Cozy Review: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding

 

Title: Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding (Royal Spyness Mystery #12)
Author: Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Berkely Books Expected publication date August 7, 2018. 304 pages in hardback.
Source: Netgalley.com

Publisher's Summary:
Georgie is finally able to plan for her wedding in the summer. It is going to be a summer of weddings: her mother is marrying Max, her German beau; Georgie's grandfather is marrying his next door neighbor, Mrs. Huggins; and Darcy's father is getting up the courage to ask the princess to marry him. Georgie is staying at the princess's London house when she receives a letter from one of her mother's former husbands, Sir Hubert Anstruther. Georgie is now his sole heir, and he's offering her the use of his lovely country house. He suggests she move in right away to keep an eye on the place because all might not be well since his butler died.

Georgie talks this through with her husband-to-be, Darcy, who is off to Europe again, this time to Berlin. They decide that she will take Sir Hubert up on his offer. However, when Georgie arrives, it becomes clear that she is definitely not wanted in the house. Strange things are happening, including a lively ghost and a less than friendly reception from the new butler. When a body shows up, Georgie realizes that Sir Hubert's invitation may not have been entirely altruistic and begins to wonder if she'll even make it to her wedding day.  


My Review:  

Another great addition to a great series! A few things I particularly liked:

*Georgie doesn't lean on Darcy in this one. She figures most of it out herself.

*Other characters who've been on the fringes get some real screen time, including Georgie's mother and her grandfather (the Cockney).

*Georgie's maid, Queenie, has finally become a human, not just a punchline. Big improvement.

So how's the mystery? That there is something pretty nasty going on at the house is obvious from the beginning. Georgie might even be a little slow to believe someone is really trying to get rid of her, but of course she's not the one reading a murder mystery. I even got a pretty good idea of what was up fairly early on, so again maybe thought Georgie could have been a little quicker on the uptake. But she is careful with her suspicions, and there are some real questions about who is involved in what ways. That's a big part of what she has to work out, and I loved that her beloved grandfather (a retired policeman) comes to help. He keeps them grounded in the right behaviors toward the police.

Since this is primarily a comedic series (aside from a tendency to strew corpses about), none of the really awful possibilities come to pass, and we have a great time watching the characters work it all out. Oh, and the setting is England between the wars, a favorite of mine, and the author does her research thoroughly, so it works well. What's not to like?

My Recommendation:
This is far and away my favorite of Rhy Bowen's series, and I think it just keeps getting better. There has been a tendency for Georgie to be sort of stupidly insecure vis-a-vis Darcy, and the author is getting that under control, which makes it all the stronger. We don't need romantic uncertainty to enjoy Georgie's trials and tribulations. This might be my favorite addition to the series, but that might just be that each on is my favorite while I'm reading it. ;)

FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher via Net Galley, and was given nothing further from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."