Rhys Bowen - Her Royal Spyness

Table of Contents

More Praise for

Her Royal Spyness

Im sure the British royal family will take more than a little interest in the exploits of their long-lost cousin, Her Royal Spyness , Lady Georgiana Rannoch!Jacqueline Winspear, author of the Maisie Dobbs Novels

A delightful heroine [and] quirky characters... add to the fun. Publishers Weekly

Praise for Rhys Bowens Constable Evans and Molly Murphy Mysteries

Its always a delight to discover a new book from the pen of Rhys Bowen. The Tampa Tribune

Entertaining. Detroit Free Press

A series that shows no signs of growing stale.

The Denver Post

Its hard not to be charmed by this young immigrant woman.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A sweet and sunny read. San Francisco Sunday

Examiner & Chronicle

Maybe Evan can wait, but Im already impatient for his next adventure.Margaret Maron, author of Hard Row

Pitch-perfect.Laura Lippman, author of What the Dead Know

Quiet humor... a jewel of a story. Publishers Weekly

Bowen builds tension with every page. Kirkus Reviews

Impeccable sense of timing... outstanding. Library Journal (starred review)

Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries by Rhys Bowen

HER ROYAL SPYNESS
A ROYAL PAIN

Constable Evans Mysteries

EVANS ABOVE
EVAN HELP US
EVANLY CHOIRS
EVAN AND ELLE
EVAN CAN WAIT
EVANS TO BETSY
EVAN ONLY KNOWS
EVANS GATE
EVAN BLESSED

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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fiictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

HER ROYAL SPYNESS

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

Copyright 2008 by Janet Quin-Harkin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions. For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eISBN : 978-1-436-22916-6

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
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Notes and Acknowledgments

This is a work of fiction. While some real historical personages make cameo appearances in this book, Georgie and her friends and family exist only in the head of the writer. I have tried to ensure that royal personages do nothing out of character and accurately play themselves.

I would like to thank those who provided valuable input and gentle criticism: fellow mystery writers Jane Finnis and Jacqueline Winspear; my husband, John (who knows whats what about whos who); my daughters Clare and Jane; and my cheering section, my wonderful agents Meg and Kelly.

Thanks also to Marisa Young for lending her name to an English debutante.

Chapter 1

Castle Rannoch
Perthshire
Scotland
April 1932

There are two disadvantages to being a minor royal.

First, one is expected to behave as befits a member of the ruling family, without being given the means to do so. One is expected to kiss babies, open fetes, put in an appearance at Balmoral (suitably kilted), and carry trains at weddings. Ordinary means of employment are frowned upon. One is not, for example, allowed to work on the cosmetics counter at Harrods, as I was about to find out.

When I venture to point out the unfairness of this, I am reminded of the second item on my list. Apparently the only acceptable destiny for a young female member of the house of Windsor is to marry into another of the royal houses that still seem to litter Europe, even though there are precious few reigning monarchs these days. It seems that even a very minor Windsor like myself is a desirable commodity for those wishing a tenuous alliance with Britain at this unsettled time. I am constantly being reminded that it is my duty to make a good match with some half-lunatic, buck-toothed, chinless, spineless, and utterly awful European royal, thus cementing ties with a potential enemy. My cousin Alex did this, poor thing. I have learned from her tragic example.

I suppose I should introduce myself before I venture any further. I am Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannochknown to my friends as Georgie. My grandmother was the least attractive of Queen Victorias daughters, who consequently never managed to snare a Romanov or a Kaiser, for which I am truly grateful and I expect she was too. Instead she was hitched to a dreary Scottish baron who was bribed with a dukedom for taking her off the old queens hands. In due time she dutifully produced my father, the second duke, before succumbing to the sort of diseases brought on by inbreeding and too much fresh air. I never knew her. I never met my fearsome Scottish grandfather either, although the servants claim that his ghost haunts Castle Rannoch, playing the bagpipes on the ramparts (which in itself is strange as he couldnt play the bagpipes in life). By the time I was born at Castle Rannoch, the family seat even less comfortable than Balmoral, my father had become the second duke and was busy working his way through the family fortune.

My father in turn had done his duty and married the daughter of a frightfully correct English earl. She gave birth to my brother, looked around at her utterly bleak Highland surroundings, and promptly died. Having secured an heir, my father then did the unthinkable and married an actressmy mother. Young men like his uncle Bertie, later King Edward VII, were allowed, even encouraged, to have dalliances with actresses, but never to marry them. However, since Mother was Church of England and came from a respectable, if humble, British family at a time when the storm clouds of the Great War were brewing in Europe, the marriage was accepted. Mother was presented to Queen Mary, who declared her remarkably civilized for someone from Essex.