My first Rhys Bowen, but definitely not the last. From the hint in the title to the various hooligans in the character list, I quite enjoyed this read. I can see the author smiling to herself with satisfaction over the title (I know how hard a good title can be) and though the book is laden with royalty references (especially to Wallace Simpson. Honestly, she continues to have such a huge effect!) I found the whole thing quite fun and easy to access.
Shocking goings-on confuses the list of suspects, but the red herrings are not so tough to dodge around and I knew the perpetrator very early on. This is rare for me in written mysteries so I had the good feeling of being very smart for a brief moment...given the times in which we live, feeling smart is a gift.
All in all a lovely light read, with lions and tigers and cheetahs of all sorts...
( )

The author starts this instalment with an apology in advance; the book is set in Africa - Kenya - during the late 20's/early 30's, a time when race relations and the views of the British Empire (as were the rest of the world) were shameful.

This had me braced for difficult reading, but I have to say, that was not the disclaimer I needed. In true cozy style, Bowen acknowledged the dichotomy and inequality between white and black without really verbalising it. What caught me unawares (and shouldn't have; I can only wonder if the pre-apology diverted me), was the casual references to hunting big game. Of course it was a thing back then, and of course I should have seen it coming.

The other unexpected part of the story was the behaviour of the upper class in Kenya; a risqué path for a cozy, but done well by the author, and based on actual events and a real person: Lady Idina Sackville. Bowen closes with a short bibliography of texts she used in an effort to write about the times accurately.

All in all, another enjoyable instalment in a long-running series that has remained fairly strong throughout, balancing cheeky naiveté and interesting murder plots. ( )

Lady Georgiana & Darcy travel to Kenya and get involved in murder, possible treason & much more! A fun entry in the series but not as much mystery detection as in some of the books. ( )

In this latest edition of Rhys Bowen's Royal Spyness series, Georgie and Darcy are finally married and honeymooning on a barge on the River Thames. All is love and romance until they come up for air and realize they've run out of food. What to do?

Darcy decides to take one of his Foreign Office assignments to track down a stolen jewel to Kenya and combine it with an extension of his honeymoon. Once there, the couple finds themselves amid the notorious Happy Valley set wwhere, at a sex and drug fueled party , once of teh prominent guests turns up dead.

No need to go into th4e details, as this is another cozy romp from Ms. Bowen with a happy ending and a set up for the next volume to come. I cannot wait. ( )

Georgiana and Darcy are finally wed, but a dream honeymoon in Kenya turns out to be yet another opportunity to serve the Empire as high jinx among the high living upper crust lead to murder, with the Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson once again in the vicinity. ( )