Review: The Last Mrs. Summers (Her Royal Spyness #14) by Rhys Bowen

I have been a long time Rhys Bowen fan and I have been trying to get caught up on the Royal Spyness series for the last year.

I have been reading the later mysteries out of order but going back and trying to read the earlier ones so I can have a better appreciation for the characters and their back stories.

I love Georgie and all the quirky characters in this series and when I saw another book was coming out I couldn’t wait to check it out even though I wasn’t entirely caught up with the series over all.

Summary

Georgie is just back from her honeymoon with Darcy when a friend in need pulls her into a du Maurier-like murder in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen!

Georgie’s best friend, Belinda, inherits a spooky old house in Cornwall and asks Georgie to go with her to inspect the property. When they arrive, they meet Rose, a woman Belinda knew as a child when she spent her summers with her grandmother in Cornwall. Belinda never liked Rose, who has always been bossy and a bit of a bully, but when Belinda’s house proves to be uninhabitable, Rose invites them to stay with her.

Rose is now married to Tony Summers, Belinda’s childhood crush, and lives in the lovely house on the cliffs that he has inherited. Rose confides that she thinks Tony killed his first wife and now she is afraid. She asks Georgie and Belinda to observe Tony’s behavior and their surroundings. Is Rose imagining things? Is Tony dangerous? In their quest for answers, they encounter a creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Manners, and learn that some kind of forgotten tragedy occurred on the property years ago involving them all.

There is a lot of strange to go around and things only get weirder–and deadlier–when one night a member of the household is found dead. All clues point to Belinda as the prime suspect. Now Georgie must uncover some long buried secrets that may prove the victim was really a villain before Belinda takes the fall for the murder. (summary from Goodreads) 

Review

I adore this series and this book was high up on my anticipated books list and I couldn’t wait to read it, mostly because it has a spooky house in it and I love mysterious houses with checkered pasts and this one didn’t disappoint even if the mystery was just ok for me.

Bowen does a great job keeping readers orientated in the larger collective narrative while at the same time focusing on the mystery. So far all of her books have been mystery driven and it’s always a treat to pick up one of her books and escape for a few days. They are always well written, fast paced and come on, Georgie is so cheeky without trying to be that she wins my heart every time!

I don’t know that I would call this one a ‘thriller’ or one that even had a lot of twists and turns in the mystery but I thought that even if it was a little predictable at times, there was a lot to love in the characters. The characters are always what wins me over and Georgie, Belinda, and Queenie, are my absolute favorites in this series.

The mystery as I said was just ok but even though I figured out who it was early on, it didn’t diminish the overall story for me because I love spending time with these characters and seeing what they have been up to since the last book. This is a series that you don’t necessarily need to read beginning to end but it currently helps. I haven’t felt lost jumping around in the series but it has helped to go back and read some earlier books to pick up the nuances of the friendships and relationships.

Overall this was a good installment to the series and I am looking forward to more Georgie!

Book Info and Rating

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