The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen

Summary: Georgiana's friend Belinda has inherited a small house. They go to inspect it while Darcy is away on “business.” Eventually, there is a murder that Georgiana has to solve.

The Royal Spyness series has been going on for quite a while. The series is a cozy mysteries series, and it is pretty fluffy. But I have enjoyed them and mostly listened to them as audiobooks. The series' weaknesses are still present, but I still mostly enjoy the series despite them.

Georgiana and Darcy have returned from their honeymoon. Darcy has continued his undercover work for the crown, and he is off on another trip. Since she has inherited a house, Georgiana no longer has the same money problems as she did earlier in the series. But she still is not really interested in settling down and living a conventional life of the wealthy aristocracy. Because she is bored, she agrees to go with Belinda to Cornwall to inspect her inherited old cottage.

Belinda spent time in the area as a child and pre-teen and played with others. But her grandmother sold her house, and Belinda no longer came to visit. Several of the children she played with have grown up and become important in the community. Belinda and Georgiana stay with one couple and find a situation they have to figure out how to deal with. That becomes another situation, and Georgiana has to save Belinda.

There was a very clear reference to the book/movie Rebecca and the type of gaslighting and manipulation that was in that story. The references to Rebecca gave strong hints to the story and the solution to the mystery. There is a split between Georgiana's experience solving mysteries and her negative self-perception. I am glad that now that Georgiana and Darcy are married, the angst over that relationship has mostly passed. The next book in the series was released last month, and it is a Christmas-themed mystery.