I always adore Lady Georgiana

What did you like best about this story?

Finally feels like Georgie and Darcy are FINALLY and TRULY getting somewhere.

What does Katherine Kellgren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Katherine Kellgren is untouchable as a narrator. She brings every character to life so effortlessly.

Any additional comments?

My only negative is that after 10 books there are some repetitions that could be removed. I feel like they are fillers. But I always enjoy the story and always enjoy the setting of each story.

44 people found this helpful

No, it looks like he isn't! Thank goodness!

Most of you will have no idea what that headline was all about. Sorry about that:
It is the answer to the question I asked in the headline to my review of "Malice at the Palace":
"Is Darcy becoming another Daniel Sullivan?". Basically I was all ranting about how Darcy had started to show some very annoying old-fashioned tendencies (just like Sullivan) was being overprotective and mostly absent, and how the wole relationship between Darcy and Georgie was going nowhere and had become boring and superfluous ...

So, now I'm happy to say that this novel basically was more than I could have hoped for! No really: all I had been ranting about has changed. Well, not completely maybe, but finally Georgie and Darcy are working well together, both as a couple AND as detectives, Queeny is less of a pain in the *** and we even get to know more about Darcy and his family. Brilliant!

Thank you Mrs Bowen. In case you ever read this: You really really made my day!!

37 people found this helpful

Adorable, witty, wonderful mystery!

Crowned and Dangerous is Book 10 in the Royal Spyness series written by British author Janet Quin-Harkin using the pen name Rhys Bowen. I love this series and her Molly Murphy series. Both series are historical mysteries, and I have all of the books in my Audible library.

This novel is set in 1934 in London and rural Ireland. Her Royal Spyness is Lady Georgiana Runnoch, a young lady whose severely hen-pecked brother inherited the family castle and fortune leaving her without a home or funds. Georgie is 35th in line for the British throne and a favorite of the queen. She mostly solves murders. The repeating characters include Georgie, her brother and is shrew of a wife, Georgie's mother who left Georgie at age 2 to marry one of her many boyfriends and husbands, Georgie's best friend who has earned her somewhat loose reputation, Georgie's fumbling maid Queenie, Georgie's wonderful retired policeman grandfather who she adores, and Georgie's secret fiance Darcy O'Mara who is a rogueish Irish nobleman whose father disgraced the family by falling into debt and having to sell the castle held by the family for hundreds of years. Georgie's mother does not appear in this book, but the other characters I mentioned do. This book introduces other characters including a wealthy and adventurous Polish princess and Darcy's father who has been charged with murder in Ireland. It seems that Darcy and the Polish princess have a background together which Georgie was not aware of.

Darcy O'Mara has been determined to protect Georgie's virtue until marriage through several novels. Georgie does not want her virtue protected from Darcy, but he continues to win to her great frustration.

I've looked forward for several months to the 2 August 2016 release date of this novel. It does not disappoint; indeed, it exceeds expectations. Author Rhys Bowen/Janet Quin-Harkin is an absolute treasure.

Katherine Kellgren narrates this book and this series. More precisely she performs this series with total perfection. Kellgren is a American singer and actor who was trained in London. She has a totally unique voice for each character. She speaks the dialog in precisely the accent showing where the character was born and his or her station in life. Even if the novel is bad, and this one is wonderful, listening to Katherine Kellgren is worth the cost and the time of the book. Every Katherine Kellgren narration is a performance of great art.

I can give no novel a higher recommendation than this one as well as others in the series. The fare is light and adorable while still having real mystery.

25 people found this helpful

A great and fun listen!

The last couple of books in this series seemed to have lagged a tiny bit, but this book more than brought it all back up to speed! As Lady Georgianna and Darcy O'Mara are en route to Gretna Green to elope, he gets word that his father, Lord Kilhenny, has been arrested for murder. So he must rush to Ireland to be with him. Although he urges Georianna not to come--in fact, tries to break off their engagement so she won't be tainted by the gossip--she, of course, will find a way to be there.

