Audiobook Review: A Royal Affair by Allison Montclair

A Royal Affair
Author: Allison Montclair
Narrator: Sarah Nichols
Series: Sparks & Bainbridge Mysteries (Book 2)
Publication: Blackstone Publishing (July 28, 2020)
Length: 9 hours and 4 minutes

Description: 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 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 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.

My Thoughts: In Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge's second mystery they are hired by the palace to vet Prince Philip as an acceptable spouse for Princess Elizabeth. Princess Elizabeth has gotten a blackmail letter indicating some secret about the prince. However, the letter was intercepted by Lady Matheson who is a troubleshooter for the Queen and Gwen's cousin. 

Business is booming for the Right Sort Marriage Bureau after they solved their first murder and they are hoping to expand into a bigger office and hire a secretary. The fee for vetting Prince Philip would go a long way to make their expansion plans reality. 

However, they soon find themselves in the midst of a conspiracy that has links into British Intelligence and also into the Palace. Discovering a murdered man when trying to drop off the ransom and being accosted in their office by another man who wants the ransom money doesn't make vetting Prince Philip one of their easier jobs. 

I loved the personal details we get about each of the women's lives and the mystery plot was nicely twisty too. I loved the grand finale when all the suspects were gathered, and Iris and Gwen laid out the details and nabbed the murderer and caught a spy too. 

The narration was engaging. Sarah Nichols really captured the characters.

I bought this one at Chirp. You can buy your copy here.