I love the Her Royal Spyness mystery series by Rhys Bowen. The characters are wonderful and the mystery is light but interesting. In this addition, Georgie is pregnant and bored. When her husband must go on a business trip to Paris, she decides to accompany him and visit her good friend Belinda, a fashion designer. It is Fashion Week in Paris and Belinda is busy working for Coco Chanel and she takes Georgie with her to see what Belinda does and meet Coco Chanel. There is lots of action centered around the fashion show and intrigue because of the rise of Nazi Germany and the lead up to World War II. This is a fast moving novel combining historical fiction with mystery and humor. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys mystery, royalty, and romance with some history thrown in. I give it four and a half stars.

Spring of 1936 finds a pregnant Lady Georgiana Rannoch feeling a bit restless. When her husband, Darcy, suggests they go to Paris to visit Georgie’s friend, Belinda, Georgie is delighted. Belinda is there interning with Coco Chanel, and it isn’t long before Georgie finds herself roped into helping with an upcoming fashion show. Darcy, meanwhile, has a small assignment to accomplish, and asks for Georgie’s help. That request winds up putting Georgie in a very uncomfortable spot when someone winds up dead at the fashion show. Can she get out of it without sparking an international incident?

The further along this series gets, the finer the line is between the seriousness of Europe during the era and the fun tone of the series. This book walks that tension perfectly. It also starts more quickly than some of the books in the series do. Some foundation for the plot is laid before it truly takes off, and once it did, I was fully invested until we reached the logical climax. Several of the series regulars are involved, and I enjoyed getting to spend more time with them. We even see a different side of a supporting player. Fans of the series will enjoy this latest outing. If you haven’t met Georgie yet, I definitely recommend you fix that soon.

Georgie and Darcy are expecting their first child! But Georgie is feeling restless with her best friend Belinda in Paris as an apprentice to Chanel, ZouZou flying to far-flung lands, and her mother in Germany. Fortunately, Darcy has a hush-hush assignment in Paris and invites Georgie along so she can spend time with Belinda and enjoy spring in Paris.

I love this series. Darcy and Georgie are one of my favorite cozy mystery couples.

Peril in Paris is book 16 in the Her Royal Spyness series, but you don't necessarily have to have read the previous books in this series. I eventually did read all the previous books but I didn't read them in order.

If you are a fan of the series, then everything you've come to love about the series is there. I love the dynamic between Darcy and Georgie. While Darcy wants to protect and provide for Georgie, he knows how capable she is on her own. And that is definitely obvious in this installment as he has to ask Georgie to help him with his assignment.

Of course, things don't go as planned. But with a little help from her friends (even Wallis Simpson comes to her aid), everything works out eventually.

It was a really fun read. It was also a quick read. It was the perfect palette cleanser between some rather intense stories I've recently read. If you are looking for something light to read, you should really pick up this book.

I really hope this series continues after the baby comes. Another cozy mystery series I read ended after the couple had a baby. But this series is getting to a period of history I really enjoy reading about. While having a baby could be a complication it would be a unique angle and really Darcy and Georgie are the perfect duo for a World War II setting. They have the right connections and I think it would make for interesting stories.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/11/peril-in-paris-by-rhys-bowen-review.html

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

In this 16th installment of the Royal Spyness mysteries, we go with Georgie and Darcy to Paris, where Georgie can visit her friend Belinda and Darcy has a mission to accomplish. Belinda is working as an apprentice to Chanel (yes, that Chanel) and when Georgie visits she gets roped into modeling a couture gown for pregnancy designed by Chanel for Georgie's newly expanding figure.

As always, there's a mystery going on, some spying, and, of course, a death that must be solved. This one did manage to keep me intrigued, since there appeared to be two intertwined stories that may or may not actually have been related. It was also fun to experience Paris through the eyes of Georgie, since it was her first visit.

Georgie does it again! Another thrilling mystery full of intrigue and mayhem as Lady Georgiana fumbles her way to solving the crime! Great tie in with the escalating tensions in Europe and the fall out from WWI. Add the panache of Chanel and a dose of cyanide for the perfectly balanced murder mystery with all the favorite Her Royal Spyness characters taking part.

"Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her dashing husband, Darcy, are awaiting a bundle of joy, but an unexpected trip to Paris will thrust them straight into a tangled web of international intrigue in this all-new mystery in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen.

