In the days leading up to her wedding to Darcy O’Mara, Lady Georgiana Rannoch takes on the responsibilities of a grand estate, but proving she can run a household just may be the death of her in the new Royal Spyness Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service.If only Darcy and I had eloped! What I thought would be a simple wedding has been … be a simple wedding has been transformed into a grand affair, thanks to the attendance of the queen, who has offered up the princesses as bridesmaids. Silly me! I thought that withdrawing from the royal line of succession would simplify my life. But before Darcy and I tie the knot in front of queen and country, we have to find a place to live as man and wife…
House hunting turns out to be a pretty grim affair. Just as we start to lose hope, my globetrotting godfather offers us his fully staffed country estate. Mistress of Eynsleigh I shall be! With Darcy off in parts unknown, I head to Eynsleigh alone, only to have my hopes dashed. The grounds are in disarray and the small staff is suspiciously incompetent. Not to mention the gas tap leak in my bedroom, which I can only imagine was an attempt on my life. Something rotten is afoot–and bringing the place up to snuff may put me six feet under before I even get a chance to walk down the aisle…
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Rhys Bowen leads us on a perilous journey fraught with twists and turns against the backdrop of the Sussex coastline. Full of fascinating characters in a compelling setting, she keeps you spellbound to the very end.
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, is certain to please new readers and long-time fans of the series alike. The road to matrimony may not run smoothly for Georgie and her darling Darcy, but readers are most definitely in for a rip-roaring good time.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch is getting ready for her
upcoming wedding to Darcy O’Mara. She is staying
at Princess Zou Zou house in London as she is flat
broke. Georgianna is a cousin to the Royal family as
she is the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
Darcy and Georgianna are looking for a place to live
after they are married. They cannot find what they
want.
Queen Mary invite the Royals to the wedding. The
Queen offers them a place for their honeymoon.
The Queen also asks Georgianna to have two younger
princesses in her wedding.
Then Georgie receives a letter from one of her mother’s
ex-husband. He has made her his sole heir and wants
her to move into his country estate at Ensleigh to make
it her home before the wedding then live there with her
husband there after they are wed.
Arriving at the estate Georgie is shock at how the house
is in disarray with a rude, inexperienced and incompetent
staff. The rooms are sparsely furnished. Everything is
covered and dusty.
Something is not right and Georgie needs to get to the
bottom of the situation.
Soon after, Georgianna’s mother, grandfather and her
maid/cook arrive on the scene. Now she must keep
herself plus them safe from whatever is happening at
the estate.
The energy is palpable plus the danger is real. It is an
intriguing, interesting read, complexly plotted historical
fiction
The setting is amazing with the huge estate with
a fountain, a gazebo, a small chapel with a crypt housing
some of the Georgie’s ex-stepfather’s ancestors.
The cast were all creatively, well defined, colorful, vivid
and artfully crafted characters. This hold for both the
good and the sinister.
Death, cancelled wedding plans, murder, robbery, danger,
intrigue, drama, politics, beautiful dresses and humorous
shenanigans, all add to the fast paced adventure.
I volunteered to read Four Funerals and Maybe A Wedding.
Thanks to Penguin’s First-to-Read Program for the
opportunity. My opinion is my own.
I just discovered the Royal Spyness series over the summer and ripped through them all one after another. Delightful characters and a lovely entertaining story.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch is firmly cemented as one of the great fictional sleuths of our time. This is historical mystery at its finest!
“Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding” earns 5+/5 Royal Invites…Clever Fun!
Lady Georgiana is extremely excited that she will be tying the knot with the handsome Honourable Darcy Bryne O’Mara, but without substantial funds and a flurry of dictates and demands from family and friends, she wishes they’d followed through with eloping. Even the search for a post-wedding residence has been a serious disappointment, but her godfather‘s letter reminding her she is his heir and can now move into his family’s home has been the silver lining for which she has been looking. But the Manor is less than ready for her to take up residence with a skeleton crew of servants who are somewhat antagonistic and oddly ill-equipped for their duties. Add curious sounds, sights, and a missing person’s report, you get a suspicious Georgie on the search for answers.
BLOODY BRILLIANT!! I was so engaged in every fictional and non-fictional aspect of Rhys Bowen’s book that I finished in two days, one night well past midnight. The series is more of a cozy “historical” mystery with many google-worthy events and real-life characters. Lady Georgiana’s diary entry intros each chapter offering a fun follow-up, but it’s the first-person narrative with excellent descriptions of the setting, fashion, and personalities that kept me turning the page. Bowen didn’t rely just on the narrative by using a delightful banter, giggles included, between Georgie and her mother, the Queen, and the servants that show she can channel her great-grandmother Queen Victoria just fine. I love Georgiana, but Bowen has created so many strong, courageous women characters. Queenie, Georgiana’s cook/maid, has started to gain confidence, even though she still has incidents of awkwardness; Belinda, her bohemian BFF, has an admirable independence; Georgiana’s mother, who never really provided the motherly interactions, is herself not constrained by society’s demands. I love this series, but you can start here with book twelve without any difficulty. You’ll fit right in! “Bob’s your uncle!”
