To Crown It All by Rhys Bowen

    

 In the mood for a cozy mystery set in pre world war II England?  Well then, I've got the book for you, To Crown It All by Rhys Bowen is exactly that.  Set to publish on November 17, by Berkley Publishing Group, To Crown It All tells the tale of a murder mystery among the aristocracy leading up to the coronation of George the VI in 1936.  

    Lady Georgiana Rannoch, a relative to the soon to be crowned King George VI expects to attend his coronation as a guest. Being married to her husband Darcy, an lesser titled peer removes her from wearing her robes and coronet to the ceremony and relegates her to the lesser peers, even though she is a blood relative to the royal family.  Her biggest worry at the beginning is finding the correct outfit to wear to the abbey.  However, this does not remain her only concern for long.  

    Leading up to the celebrations her guests begin to arrive to spend time with family prior to traveling to London and the household gets complicated. Her husband Darcy is constantly absent as he deals with security matters for the coronation. So dealing with the guests is all on Lady Georgiana's  shoulders. 

    Her mother, a talented actress, is being detained in Germany as a pawn to the Fuhrer, and needs rescuing. When her mother arrives, she is accompanied by a Nazi "minder" set to track her every move. Her father-in-law comes to visit family and meet his new grandson, and brings a young male guest unknown to the family.  Her father, an explorer arrives and dotes on a foreign princess (also visiting) as well as his ex-wife. Finally, enter her brother and difficult sister-in-law and you have a setting for intrigue and unrest. When a murder occurs the day before the family leaves for London, Georgiana is set to solve the crime. 

    To add to the mix, one of the lady in waiting train bearers for the soon to be queen must be replaced, and Lady Georgiana is the lucky lady to fill her shoes, which now places her as an integral part of the entire coronation ceremony. Quite the ordeal for Lady Georgiana, now she has to not only solve a murder mystery that happened in her home, but also not trip while carrying the queens train!

    Bowen does a nice job of creating enough suspense to keep the plot interesting while not bogging the reader down in detail. To Crown It All is definitely a light read to enjoy. I was pleased to find myself turning the pages and becoming immersed in the story but not feeling encumbered by the story.  I was definitely in the mood for a "Hallmark like" mystery and this story was just that.  I rate To Crown It All by Rhys Bowen with 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Rhys Bowen for the advanced readers copy of To Crown It All in exchange for this honest review.