What a delight it is to finally be able to enjoy a simple meal again! I have been in the throes of morning sickness for the last few months as Darcy and I prepare to welcome a brand-new addition to our little family. Now that I am feeling better, I have realized I am dreadfully bored! It seems that all my nearest and dearest are off leading their own busy lives while I sit at home and attempt to train our two adorably naughty puppies. Fun as it may be, it is hard not to long for a little adventure, a change of pace, before my true confinement begins when the baby comes.

Happily, it seems that Darcy has read my mind. When I receive a letter from my glamorous best friend, Belinda, Darcy suggests we take a trip to Paris to visit her. It seems he also has a spot of business of which to take care, so I will be staying in Belinda’s flat as she works feverishly on Coco Chanel's fall collection. I happen to know Coco from a disastrous encounter in Nice years ago, and I am hoping this visit will go much more smoothly. But I soon learn that nothing about my time in Paris is going to be simple...or safe for that matter.

Darcy has asked me to take on a small chore as a part of his latest assignment. I am to covertly retrieve something from an attendee of Coco's show. It seems easy enough, but I discover that this little errand could have terrifying consequences for a world on the brink of war. When things go horribly wrong, I am left to find a killer all while trying to fend off a French policeman who is certain that I am a criminal mastermind. But I have no plans to deliver my darling little one in a prison cell, and so I will muster every ounce of my courage to save the day...and, quite possibly, the world!"

Our beloved Royal Spyness is back!

Golly - another stellar installment of this wonderful "Royal Spyness" series set in 1930s England (more accurately, Paris, where Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her husband, Darcy O'Mara, are visiting - he on spy business, she, at least at the outset, on holiday). Of note in this one is that Georgie, as her friends call her, is pregnant - finally moving past the morning sickness that made her early months miserable.

When they arrive in Paris, Georgie is content to visit friends and see the sights, providing readers with one of the most interesting elements of the series (well, at least to me): descriptions of the period in which the stories are set and her "connections" to the rich and famous (would you believe her cousin is the King of England and she's well acquainted with Wallis Simpson, who has a somewhat prominent role in the plot)? Georgie's friend works for noted designer Coco Chanel, who is preparing for the latest fashion show, and Georgie gets tapped to model a Chanel-created maternity dress (albeit rather outlandish). Georgie also goes to a party in one famous writer of the day's apartment, where another famous writer drops by, and her mother currently lives in Germany and runs in the same social circles as Adolf Hitler.

But of course, best-laid plans aren't meant to go smoothly, and Darcy asks for Georgie's help with his secret mission. Then comes Chanel's fashion show, where an unlucky guest turns up rather dead - and Georgie is a suspect (French policemen, it seems, have very little respect for British aristocracy). Readers, of course, know she's not guilty, but it's great fun to find out the lengths to which she'll go to prove her innocence and, in the process, find the real killer. Overall, it's another truly enjoyable adventure - many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to ride along on a pre-release journey. Well done!

Having suffered through months of morning sickness, Lady Georgiana Rannoch is finally feeling better. She is also awfully bored in her rambling country home. To liven things up, Georgie's husband, the dashing and secretive Darcy O'Mara, proposes a trip to Paris. Darcy has some business to attend to in Paris, and Georgie's friend Belinda has been begging her to come for a visit. While it is not the romantic getaway that she's hoped for, Georgie enjoys exploring Paris, meeting new friends, and helping Belinda who is apprenticing with the famous Coco Chanel. Not only does Georgie get roped into helping prepare for Chanel's big fashion show, she finds herself reluctantly modeling a maternity dress.



Struggling to complete his top secret mission for the British government, Darcy recruits Georgie. All she has to do is approach a German dignitary at the fashion show and retrieve classified documents and microfilm that was sent by the woman's Jewish husband. The simple task gets complicated when Georgie finds a dead American woman in the German lady's seat. When it is determined that the American woman died by cyanide poisoning, Georgie jumps to the top of the heavy-handed French detective's suspect list. With help from Darcy and Belinda, Georgie conducts her own investigation to prove her innocence and find the killer.



I am a big fan of the Her Royal Spyness series and have read all of the books. Georgie is a great main character—a relative of the king of England, but low enough down in the line of succession to not really matter. She's a bit naive, and has a bad habit of getting caught up in murder investigations. I also enjoy the cast of reoccurring characters—including Georgie's husband, her narcissistic mother, and her best friend, Belinda. Georgie's hopeless failure of a maid/cook, Queenie, only made a brief appearance in the beginning, and I missed her ridiculous antics. I did enjoy seeing another side of Wallis Simpson. She's as forceful and self-absorbed as ever, but she does come through for Georgie when it looks like she might be charged with a crime.



