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Sophie Burgoyne #7
Royal Fright: A 1920s tale of murder, mystery, and royal intrigue
London is about to explode and Burgoyne’s (Secret) Agency must stop the catastrophe — but only if they can find out who, when, where, and how before it’s too late!
It’s the 1920s and people are expected to call upon their own resources and use their wits to accomplish whatever task is set before them — as Sophie finds out. She and her agents are catapulted into Royal circles, where they attempt to do their very best. But when both King and country are imperilled, will their efforts be enough?
May contain escapism and British humour.
It’s the 1920s and people are expected to call upon their own resources and use their wits to accomplish whatever task is set before them — as Sophie finds out. She and her agents are catapulted into Royal circles, where they attempt to do their very best. But when both King and country are imperilled, will their efforts be enough?
May contain escapism and British humour.
- GenresMysteryHistorical
478 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 23, 2024
93 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 15, 2025
Not What I Hoped It Would Be
Having enjoyed the preceding books in this series, I hoped to feel the same way about this one. Unfortunately I do not. I found it too convoluted for one thing. I had to keep looking back to see who a character was. I was disappointed that Sophie and Sinjin didn’t have more interaction. I had a hard time slogging through to the end. There weee too many characters and plot twists and devices. Disappointed. I hope the next one is more like the others.
Having enjoyed the preceding books in this series, I hoped to feel the same way about this one. Unfortunately I do not. I found it too convoluted for one thing. I had to keep looking back to see who a character was. I was disappointed that Sophie and Sinjin didn’t have more interaction. I had a hard time slogging through to the end. There weee too many characters and plot twists and devices. Disappointed. I hope the next one is more like the others.
December 30, 2024
Sophie and her employees are recruited to help protect the King and his family from a series of death threats and at least two fake bombs. This involves following the Royals from Buckingham Palace to Sandringham and back again before Sophie is able to prove that the threats are a misdirection being used to draw resources away from the real target of the plotters. Before the case is solved, several illegal aliens are killed, a number of valuable paintings are stolen from several Stately Homes and a criminal network is revealed. Comic moments are provided by the King's parrot, Charlotte, a Jewish tailor from Brick Alley and a cabbie, among others. As usual, Sophie uses her observational skills and her logic to refocus the investigation and her friends as her eyes and ears in the palace. Bellamy has created a delightful group of characters for this series.
April 30, 2025
Sophie Burgoyne owns a temporary staff agency by day, but she and some of her closest friends also do some top secret work for the government at times.
There have been death threats made against King George and his family so while security has been enhanced, Sophie has been asked if she and her team can go to Sandringham with the royal family to try to uncover what is happening. The threats are signed by someone calling himself King Lud who claims to be the hereditary ruler of London. Whilst the team discover two fake bombs and a third bomb is thrown over the gate at Buckingham Palace, Sophie begins to suspect that the threats and bombs are a distraction to divert everyone's attention elsewhere.
Someone points out that if the intention was to really kill the King, Lud could have done so several times over, if the intention was to make the Police and Secret Service look bad a real bomb would have done the trick, therefore it seems likely that the purpose was theft. As a result of the bomb threats, the King cancels a planned visit to the Bank of England, which gives Sophie a starting point.
A team of criminals is digging through underground tunnels leading into the Bank of England's gold bullion vaults - but the evidence is highly circumstantial and the Directors of the Bank of England are too smug to consider that the bank might be vulnerable.
This was a good story, however towards the end (and this may have been in part because I had picked up and put down the book several times and was reading late at night) I completely lost track of who was who in the gang and in the cold light of day, other than the identity of Lud, I am still confused about the exact roles of the various underlings.
Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
There have been death threats made against King George and his family so while security has been enhanced, Sophie has been asked if she and her team can go to Sandringham with the royal family to try to uncover what is happening. The threats are signed by someone calling himself King Lud who claims to be the hereditary ruler of London. Whilst the team discover two fake bombs and a third bomb is thrown over the gate at Buckingham Palace, Sophie begins to suspect that the threats and bombs are a distraction to divert everyone's attention elsewhere.
Someone points out that if the intention was to really kill the King, Lud could have done so several times over, if the intention was to make the Police and Secret Service look bad a real bomb would have done the trick, therefore it seems likely that the purpose was theft. As a result of the bomb threats, the King cancels a planned visit to the Bank of England, which gives Sophie a starting point.
A team of criminals is digging through underground tunnels leading into the Bank of England's gold bullion vaults - but the evidence is highly circumstantial and the Directors of the Bank of England are too smug to consider that the bank might be vulnerable.
This was a good story, however towards the end (and this may have been in part because I had picked up and put down the book several times and was reading late at night) I completely lost track of who was who in the gang and in the cold light of day, other than the identity of Lud, I am still confused about the exact roles of the various underlings.
Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
January 2, 2025
Incredible Story
The Sophie Burgoyne books are such a pleasure.
“Royal Fright” is no exception.
Mr Bellamy weaves humor, satire and creative wit together to create a
delightful narrative that should delight even the most picky reader.
I strongly recommend this volume and the six earlier books.
The Sophie Burgoyne books are such a pleasure.
“Royal Fright” is no exception.
Mr Bellamy weaves humor, satire and creative wit together to create a
delightful narrative that should delight even the most picky reader.
I strongly recommend this volume and the six earlier books.
December 25, 2024
Always A Good Read
I was watching the calendar until this book was released, planning on reading it over the Christmas holidays, and I wasn’t disappointed. Such a rewarding blend of plots, noteworthy characters, and interesting settings. Thank you again for writing these!
I was watching the calendar until this book was released, planning on reading it over the Christmas holidays, and I wasn’t disappointed. Such a rewarding blend of plots, noteworthy characters, and interesting settings. Thank you again for writing these!
January 16, 2025
Okay
This was okay if rather too silly. The goings on in the tunnel were too daft for words and quite frankly I lost interest at that point! For a story that started out quite promising it was a disappointment.
This was okay if rather too silly. The goings on in the tunnel were too daft for words and quite frankly I lost interest at that point! For a story that started out quite promising it was a disappointment.
March 7, 2025
WOW!!!
This is a fantastic story. What a wonderful writer. I really enjoyed this book. I know/think it's a fantasy, but you never know what happened in the past.
Read this series if you enjoy historical fiction.
This is a fantastic story. What a wonderful writer. I really enjoyed this book. I know/think it's a fantasy, but you never know what happened in the past.
Read this series if you enjoy historical fiction.
January 6, 2025
What happened?
Sophie was questioning herself, she had no plan no backup affaires of a gun fight? It doesn’t make sense. Bring back the old style.
Sophie was questioning herself, she had no plan no backup affaires of a gun fight? It doesn’t make sense. Bring back the old style.
November 26, 2025
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews