Book number four in the delightful Lady Georgiana Ranoch series of cozy mysteries takes us out of London and to a remote castle in the mountains of Romania for a royal wedding.

I like this series. Georgie manages to get herself caught up in all sorts of intrigues, while struggling to make it on her own without much money. When the queen asks her to represent the royal family at the marriage of Maria Theresa, princess of Romania, to Nicholas, prince of Bulgaria, of course she must go. But she has an uneasy feeling that she is being watched. And her companion / chaperone sees “death lurking.”

This episode in Georgie’s life was a little over-the-top, what with the castle having once been the family estate of Vlad the Impaler (i.e. Dracula). There are plenty of suspects, including an imperious head butler, Dragomir, who skulks around. Hard not to let one’s imagination run away in such a setting. Georgie, of course, keeps her head and manages to help solve the case. She’s certainly resourceful!

An entertaining quick read for either a snowy day indoors, or a comfortable lounge chair on the beach. ( )

I always enjoy reading these---as much for the history as for the mystery. This was a fun one and I was happy the vampire theme wasn't played on too heavily. ( )

2.5*

The plot of this entry in the series was even sillier than the previous books! Georgina's romantic life is the best part of this book even if it did include too many repetitions of the same old story (i.e. her virginity & her lack of faith in Darcy). I liked the new character Queenie, Georgina's new maid. ( )

Royal Blood
4 Stars

Lady Georgianna Rannoch is sent to represent the British Royal family at a wedding in Transylvania. However, events soon escalate out of control at gloomy Bran Castle when Georgie sees the bride drinking blood; an annoying politician is poisoned at the dinner table, and her incompetent maid disappears into thin air. Can Georgie solve the mystery before she becomes one of the undead?

Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series is silly and predictable, but also a lot of fun, especially the audiobook version narrated by the incredible Katherine Kellgren.

As with previous installments, the murder investigation isn't the most original, and the identity of the culprit is easy to guess. Nevertheless, Georgie's detecting skills are improving although her willingness to accept vampires as an explanation, even if for a short time, is a bit mind boggling.

Darcy O'Mara puts in another appearance as Georgie's enigmatic love interest. Darcy's attitudes are not always the most appealing, but he does seem to be developing a genuine affection for Georgie. Time will tell if he lives up to his potential.

All in all, an entertaining read and I look forward to reading more about Georgie's shenanigans. ( )

(4th in a series) As Georgie’s brother and his wife come to London and are appalled at how Georgie lives, Georgie is asked by the queen to represent the royal family at a royal wedding in Romania. But Georgie is expected to bring her (nonexistent!) maid. At the last minute, Georgie finds someone willing to come, despite the perceived dangers of travelling abroad. Unfortunately, Queenie is a disaster as a maid! Even worse, when they arrive at the isolated castle where the wedding will take place – none other than Vlad the Impaler’s castle! – they are snowed in. Georgie is certain she is seeing vampires around the castle. Then at supper one night, a guest – hated by most of the others – suddenly dies, an apparent poisoning.

There is to be a lot going on in this one, but I loved the setting at the castle in Transylvania and the slightly gothic atmosphere of it. I really enjoyed some of the secondary characters (and I do like Georgie, too), but what a hopeless case Queenie is! In addition to the gothic atmosphere, there was humour scattered throughout the book. I was thinking I might like this best of the series so far, but it looks like I also rated the 2nd book the 4 stars. ( )