The first half of the novel was a bit drawn out as the reader follows Georgie as she explores Paris, meets new friends, and hangs out with Belinda at the House of Chanel. Some of those early scenes are crucial to the story, but others seemed more like unnecessary filler. And Georgie's doubting Darcy's loyalty to Britain seemed strange.



Once the American woman turned by dead at the fashion show, the storyline picked up. There is a question of who the intended target was—the heavily guarded Germany woman or the obnoxious American woman who has managed to make a string of enemies during her short stay in Paris. I'll admit that I had the killer's identity figured out early on, but that did not prevent me from enjoying the novel. Overall, I loved the novel. It is a great addition to the series. I can't wait to see what happens next and how motherhood will affect Georgie's (mis)adventures.

3.75 stars

Newlyweds Georgie and husband Darcy are in Paris -- but it's not exactly a romantic getaway. Darcy is on assignment for the British government on a hush hush project involving German scientific secrets. So Georgie is staying with her best friend Belinda who is working for Coco Chanel and frantically busy in the days leading up to a major fashion show. Everyone who is anyone will be there -- including women linked to most of the royal houses in Europe, and a delegation from Germany including Goring's wife and Georgie's narcissistic mother who is engaged to a German.

Despite the fact that Georgie is pregnant, Darcy asks her to help pass secret info from one of the Germans to a British agent. But, it all goes wrong and instead of secrets Georgie ends up finding a dead body and becoming a suspect.

Georgie is always fun to spend time with, a very real and appealing character. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Rhys has done it again! Georgie never fails to delight and this book was no different. Wonderful series and characters, can't wait to see what happens next!

If you're a fan of this series, you'll love this. No spoilers, but an old nemesis shows up and is actually nice to Georgie!

Georgie is so much fun and I'm always delighted to read a new installment in this series. I did think that for as much as her character has developed over 15 previous books, she felt a tad naive in this book. Still a fun read and I look forward to meeting her baby in the next book!

I reviewed this for the final issue of Mystery Scene Magazine which will release on 11-15 you can read my full review there.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series every year. Each time it's like catching up with a (murder mystery-prone) friend! I love when Georgie travels to other locations and including her mum and Belinda on her adventures. In addition, the interactions with real people (Coco Chanel, Mrs. Simpson etc.) is always great too! I found in this book, the murder took too long to happen (over 50%) and then the ending seemed very rushed and I had already guessed who did it. But it was still overall an enjoyable read!

I am interested to see where the series is headed with the impending start of WWII. I also hopes that she takes a trip across the pond to visit Canada (maybe a run-in with a mountie?!) at some point.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Georgie is always a delight, and this is no exception. Paris in the spring with Belinda and Mme Chanel, just before the war, and tons of adventure. I can't wait for the next Rhys Bowen mystery!

Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her husband Darcy are expecting a baby. Bored while waiting for the baby's arrival, Georgiana receives a note from her friend Belinda inviting her to visit her in Paris. Belinda is working for Coco Chanel and on the fall collection. Darcy, whose work is secretive, asks his wife to take on a small chore. She agrees, but things go terribly wrong and someone is killed. The mystery to solve the murder is Georgiana's task.

Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen, the latest in the series about Lady Georgiana and her family was a bit slow in spots but the Paris location and the timeline of the lead up to the Second World War was interesting. Since we all know how this time turns out it will be interesting to see how the author involves all her regular characters in the coming conflict. As always, the saga of Georgie's family, royal and not, is fun to read.

Every book in this series has been wonderful. These historical mysteries, featuring the often hapless Georgie, are always a funny and interesting whodunit mixed with historical and royal details that round out the setting and plot. I also enjoy the food descriptions and the interactions with Georgie's friends and frenemies. Another solid entry!

Lady Georgie's best friend is working with Chanel in Paris, so when Darcy offers her a chance to go she jumps at it. Anxious to sight see she is instead caught up in intrigue. Darcy needs her help collecting something from a German lady, her mother is there with the German delegation and Chanel wants her to model a maturity dress. Fun from start to finish.

What I have enjoyed most about this series is that the characters have grown and developed, unlike in some cozy series where nothing seems to change beyond a different dead body. This book, however, felt to me like moving backward rather than maturing. Georgie and Darcy travel to Paris for her to spend time with Belinda and for him to do something mysterious. Which he doesn't tell Georgie about. So she speculates. That narrative, along with Georgie's clumsiness and lack of fashion sense felt more like the early books in the series than the later, more developed series. The mystery was interesting, though, and well connected to the time period. Still a solid series.