Description (from cover):'As thirty-five in line for the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch may not be the most sophisticated young woman, but she knows her table manners. It's forks on the left, knives on the right--not in His Grace, the duke's back...
Here I am thinking the education I received at my posh Swiss finishing school would never come in handy. And while it hasn't landed me a job, or a husband, it has convinced Her Majesty the Queen and the dowager duchess to enlist my help. I have been entrusted with grooming Jack Altringham--the duke's newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of Australia--for high society.
The upside is I am to live in luxury at one of England's most gorgeous stately homes. But upon arrival at Kingsdowne Place, my dearest Darcy has been sent to fetch Jack, leaving me stuck in a manor full of miscreants...none of whom is too pleased with the discovery of my new ward.
No sooner has the lad been retrieved than the duke announces he wants to choose his own heir. With the house in a hubbub over the news, Jack's hunting knife somehow finds its way into 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. Jack may be wild, but I'd bet the crown jewels it wasn't he who killed the duke...'
My thoughts:
I absolutely adore this series. I love Lady Georgiana's character, her wit and her sense of humor. I know that I will always be delighted with a book in this series, without fail. I find myself continuously laughing at Georgie's antics and I look forward to each new book in this series. I can't get over her impossible maid, Queenie, and all the horrible things she does wrong. This book series is the ultimate fun mystery and I simply cannot get enough. This one was a little predictable. It still was a fun book, but I like the sense of surprise and this one lacked that. Not the best in the series, but entertaining all the same.
If you've read the previous books in this series, you will know that Georgie is sort of down on her luck. She isn't married, she's not rich, but she's a royal and she has standards. Somehow Georgie always seems to find herself down in the muck, but her nature is to not stay there, but rise to the top. She has a knack for stumbling over dead bodies and discovering the true reason behind the crimes. She cannot help but get involved in sinister plots and everyone turns to her because she can keep her cool during chaos. It is no surprise that Georgie stumbles over a dead body in this book and she can't get the strange circumstances surrounding the duke's death out of her head. Using her sharp wit, sassy mouth and the help of the oh-so-romantic Darcy and crazy friend, Belinda, she solves this crime while acting as the high society lady she is.
Duke Cedric Altringham is determined to flaunt the normal ways of life and doesn't have any desire to create or name an heir. So when his mother takes the initiative and locates his long-lost nephew and invites him to be the duke's heir, he threatens to adopt his valet and name him heir. This news shocks the house to the core and some one wants the Duke dead and the newest heir to take the blame for it. Who would stoop to such dire means to ensure that the inheritance remains in the family? Everyone is suspect and everyone has ample motive. Georgie must race against the clock to solve this heinous crime before she or someone else becomes the next victim.
Overall Rating: 3.5
Title: Heirs and Graces
Author: Rhys Bowen
Series: Royal Spyness Mystery #7
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Publication Date: August 6, 2013
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
