Penniless and 34th in line to the throne, Georgiana Rannoch finds herself in a truly draining state of affairs. To escape her hateful brother, Georgie accepts an invitation from the Queen to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. But at the macabre-looking castle, Georgie finds the bride with blood running down her chin and a wedding guest poisoned. Now it’s up to Georgie to save the festivities before the couple’s vows become ‘to love and to cherish, till undeath do we part’.

One of my many New Year reading resolutions is to try to vary my reading and try some new genres so I was pleased when this book came my way. Royal Blood is the fourth book in the Royal Spyness Mystery Series and combines two of my favourite genres (historical fiction and romance) with something new for me; crime and mystery and I found it a very enjoyable read.

The story is told in the first person from the point of view of Lady Georgiana, cousin to the King of Engand and 34th in line to the throne. I liked Georgiana immediately; she’s lighthearted and fun and I loved her take on both her situation and the people around her. Georgiana is twenty-two; her family are desperate for her to marry and make a good match and she’s a lovely mix of slightly scatty, confidence and occasional bursts of insight.

I loved the 1930′s setting and I was surprised how little of the story actually focussed on the murder which doesn’t actually happen until around half way through the book. Royal Blood is as much about Georgiana and her life as it is about her attendance at a royal wedding in Transylvania. The story starts in depression-era London and moves on to a remote and spooky castle in Romania. Lady Georgiana finds herself faced with a host of strange goings on at the spooky castle and the vampire references added a fun twist to the story.

As this is the fourth book in the series I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to pick up the story but it reads perfectly well as a standalone novel. I would like to go back and read the rest of the series now though as I’d love to get to know Georgiana, her friends and family better, particularly Georgiana’s love interest, the mysterious Darcy O’Mara. I also love the gorgeous illustrated covers for this series and think the whole collection would look lovely on my bookshelf!

I’m not normally one for murder mysteries but there was plenty in this novel to hold my attention and the book is much more than I would have imagined a murder mystey to be! At just over 300 pages, Royal Blood is a quick read and from what I’ve seen, this is the ideal mystery series for chick lit fans as Lady Georgiana makes a fun and amusing heroine as she tries to find the right man and escape her overbearing relatives. I liked the glam 1930′s setting and the humour and I will definitely read more of the series.

3/5

Royal Blood is published on 5th January by Prime Crime and I’d like to thank Ellie at Turnaround for sending me a review copy.