the book keeps you greatly entertained!

Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren – was your favorite?

Queenie!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

If I could then YES!

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

A little predictable

I love this series and this book is very good but I took one star off because there is some very cliche vampire stuff. Not a huge part of the book but enough to be just a little distracting. In general though, I love Lady Georgie. There is just enough scene setting to establish a very charming version of Europe in the late 30's and each character is distinct and interesting. The mysteries aren't all that challenging or complicated but I don't mind.

19 of 21 people found this review helpful

Always good fun

This is one of the series I thoroughly enjoy and is a new staple for me. Always delivers humorous fun. Very good reader, stories are fluffy but you know that before you buy the book. Entertainment value is solid.

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Very enjoyable

This was lots of fun as well as a good puzzle. I am just disappointed that there seem to be only four Royal Blood stories. Since I use audio books as a sleep aid, this book and the rest in the series are perfect for my purposes. They are not so grizzly as to keep me awake, but still keep my interest so that I can hardly wait to get back to listening.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Rhys Bowen hits another one out of the park!

If you enjoy a historically based novel, have a background knowledge of the English royal family, enjoy a strong female character, like mysteries, & enjoy twisted humour - then you will love this series. There is a bit of romance, but it doesn't overshadow the storyline. The reader does a great job depicting the cast of characters. Would love to hear more by this author.

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

Campy Vampy

Some reviews haven't raved this one because of the mention of vampires. It didn't bother me and the introduction of Queenie more than made up for many of the less likeable parts of the story. So far probably the most humorous of the series.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Love this series!

I love this series. Katherine Kellgren is my favorite narrator, and the Royal Spyness mysteries are just fun. Can't wait for the next one.

11 of 13 people found this review helpful

Performance is key!

Once more, Katherine Kellgren has done a great job narrating the Royal Spyness series. I love how she's able to provide all the characters with a distinctive voice and her ability to do accents is amazing. I am not too keen about the whole 'vampire' storyline but, overall, it was fun to listen to.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Listen for the sheer fun of Rhys Bowen's books!

Rhys Bowen is one of the grand dames of modern British literature, and she is a treasure! Katherine Kellgren is easily among the best narrators of audiobooks. When there two ladies work together on a light and fun Royal Spyness murder mystery, as they have 10 times, the result is always magical and fun. Lady Georgiana Rannoch (Georgie), a distant but favorite relative of the queen, is not a detective by trade but her detective work is stellar which is a good thing because she finds a lot of dead bodies.

All of Rhys Bowen's characters are so vivid that they jump from the page. The Royal Spyness recurring characters include the perpetually penniless Georgie, her wonderful commoner granddad, her lazy but lovable and mouthy maid, her useless brother who inherited the family castle and fortune, her bitchy and self centered sister-in-law, her on and off commoner Irish boyfriend who likely works for a British intelligence agency, and her slutty best friend. And the Queen of England, of course.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful