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A Royal Pain

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A Royal Pain

By: Rhys Bowen
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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About this listen

The Queen of England has concocted a plan in which penniless aristocrat Lady Georgie is to entertain a Bavarian princess and conveniently place her in the playboy prince's path, in the hopes that he might finally marry.

But queens never take money into account. Georgie has very little, which is why she moonlights as a maid-in-disguise. She must draw up plans: clean house to make it look like a palace; have Granddad and her neighbor pretend to be the domestic staff; un-teach Princess Hanni the English she's culled from American gangster movies; cure said princess of her embarrassing shoplifting habit; and keep an eye on her at parties.

Then there's the worrying matter of the body in the bookshop and Hannis' unwitting involvement with the Communist Party. It's enough to drive a girl crazy.

©2008 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2010 Audible, Inc. Cosy Historical Mystery Royalty Fiction

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Critic reviews

  • Macavity Award, Historical Mystery, 2009
"All the characters from the first book in this rollicking series are present here - Georgie's much-married actress mother, her kind-hearted and resourceful Cockney grandfather, her sophisticated friend Belinda and the enigmatic Darcy O'Mara, a penniless Irish peer to whom Georgie finds herself attracted. There are also fleeting references to the war clouds that are gathering in Europe and the rise of fascism at home and abroad, both of which are neatly tied in with the murders and their solution. It works - both as a grand period piece and a lighthearted and completely diverting mystery." (The Denver Post)
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Colourful characters, full of humour, good pace, strong storyline and hugely entertaining! I can’t wait to read book 3….

So entertaining!

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As usual, the voice work for this series is superb. Katherine Kellgren is such an amazing VA, and makes every moment enjoyable. The story this time although has a lot promise, didn’t feel as punchy this time around. Overall though, I loved it and will promptly be listening to the third book.

Not as punchy as the first book, but still a whirl of a time!

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Would you consider the audio edition of A Royal Pain to be better than the print version?

I have the printed version but have not opened it since listening to this great audio edition read by Katherine Kellgren.

What other book might you compare A Royal Pain to, and why?

This series is comparable to the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. They are both in the same era with Ladys dealing with murders each with a lighthearted style about them.

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Katherine brings the characters to life in this and other ones in the series. Mrs Huggins does seem to have a similar voice to Queeny in the later books (but they may be related).

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Murder in the bookshop (almost a library)

Murder in the bookshop (almost a library)

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Delightful romp with an excellent narrator. Lots of twists, turns and shocks in the plot held my interest and the heroine is delightful. My only criticism would be that I thought the ending was a little rushed but otherwise it was a very enjoyable listen.

Sparkling fun

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So much fun. The chapters in the book shop are my favourite Georgia chapters ever.

Winderful

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Overall quite good though the mystery elements are a bit lacking and rely quite a lot on coincidence. I like the characters and the light heartedness of the story. Disappointed to find the last 20mins are a preview of the next book, now if I buy the next one I'll have paid twice for the same content. So I won't.

Not as long as it looks

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I wish I had discovered this series sooner. Wonderful characters and story lines. Thank you Rhys Bowen for hours of entertainment. The star of the show is the narrator- BRILLIANT! Every character is brought to life by the spectacular narrator.

Glorious

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This is a very funny mystery, we're people aren't who they are supposed to be, large fun and games as she tried to find a way of affordable living with guests when their is not enough for just her. With the help of her Grandfather and his neighbour Mrs Huggins she able to pull it off, sort of. Her friend brings in more light relief when she losses as a maid for her. Read brilliantly again by Katherine Kellgren.

A Royal Pain

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Katherine Kellgren gives a Stella performanace that brings this story to life. A good series that gets better.

like a good play

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Funny, great narrator, and a good mystery, too. No blood and guts keeps you interested.

Good read.

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