Naturally, they are tackling this new mystery together. Not only has Rhys Bowen crafted a fun story, she seems to have brought some of the original charm back to it, including several new characters--a couple of whom might wind up being in future books perhaps. (I sure hope so!) But most of the characters we have come to love--Queenie the maid, Fig, her wretched sister-in-law, and of course, her beloved grandfather all make appearances. But they are less featured than some new people--Darcy's father and a Polish princess. Plus Darcy's elderly aunt and uncle. They are wonderful characters and I hope to see all of them playing roles in future books.

This book is a five star on every level. Although it is light reading in a way, that does not detract from the twists and turns of the plot. The characters are a hoot, and there were several places I laughed out loud. Love the series, and this is among the best so far! This series has decent mysteries, but the delightful characters and especially the stellar narration are the best reasons to listen!

22 people found this helpful

Fantastic!

Love love love!

We need more Georgie/Darcy corroborations! I loved to see them working together.

This is one of my favorite Georgie books. I'm so sorry that I have to wait for the next one.

The only negative was Queenie. I am ready for her to find a place and Georgie to move on. She's not funny anymore.

Narration by Katherine Kellgren is, again, flawless.

17 people found this helpful

Delightful book

I love this series because it's different, charming, and funny. It's not the run of the mill mystery/love story. The story is really good and I love the characters.

15 people found this helpful

More background on Darcy

Crowned and Dangerous is the tenth book in this cozy mystery series. Georgie is 35th in line to the throne in the late 1930s, put penniless. Darcy is the son of an Irish lord and just as penniless. The pair of them, while trying to survive, continue to solve mysteries and take care of problems for both the royal family and their friends. But they are getting a bit frustrated with propriety keeping them from getting married. So Darcy decides to whisk Georgie away to get married and worry about propriety later. As is normal in the series, a problem happens and they are prevented.

Darcy’s father is accused of murder, so Darcy goes away to support his emotionally distant and unlikable father. And because the situation looks grim, attempts to break things off with Georgie so that her (and the royal family) will not be associated with the crime. Georgie flutters around a bit before going to him.

Crowned and Dangerous corrects several of the problems that have been going on in the series for a while. Queenie, Georgie’s incompetent maid, is mostly out of the book and by the end seems to have mostly stopped being a punch line and allowed to be a real person. Georgie mostly stops worrying about Darcy’s past and whether he really loves her or not. There is not a lot of whining in the book.

The actual mystery in Crowned and Dangerous and its discovery is pretty thin. I kept expecting there to be more. Solving the mystery is less about smarts and intuition than just following the leads and being hopeful in light of the early bad news. But the character development and the central relationship make some real progress. All in all, this is better than the past couple of books. It is more believable and has some good potential for future books. I breezed through it in less than two days. But after several heavy books, it was a nice chance.

15 people found this helpful

Crowned & Dangerous

Love love Katherine Kellgren! Her accents & voices were so good and love the sense of humor by the narrator, Lady Georgiana. Good mystery, funny, clean language ( such a novelty nowadays!).

If you enjoy a good, but lightweight mystery every now and then, Rhys Bowen is clever author.

11 people found this helpful

We need more

Love the family, dad, auntie, and Zulu. Can't wait for the next installment. Love that Queenie finally improved some and may have ended up in the right household! Really hope for great details on the wedding!

9 people found this helpful

Rhys Bowen's Finest Royal Spyness Novel

I've read every one of the her novels and although I was thrilled with every one of them, they were beginning to get stale. Then Ms Bowen does this!
Absolutely charming, entertaining, and intriguing. Reading the previous novels is a requirement to get the full benefit of the effect the shocking turn around of events has on the lives of the usual characters.

Words cannot express how delightful the story is and of course Katherine Kellgren does an excellent job acting out the story for us.

THANK YOU!

7 people found this helpful