Bath-born author keeps up the good work with latest entry in The Royal Spyness Series
Rated: 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera
“The biggest surprise in my research was Coco Chanel, who now plays a big part in the story,” says Naughty in Nice author Rhys Bowen. “She put on a collection that combined the masculine and the feminine – blending tweed jackets borrowed from her lover, The Duke of Westminster, with silks and lace and topped with jewels borrowed from Queen Mary. That was too good not to include in the story. And of course, Georgie has to be a model.”
Naughty in Nice is set in the 1930s. Lady Georgiana Rannoch is 34th in line to the throne of England, but her branch of the family is flat broke. It’s the Great Depression. She struggles to make her own way in a difficult world. Unwilling to marry or settle for less then love, she is determined to be an independent woman.
Naughty in Nice the fifth book in Bowen’s wonderful the Royal Spyness series. Lady Georgiana takes a trip to Nice to unobtrusively recover a snuffbox missing from Queen Mary’s collection. What more could an unmarried woman want but to escape to a warm climate during the coldest time of year in London? Jean-Paul is a sexy Frenchman who hits on Georgiana. She’s glad for the distraction when she sees her man Darcy O’Mara with another woman and child who looks like him. There are a few surprises for Georgiana in this novel. This novel is the best in the series so far. With each new novel Bowen makes the characters more enchanting. You can read this novel alone or read the series in order.
In researching the book, Bowen viewed many old documents, including postcards, travel brochures, maps and photographs of Nice in the 1930s. “It all has to be right,” says Bowen. “I spent two weeks in Nice last summer. The tough things a writer has to do for the sake of her art…all those bistros and all that wine and cheese and baguettes. Actually I worked quite hard, spending hours in the library and in historic buildings, like the Negresco hotel.”
Her Royal Spyness, the first book, is in the process of being made into a movie says Bowen. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it actually comes to fruition.”
The Royal Spyness series has won the Readers Choice award for best mystery series. Four of the titles have been nominated for the Agatha Award. Royal Blood won the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award. Royal Flush won the MacAvity award.
Bowen says she just finished writing her next Lady Georgie series book. “It will be a Christmas book that comes out November 2012. I’ve also just finished a creepy story for Charlaine Harris’s new anthology.”
Rhys Bowen was born in the historic city of Bath. She currently lives in Marin County, California. She’s written 24 mysteries. Including the Molly Murphy mystery series.
Bowen’s website is www.rhysbowen.com. Her blog is www.rhysbowen.blogspot.com. She’s also part of Jungle Red Writers, a popular mystery blog at www.jungleredwriters.com.
Naughty in Nice (A Royal Spyness Mystery) by Rhys Bowen. Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (September 6, 2011), Language: English. ISBN: 9780425243497 $ 24.96
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