The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

I've been curious as to how the Royal Spyness series would continue now that the main characters have married. Would there be something missing now that there wasn't the tug-of-war of will they/won't they get together? Or would there be more fun as the two solve crime together?

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2020; Berkley; 978-0451492876
audio, ebook, print (304 pages); cozy mystery

I was really hoping after the last book where Darcy and Georgie solved the murder together that we would get a super-spy dynamic duo. So you can imagine my disappointment when, in the first chapter, that Darcy has been called away to parts unknown and Georgie is left home.

Not quite ready to take up her role in society as mistress of the manor and entertain the village on her own, she hopes to find companionship in London my visiting ZouZou or her grandfather. Unfortunately, they are both engaged. But just as Georgie resigns herself to the boredom of a lonely estate, Belinda barrels in - quite literally as she has purchased an Ashton Marten and is speeding down the drive as Georgie walks back from the train station. Apparently, Belinda has a lead foot and this near miss won't be the last as she and Georgie speed away to Cornwall.

In past books, particularly the early stories, I found Belinda to be a bit annoying. Perhaps she is growing on me. Or maybe it is because I always root for the underdog and Belinda has started to show her more vulnerable side. Whatever the reason, I really quite liked her in this story.

Compared to some of the books in the series, The Last Mrs. Summers has a pretty pared down cast of characters. There's a brief appearance of Georgie's grandad, but her mother is back with Max (presumably in Germany). I half expected that the mysteries wealthy foreigner who owned Belinda's grandmother's house to be Max. Though Georgie goes to London there is no visit with the royal relatives, so no Queen Mary and not Prince of Wales. Though Darcy is absent for most of the story, I guessed how his path would cross Georgie's.

I liked having less characters; it gave us more time to get to know Belinda and really see her friendship with Georgie in a new way. There still plenty of suspects for the murder but as we don't really know any of them we are right with Georgie and Belinda as they try to discern suspect and motive.

So while I still want to see Darcy and Georgie solve crime together, I enjoyed The Last Mrs. Summers. As a fan of Poldark, I really liked that it was set in Cornwall. I kind of liked not having the distraction of Georgie pining for Darcy. She does miss him, but it isn't like when she had the added worry of whether he really liked her or not. 

Overall, another solid installment in the Royal Spyness series.

Buy The Last Mrs. Summers at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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