| Summary: |
"Lady Georgiana Rannoch is hanging the stockings with care when a murder interrupts her holiday cheer in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen. For my first Christmas as a married woman, it seems fitting that I throw a little house party for my nearest and dearest at Eynsleigh, my lovely new home. While this sounds delightful in theory, the fact of the matter is I cannot trust Queenie not to burn the house down, let alone cook a decent dinner for my prospective guests. However, all of my problems appear to be solved when Darcy receives a letter from his aunt, Ermintrude, who has moved to a small house on the edge of the Sandringham estate, near the royal family. It appears Darcy's odd aunt wants to meet me, but I had not realized she was the former lady-in-waiting and close confident of the Queen! Her majesty has told Aunt Ermintrude that it would be a great comfort to have me nearby during this festive time of year. Realizing that the invitation from Darcy's aunt is actually a royal summons in disguise, we pack up our guests: Mummy, Binky and Fig-and yes, even Queenie-and head to Sandringham. Once settled at Aunt Ermintrude's grace-and-favor house, I learn that the notorious Mrs. Simpson, mistress to the Prince of Wales, will also be in attendance along with the Prince himself, my cousin David. It is now as clear as crystal that the Queen expects me to do a bit of spying. But when I pay Her Majesty a visit, I learn that there is more to her request than just some simple eavesdropping. There have been a couple of strange incidents at the estate in recent years. Two gentlemen of the royal household died in mysterious circumstances during the previous December. And now it seems that the deadly accidents are starting up again. Is the real target the Prince of Wales and his prickly paramour, or is there an even more sinister plot at work? I must get to the truth of the matter to ensure that my first Christmas married to my darling Darcy is not our last..." -- |
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