A Royal Affair

A few weeks ago, I read The Right Sort of Man, the first book in the Sparks and Bainbridge series and I absolutely loved it. It had mystery, history, strong female characters and great banter! This second book in this historical mystery picks up right after the first book left off when Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge and their sleuthing skills have caught the eye of none other than people in the royal family who want Prince Phillip, Princess Elizabeth's soon to be betrothed, vetted because his suitability to the British royal family is in question.

This book had all those aspects that I loved from the first book but unfortunately with less oomph. I still enjoyed the banter, the growing friendship between Sparks and Gwen and the secondary characters (particularly Sally and Archie) who hold their own, but the mystery became overly complicated (especially if you're not well versed in Prince Phillip's Greek family) and the story got bogged down with too many characters and a muddled story line.

All in all, this was still an entertaining read - just not as fantastic as the first book. A Royal Affair may appeal much more to royal watchers than this reader.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Allison Montclair

Genre: Historical Mystery

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Series: #2 in the Sparks and Bainbridge mystery series

Publisher: Minotaur Books

First Published: July 28, 2020

Opening Line: Tillie climbed the stairs from the Bond Street Station 

out to Davies Street, blinking in the afternoon light.

Book Description from GoodReads: More goes wrong than could be imagined when Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are unexpectedly engaged to dig into the past of a suitor of a royal princess in Allison Montclair’s delightful second novel, A Royal Affair.

In London 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Bureau is just beginning to take off and the proprietors, Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, are in need of a bigger office and a secretary to handle the growing demand. Unfortunately, they don't yet have the necessary means. So when a woman arrives—a cousin of Gwen's—with an interesting and quite remunerative proposition, they two of them are all ears.

The cousin, one Lady Matheson, works for the Queen in "some capacity" and is in need of some discreet investigation. It seems that the Princess Elizabeth has developed feelings for a dashing Greek prince and a blackmail note has arrived, alluding to some potentially damaging information about said prince. Wanting to keep this out of the palace gossip circles, but also needing to find out what skeletons might lurk in the prince's closet, the palace has quietly turned to Gwen and Iris. Without causing a stir, the two of them must now find out what secrets lurk in the prince's past, before his engagement to the future Queen of England is announced. And there's more at stake than the future of the Empire —there is their potential new office that lies in the balance.