FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

4 stars out of 5

Golly, I love this series!

If you “get” that, it means you’re well acquainted with the delightful antics of Lady Georgiana Rannoch – just as I have been for quite some time now (this is the 19^th in the “Royal Spyness” series). If you don’t, I suggest you waste no time learning about it for yourself, especially if you like historical fiction with a mystery twist and a cozy flavor (just a titch; Georgie is not your typical cozy mystery heroine, but like most cozies, the blood and gore of other mysteries is noticeably absent).

At this point, Georgie is married to an heir to Irish royalty – Darcy O’Mara, and they have a not-yet-year-old son James and live in a good-sized mansion courtesy of an elderly relative who’s happy to share (and lives elsewhere, even though he’s welcome to live with them). Darcy is some kind of agent with Scotland Yard, often disappearing for days at a time on an assignment he can’t share with his wife. Georgie’s mother, a rather flighty character, lives the good life in Germany. That shouldn’t be much of an issue, except it’s the late 1930s, when Hitler was just getting revved up. Despite warnings from Georgie and her husband, she refuses to leave; Hitler, she says, is a friend who admires her (Georgie and Darcy, though, have very different opinion of the guy).

Such is the setting at the start of this installment; Georgie, who is a bit of a detective (both unwittingly and willingly), is for the most part a stay-at-home mom. Bucking most of the “rules” for aristocracy at the time, she’s loves interacting with her son as often as possible. While they’re far from wealthy, both she and Darcy will one day inherit tidy sums; for now, they’ve got servants courtesy of the homeowner so Georgie doesn’t need to do dishes, laundry or cook. When she goes to visit a couple of old friends (who will be familiar to regular readers).  In part, Georgie was happy to escape the uber-rigid nanny her very annoying sister-in-law hired without her knowledge to underscore Georgie’s lack of all things regal – and one of those friends asks for help with the suspicious death of her friend’s son. Despite Georgie’s begging when she gets back home, given the official declaration that the death was an accident, Darcy hesitates to get involved.

Not long thereafter, other suspicious deaths come to light; Georgie once again escapes her awful nanny (as well as Fig, the uppity sister-in-law who invited herself to occupy a room at Georgie’s home and takes great pleasure in ordering the servants around) to do more sleuthing in hopes of finding some kind of connection among all the deaths. That, she reasons, will force Darcy to take notice.

Over the course of the book, readers will follow Georgie as she tries to solve what she’s sure are murders, find a nanny who’s willing to share James with his mother and father and give Fig the boot – the latter hopefully for good. Sprinkled in between are details that make this series so interesting, such as the abdication of King Edward VII when he opted to marry divorced commoner Wallis Simpson. As a relative of Edward’s who has met “Mrs. Simpson” several times, Georgie has no shortage of opinions on that subject, by golly.

The ending, of course, ties up almost all the loose ends, leaving a bit of a teaser for the next installment. If I have a concern, it’s that Darcy, usually extremely supportive of his wife’s interests and opinions when they differ from what’s expected of “upper class” society folks, was a bit more critical than usual. And I’m still wondering how Georgie, a nursing mother, was able to leave her child for days at a time without being super-uncomfortable (to say the least).  All told, though, it’s rousing good fun once again, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

From Cradle to Grave by Rhys Bowen (Berkley, November 2025); 328 pp.