Heirs and Graces (Royal Spyness Mystery, #7)

by Rhys Bowen

Lady Georgiana Rannoch learns that not everyone knows their table manners when a knife ends up in a duke’s back in the seventh Royal Spyness Mystery.

London, 1934. Entrusted by Her Majesty the Queen with grooming Jack Altringham—the Duke of Eynsford’s newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of Australia—for high society, Georgie now has the luxurious opportunity to live in one of England’s most gorgeous stately homes. But upon her arrival at Kingsdowne Place, Georgie finds herself in a manor full of miscreants, none of whom are pleased with the discovery of her new ward.
 
Then the duke announces he wants to choose his own heir and causes quite the hubbub. Somewhere along the way Jack’s hunting knife ends up in the duke’s back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal weren’t enough of a handful, now he’s suspected of murder. But while Jack may be wild, Georgie would bet the crown jewels it wasn’t he who killed the duke...

• ISBN10: 0425260038
• ISBN13: 9780425260036
• Publish Date: 5 August 2014 (first published 6 August 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425260036

Reviews

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!*~

Heirs and Graces is the 7th in Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness series, and I’m happy to say it continued in the vein of the 6th book, which I think was the best in the series so far.

“Nothing more dangerous than an educated woman.”

Things I Liked

- We got more of Darcy and Georgie together! This made me so happy, as I feel like Darcy was really in the background unnecessarily for several books.
- Jack, the Australian heir, was a breath of fresh air to the stodgy British household of his grandmother. I loved it.
- The mystery was one of those that was clearly a framing of another person from the very start, but I was really unsure of who I liked for the actual culprit until much closer to the end. I love mysteries like this, because it’s just not as much fun if you figure it out a quarter of the way through the book!

Overall 4/5 Stars

This was another solid addition to the series! Nothing spectacular, but a very enjoyable read with mostly characters we’re familiar with – which is exactly what I want out of a cozy mystery!

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[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4.5 ★ Audiobook⎮ Series review to come at a later date! ♣︎

[MurderByDeath]

I want to say right up front that I truly think after [b:The Twelve Clues of Christmas|13542533|The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Her Royal Spyness Mysteries, #6)|Rhys Bowen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1342983249s/13542533.jpg|19106822], which was just absolutely superb, any book was going to feel pale in comparison. Such was the case for me with this book. But - I truly feel it only suffers by comparison, as I can't find a single thing to say to the negative about Heirs and Graces.

I really enjoy the recurring characters in this series: Georgie is sweet, naive and correct, while maintaining a firm hand and a steel backbone; no simpering or sniveling going on here. Belinda is the scarlet woman, the best friend that keeps Georgie in the present. And Darcy is the divine love interest with an air of mystery surrounding his super secret work life. No irritating, annoying characters (except Fig, and she's a bit player that doesn't always make appearances in the books and was blissfully present-in-name-only in this book).

The plot of Heirs and Graces was good and the characters surrounding the plot were colourful enough to keep my attention. I was surprised by the ending - it was an excellent plot twist and though it doesn't seem right to say, it made me laugh. Such a creative twist, with a tip of the hat to old murder mysteries.

A thoroughly enjoyable entry to a very solid series.