Slowly I am binging this entire series and I hope you have been following along with my reviews on each book. I have no stranger to Rhys Bowen’s books, but this series was one that just kept flying under my radar.
My mom gifted me the first book in this series at least 4 times and I did give in and read the last book in the series—-first, like an idiot. But I decided to finally remedy the situation and started this series from the beginning.
As I said, I am slowly binging the series so that I can be nice and caught up for the new book being released later this summer.
The books are super quick reads and I can usually hammer out one a week in between my other reading commitments, so here we are with number 5!
Summary
Why should my clueless brother, Binky, and his decidedly disagreeable wife, Fig, be the only ones to enjoy the fun and sun of the French Riviera? Thankfully, Her Majesty the Queen has once again come to my rescue. She is sending me off to Nice with a secret assignment—recover her priceless, stolen snuff box from the disreputable Sir Toby Groper.
Her Majesty’s trust is an honor, but an even greater honor is bestowed upon me in Nice—none other than Coco Chanel herself asks me to model her latest fashion. Unfortunately, things go disastrously wrong on the catwalk and before I can snatch the snuff box, someone’s life is snuffed out in a very dastardly way. With a murderer on the loose—and my dearest Darcy seen in the company of another woman—how’s a girl to find any time to go to the casino? (summary from Goodreads)
Review
So I’ve gotta say what a relief it is to be out of dreary Scotland, and even London for that matter. I know that the last book was set in Romania, but it too was equally as dreary. The French Rivera is such a warm breath of fresh air in this series.
At the same time I was reading this book, I was also reading another book set in an exotic location so I was getting a double dose of warmth and newness. I love how Bowen uses this location to good effect. The rich, famous, and royal all flock to Nice and having the impoverished Georgie visit there and encounter all glamorous people was so much fun. I also liked that we got to see her interact with her mother a little more in this one than in some of the previous books.
I also liked that there was a possibility of a new romance for Georgie in this one. While Darcy will always be my favorite, it was also kind of fun to see her getting to experience a different type of love affair and man.
Also, I’ve gotta say, when this series first began I wasn’t really a fan of Fig and Binky, but now I plum hate Fig! What a bitch and Binky….so spineless but yet jolly as can be. I feel so bad for Georgie having this terrible family situation but at the same time that’s what drives her character and I love seeing how she makes the best of a bad situation.
Georgie is so funny and interesting in this one. While there wasn’t as much interaction with Darcy as I had hoped, I did like seeing Georgie start to spread her wings and grow into her station. Plus the mystery was fun, if not a little predictable, but fun all the same!
The Lit Bitch 
You’ve inspired me to pick this series back up! I stopped with #4 a couple of years ago. Just reserved this one from my library. 😀
Yeah happy reading!! I hope you love it!!