Rhys Bowen has definitely got something here, with Lady Georgiana Rannoch, her newest and very blue-blooded sleuth. And, with apologies to Constable Evans and Molly Murphy, Georgie is fast becoming my favorite Bowen protagonist. A ROYAL PAIN happens to be the winning sequel to HER ROYAL SPYNESS, and it sinks Georgie into an even more perilous escapade.

It's 1932, London, and there's a Depression on, affecting not only the common masses but the nobility as well. But Lady Georgiana Rannoch isn't your conventional impoverished royal. To support herself, she'd earlier established a domestic agency which provides light cleaning service, with her as the sole employee. But Georgie has to keep her new vocation on the sly; it simply wouldn't do to be found out, what with her being 34th in line to the throne and all.

Rank has its priveleges... and its duties. Queen Mary means to pry her son, the young Prince of Wales, from the influence of an unscrupulous American seductress. Georgie is tasked with hosting and chaperoning the Bavarian Princess Hannelore, who is just out of the convent and newly arrived to London. Georgie is encouraged by the Queen to take her new houseguest and mingle with the smart set, with the hope that the gorgeous princess might turn the Prince's head. Georgie promptly finds out that Hannelore (or Hanni) is a handful, like "looking after a naughty puppy." Hanni, it seems, had picked up her very unsuitable English from watching American gangster films (her first words to Georgie are "Hiya, doll."). Soon, Georgie is busy coaching Hanni in proper English and averting shoplifting disasters, not to mention tempering the Princess's desire to enter the world of dating and, alarmingly, the world of communism (there's this nice looking communist boy, you see...).

You get so enwrapped in Georgie and Hanni's comic misadventures that you tend to forget that this book is also a cozy mystery. But, then, the stabbed corpse in the bookshop turns up.

To make things worse, Hanni is now supplementing her gangster slang with Cockney vernacular, thanks to Georgie's hastily improvised household of servants, comprised of her commoner grandfather and his lady friend.

I happen to think that Lady Georgiana is Rhys Bowen's best creation yet. Born to privelege but broke as hell, yet with the backbone to do something about it, Georgie is simply an awesome heroine. Tall and clumsy, intelligent yet vulnerably reserved, and constantly upholding the Rannoch ideals, is Georgie. That she also solves mysteries is almost an incidental bonus. A key part in making her so ingratiating is her relationship with her salt-of-the-earth Cockney grandfather, an ex-policeman and Georgie's favorite person in the world. He does come in handy when murder's in the air. Also back is the appealing Belinda, Georgie's gregarious best friend.

Rhys Bowen hasn't let her readers down yet, and that trend continues with A ROYAL PAIN. Her smooth writing style makes her readers feel instantly welcome and at ease. There's more depth to this sequel, as Bowen plants Georgie even more firmly in her 1930s historical backdrop. Not only does Georgie continue to bump into her old school chums and social peers, but she rubs elbows with common Londoners and is exposed to some of the political climate of the times. Back then, violent outbreaks between the communist party and the fascist Blackshirts were common occurences. And, yes, Georgie and Hanni get caught in the middle of one such brawl. But fans of the first book shouldn't fret, as Bowen still infuses the novel with tons of drawing room farce and outrageous upper class scandals. The dashing if dubious Darcy O'Mara returns to make things interesting for Georgie, but it seems he's got an eye for the princess. Just another thing for Georgie to worry about.

A ROYAL PAIN just whets my appetite for more sightings of Lady Georgiana and of her friends and her wonderful granda. Me, I happen to like mysteries, and I'm telling you, Georgie is such an appealing character that I wouldn't even mind if there weren't mysteries for her to solve. Rhys Bowen is that good a writer.