Lady Georgianna, Georgie to her friends, is finally planning her wedding to Darcy O’Mara. However, before they get married, they need to figure out where they are going to live. The answer comes from an unlikely place, and soon Georgie is out to the country to get their new home ready for them. She isn’t surprised when she arrives to find the house is running on a minimal staff, but the staff that is there is extremely surprising. Something is definitely up, but can Georgie figure out what is going on? Will she finally get married?
As is typical for the series, the book started off a little slowly for me, giving us updates on the various people in Georgie’s life and talking about the wedding plans. There was also a recycled sub-plot in this section that annoyed me. However, once the action moves to Georgie’s potential new house, things really picked up. I was intrigued by what she was facing and couldn’t wait to see how it all was resolved. There is some great character growth for Georgie and another series regular here; overall, the cast is great like always. I was very satisfied with how this book ended.
3.5 stars
What a hoot of a story. Georgie is getting married to Darcy and neither of them has much money. When she is offered the chance to live at a grand estate she jumps at the chance. Little does she know what she is moving into.
The beginning of the book moved a little slow. I wasn’t sure where it was heading and was anxious for it to get there. Maybe because I wasn’t familiar with the characters since this was the first book in this series that I have read I missed out on some of the story but I do not feel that was the case. Anyways, once Georgie moved to the estate the story flew. I was excited to learn what new trouble she would find, what she would do next, and what her housemates a.k.a employees were going to do next.
Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding is a great historical fiction. There is plenty of laughs, plenty of fun, and some history. I recommend picking up your own copy.
The mystery is almost a subplot in this book, but the characters are so much fun that it works. Rhys Bowen is a wonderful writer.
This is another fine addition to the series.
Lady Georgie is really coming into her own! She is faced with some real challenges, but finds the strength to deal with them.
Sadly, she is still shown as seriously insecure at the beginning.
Darcy, as usual, is missing until the last critical moment.
The biggest surprise is Queenie! What an amazing development in her!
All in all, a great delight.
I love Rhys Bowen’s historical “Royal Spyness” mystery series featuring Lady Georgiana Rannoch, a distant relation to the Queen of England–have read them all. I’m hoping for a happy ending in her August 7 release, FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING. Recommended for lovers of cozy and historical mysteries, and anyone who loves English royalty.
If rereading about Wallis Simpson is informative, I guess “Four Funerals and a Wedding” did light up the learning tool in my brain somewhere. I’m just ready for a bit of new information about this woman who could control Prince Edward. Other than that, I loved all over again Georgian along with the new people she met and the old like Queenie, Max, her mother and of course, Darcy. I suppose Rnys Bowen may have thought of trust. while brainstorming. How can you tell who to trust and whom not to trust in this world with people acting more daring than ever?
Until all truths unfolded, I made the wrong choices about Georgiana’s decisions. I definitely owe her an apology for my lack of loyalty. I did love running an chasing a fancy clock and such, driving the Bentley and the taste of strawberries yum and yum again. I do hope Sir Hubert returns a happy camper. What’s going on in the country of the Andes? I am dying to read another one.
What a cheery book for these quiet times! It kept me jaunting all the way through. Rhys Bowen always formulates great plots and exciting characters, and this one does not disappoint.
This is a charming series. Great fun.
A very enjoyable addition to this series. Fun to watch the characters develop over time
Love this series…the heroine is smart, feisty, and delightful.
Lady Georgiana Rannoch is preparing for her wedding to the handsome and mysterious Darcy O’Malley when she receives a message from one of her mother’s former husbands. He’s always had a fondness for Georgie and wants her to make his estate her home. He’s away on a mountain-climbing expedition but feels something isn’t right in the manor house. Georgie is delighted to take charge of the household and get it ready for when she and Darcy are married. But things are definitely awry when she meets the surly staff. They’ve all been recently employed and strange goings-on make Georgie fearful for her life. I loved this suspenseful tale that kept me rapidly turning pages. The mystery plot unfolds amidst wedding preparations and dress fittings. If you’re a fan of the series, it’s a delight to finally see Georgie and Darcy come together. But can they foil the dangerous schemes underfoot and emerge unscathed? One of the best in this series yet.
Fun read, part of a series.
The latest in Rhys Bowen ‘Royal Spyness’ series is one of her best. Rhys is so clever – she writes these witty mysteries about the penniless Lady Georgiana, 34th in line to the throne, as well as her more serious World War II historicals and they are all terrific. I spoke to her a very short time before Meghan Markle married Prince Harry last summer on The Joys of Binge Reading podcast (https://thejoysofbingereading.com/rhys-bowen/ ) . She was a most entertaining guest and explained the title was decided long before their wedding was announced! Crack out the champagne and Happy Serendipity !
Great series…