Jacey Bedford's Journal

This is a re-read via Audible, read by Grover Gardner.

Miles and his cousin Ivan are sent to Cetaganda to represent Barrayar at the funeral of the haut-Empress, who has died of natural causes. On arrival, Miles and Ivan's shuttle is misdirected to a deserted service bay and  a stranger accosts them, leaving behind a strange rod after being driven off. Later when the dead empress' servant, Ba Lura, is found murdered at the foot of the funeral bier, Miles recognises the Ba as their aggressor. Thus begins a complicated plot. Miles meets the neautiful haut Rian Degtiar, one of the haut ladies who control the Cetagandian gene bank. The strange rod, which Miles returns to her, is the key to the bank, but it turns out that it's a fake. Miles takes on the job of finding the original rather than handing the problem over to the authorities. He suspects one of the governors of Cetaganda's outlying colonies, though it turns out to be not the one he thought it was. After a few twists and turns, three 'pranks' - which could have proved fatal - a kidnapping and a capture, Miles solves the problem. The emperor awards Miles the Order of Merit, but politely suggests he should leave Cetaganda immediately before he causes any more mayhem. Haut Rian Degtiar becomes the next empress.