A Royal Pain

It's 1930s London, and Lady Georgiana - thirty-fourth in line to the throne - has a lot on her plate, but little in her cupboards, in this national bestseller . . . Baked beans and boiled eggs. That's what my houseguest, the Bavarian Princess, will have to eat if I don't get help posthaste. The Queen of England has requested I entertain said princess, placing her in the playboy prince's path in hopes he might finally marry. But queens never consider money, of which I have little. And which is why I moonlight as a maid-in-disguise. My plans: 1) Clean house in manner of palace 2) Blackmail brother Binky into sending a few quid 3) Un-teach Princess Hanni English from gangster movies - lest she address queen as "old broad", and 4) Keep eye on princess at parties, where she drinks like fish. Then there's the matter of the body in the bookshop and Hanni's unwitting involvement with the communist party. It's enough to drive a girl mad . . .

Born in Bath, Somerset, Rhys Bowen now lives in San Rafael, California, with her husband. She is the author of many award-winning series including the Royal Spyness and Constable Evans mysteries. Constable is publishing her award-winning series of atmospheric historical dramas featuring feisty Irish immigrant Molly Murphy in old New York City.