The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Royal Spyness #6)

Read from November 20 to 24, 2012 Listened for FUN! Part of my 25 Christmas Reads for 2012 Overall Rating: 4.50 Story Rating: 4.50 Character Rating 4.50 Audio Rating (not part of the overall rating): 4.50 Christmas Rating: Just plain fun! First thought when finished: Rhys Bowen hit it out of the park with The Twelve Clues of Christmas. It was a great Christmas Who-Done-It! Just my thoughts: The Twelve Clues of Christmas was a jolly good time! I had a blast while listening and was thrilled to delve back into her royal spyness. This is one fun series for those that like amateur sleuth stories. Check it out when you get a chance! These have a small carry over story but I think they can be read out of order or as standalones. About the audio: Narrated by Katherine Kellgren and she did a bang up job! Her voices were spot on, the pacing was fantastic, and the reading was delightful. Final thought: I recommend the Royal Spyness series to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries!

Lady Georgiana Rannoch escapes the horrid fate of spending Christmas with her step-sister\’s family at Castle Rannoch by attending a house party in a quaint English village instead as a Royal Family entertainer for the house guests. But as soon as she arrives, people start dying in strange accidents and she shortly begins to suspect that these accidents are really murders. Accompanied by the dashing Darcy O\’Mara, Georgie sets out to solve these murders and uncovers the twelve clues to these murders. Clever and witty, with a dash of romance, Rhys Bowen weaves old English Christmas traditions and centuries-long superstitions with pre-WWII England and all of its social class upheaval to create a magical Christmas mystery that is sure to entertain. Fantastically performed by Katherine Kellgren, I quickly lost myself in the story. A Must-Listen Mystery for this Christmas season!

Once again, Lady Georgie is stuck at Castle Rannock with her miserly sister-in-law, Fig, making her life miserable and Christmas is just around the corner. So, why not take a job on a country estate in Devon, make a little money and get far, far away from Scotland? All is fine until local people start dying. But are these deaths accidents or murder? Once again, Darcy is on hand to lend his simmering sensuality to mix and he does distract Georgie quite a bit as she goes about trying to figure out what\’s going on. This is one of my favorites in the series. I just love Lady G\’s spunk and how wonderfully English these books always are. And there are always several laugh out loud incidents in any of the Royal Spyness books. I loved this reader\’s ability to capture personalities so well with her intonations.

STORY (suspense) – Love this series! The stories have great mysteries, a wonderful cast of characters, a touch of romance and lots of just plain fun. In this book Georgiana and the rest of the main characters travel to a small village in England to enjoy an old-fashioned Christmas. Everything is going great until people start dying. The deaths seem accidental, but they continue. Can\’t say much more or I\’ll give things away, but this is a fun listen especially at Christmastime. PERFORMANCE – Two words say it all. Katherine Kellgren! OVERALL – I love everything about this book. There is no sex or bad language. There are lots of deaths but no gory details. The book is a light easy listen but there are lots of characters to keep straight, and good luck figuring out the murderer! Highly recommended for everyone, though some men (like my husband) may find it a little girly or silly.

I won\’t bother to report on the storyline, as you can read about it in the descriptions of others. Instead, I\’ll report on the entertainment value, as I see it. Rhys Bowen writes fun, lively mysteries that move quickly and offer the listener/reader a glimpse into 1920\’s in England. Descriptions of conditions, clothing, food, and ambiance are so vivid the listener can almost feel as if he/she was in the midst of it all. Narration by Ms. Kellgren is perfect, slipping from one dialect to another with ease, male and female characters clearly articulated with emotion and liveliness. I have listened to so many Bowen books that I hear the first sentence and feel \”ahhh, she\’s back\”. So, would I recommend it? Yes, because, for me, it\’s pure entertainment. Specifically, this book is paced well, with rich characters that would never appear in reading as colorfully as they are when read by Ms Kellgren. I want more!

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