A Royal Murder by Verity Bright
At the royal boat race there are beautiful barges, plenty of bunting, a handsome prince and… is that a body in the water? Lady Swift is on the case!
Spring, 1923. One-time adventurer and now amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is attending the annual royal regatta with her new pal Tipsy Fitzroy. Tipsy has Eleanor trussed up like a debutante in a new dress, determined to turn her into a proper society lady. Even Eleanor’s favourite companion, Gladstone the bulldog, has a new outfit for the occasion.
But the sparkling prize-giving ceremony is interrupted when the devilishly handsome host gulps his glass of champagne on stage and collapses to the floor. The victim is none other than the king’s cousin, Lord Xander Taylor-Howard. He was rumoured to be entangled in a rather dubious gambling ring, but did someone kill him instead of collecting his debt? Or was this simply an ill-timed tragic accident? Either way, a right royal scandal is afoot…
Sir Percival, the head of the royal police, asks Eleanor for her help investigating. He’d do anything to keep the story under wraps. She knows it will get her into hot water with a certain dapper Detective Seldon, but she’s determined to see justice done. However, as she digs deeper, she learns Lord Taylor-Howard was hiding more than one murky secret. It isn’t until she takes a closer look at the unfortunate royal’s shattered champagne flute that she stumbles upon just the clue she needs. But can she reel in the killer before her ship is sunk too?
A warm and witty 1920s mystery that cozy fans will just adore. Addictive reading for fans of T E Kinsey, Lee Strauss and Agatha Christie.
About the author
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
Review
‘A Royal Murder’ finds Eleanor with a new friend Tipsy who is determined to drag our heroine back up to date and become one of the ‘bright new things’! Part of her plan is to mingle with the numerous eligible bachelors that will be present at Henley Boat Regatta - there even will be royalty there to flirt with! But alas we now know that where Eleanor goes death follows. This time it is Lord Xander Taylor-Howard who dies during the prize-giving right on stage in front of everyone. However, since he is the King’s cousin chaos ensues and Eleanor is asked by Sir Percival, the head of the royal police, to investigate the cases!
Once again I loved returning to this series - they are now seriously a highlight of my reading year. It now feels as if Eleanor, Clifford, Detective Seldon, Gladstone and the ladies are old friends. It's just fun reading this series and this outing is no different. I loved the inclusion of whether there was political intrigue surrounding the death. It seems that every book I have read this month has a small connection to Russia and I loved the character associated with that here! There is always lots of humour and lightheartedness in Verity Bright’s writing and I just adore reading these books. This is the 9th book in the series and I hope there will be a lot more to come!
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09M3RYT22social
Audio:
UK: zpr.io/cyqVbRNRiSpk
US: zpr.io/pBxeLFqVYaB6
Listen to a sample here:
https://soundcloud.com/bookouture/a-royal-murder-by-verity-bright-narrated-by-karen-cass
