PERIL IN PARIS rating: 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐.
I just finished my 21st book by Rhys Bowen (nom de plume of Janet Quin-Harkin), PERIL IN PARIS (USA release November 8, 2022), sixteenth in the Royal Spyness series.
Disclaimer: Thanks to Penguin Random House for sending this book to me for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
My favorite book by Bowen is the standalone novel THE VICTORY GARDEN (2019). My least favorite is ABOVE THE BAY OF ANGELS (2020) but Kirkus Reviews liked it so your mileage may vary.
I’ve enjoyed Royal Spyness. With the REBECCA ripoff THE LAST MRS. SUMMERS (2020) I felt Bowen might be losing her grip, but GOD REST YE, ROYAL GENTLEMEN (2021) was fun.
Long-running series must be marketable. In PERIL IN PARIS, Bowen has Georgie hanging out with the Lost Generation crowd, including Stein and Hemingway, and Georgie’s best friend Belinda designing for Coco Chanel.
I miss Queenie! I keep wishing Q. would walk into one of these exotic locales and say, “Wotcher, missus.” Queenie has been left at home while Georgie and Darcy scour the globe looking for recognizable names to drop in book jacket inserts.
But it’s not Bowen’s fault that publishers never allow authors to end their series. Even after their death, series must continue. M.C. Beaton (Marion Chesney) is dead and Hamish MacBeth continues on in his merry way.
THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING, Royal Spyness 17, will be released November 7, 2023 in the USA by Penguin Random House. We can’t have pudding without Queenie, can we?
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