From Cradle to Grave Audiobook By Rhys Bowen cover art

From Cradle to Grave

Royal Spyness, Book 19

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Lady Georgiana “Georgie” Rannoch is just like any other new mother, balancing responsibilities of being 34th in line for the British throne and solving the shocking deaths of several young men, in this new Royal Spyness novel from the queen of historical mystery, Rhys Bowen.

Georgie may be figuring out what it means to be a new mother but she does know one thing for sure: she absolutely despises the strict nanny who was foisted upon her by her meddlesome sister-in-law. In search of a new nanny, Georgie travels to London to see her old friend ZouZou only to find her about to depart for a funeral, after the unexpected death of a young man in her social circle. It quickly becomes clear there’s more than one mysterious death around town, when another friend reveals he’s also just returned from the funeral of a school friend, who seemingly died in a boating accident. But when word arrives that the son of family friend has also died tragically and unexpectedly, Georgie is certain it can’t be a coincidence. Yet the victims don’t seem to have any connection to one another.

ZouZou shares Georgie’s suspicions that the deaths were not an accident and begs Georgie to solve the case. As Georgie delves deeper, she can’t help worrying that her own husband, Darcy, may be next. It seems likely there is a serial killer at work and Darcy fits the bill to be their next victim. Will Georgie solve the murders before it’s too late for Darcy, and manage to find the perfect nanny all at the same time?

©2025 Janet Quin-Harkin (P)2025 Audible, Inc.
Amateur Sleuths Historical Mystery Women Sleuths Crime Murder Royalty
Engaging Mystery • Entertaining Storyline • Solid Servant Voices • Character Development • Historical Backdrop

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Every year when I finish the new Her Royal Spyness book, I look forward to the next one. I have read and listened to all of them many times. We were so spoiled with the wonderful narration by the late Katherine Kellgren. Jasmine Blackborow stepped in and did a very good job (after correcting her pronunciation of Rannock) and got the voices down well. Tuesday morning I got up and put in my AirPods anxiously anticipating the new story. After a few minutes I realized that I didn't want to listen. The narration was ruining the enjoyment of the story for me. The voices all sound alike and the accents are terrible. Zou Zou's deep sexy voice and Polish accent is gone. Darcy's distinctive Irish accent now sounds English. Even Georgie's accent varies from line to line. Belinda, Mummy, Queenie, Fig...all disappointing. I ordered the book on Kindle and what a relief that I could enjoy the story. I feel terrible about not being able to leave a full 5-star review but I can't give Performance any more than 1 star. I tried to bypass rating the Performance but Audible doesn't allow that.

Rhys Bowen, if you are reading this, thank you for another great story. Audible Inc., if you are reading this, please take better care in casting narrators. They can make or break your authors' books.

Great story but Poor narration

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Loved this latest romp! The new narrator took a chapter to get used to, but once I settled in I thought she was lovely. A Rhys Bowen book is always a pleasure.

Another great one!

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Brilliant narration, especially regarding accents suited to both Darcy (an upper class British public school educated Irishman) and Georgie and Belinda of the finishing school set. The story line is compelling and entertaining and reflects Georgie’s spunk as a true lead character, with subtle reminders of the brewing socio-political issues of the day and coming war. Another wonderful entry in the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen!

Georgie will not be ignored!

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Great story but the narrator could not do accents or dialects. Zuzu no longer Polish? Darcy no longer Irish? Horrible — everyone sounds like bad RP!! Hideous. Couldn’t listen.

Horrible new narrator

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this narrator didn't really do well with all the accents, many inconsistent, confusing who is doing the talking. Past narrators in the series were much better. Wish it was one of them.

love the usual characters and their intrigued

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