Overview

Paris, 1393. A masquerade ball at the palace ends in tragedy, with four revellers burned to death. Was it an accident... or did someone deliberately hurl a flaming torch at the dancers? Convinced it was an act of murder and that the king himself was the real target, Queen Isabeau has asked Christine de Pizan to spend time at court in an attempt to uncover the identity of the would-be assassin. With the king struck down by an illness no one can understand, Christine finds the palace to be a hotbed of rumour, suspicion, petty rivalries and dark secrets: a place where no one can be trusted. Could the king's ambitious brother, the Duke of Orleans, be responsible for the deaths? One of his embittered uncles? Or could the killer lie even closer to home.?

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9781847519672

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Reviews

Historical details drive this period puzzle, whose heroine provides a steady presence against a backdrop of characters constantly fighting against their time and stations * <b><i>Kirkus Reviews</i></b> * Well-researched . History fans will enjoy this one * <b>Publishers Weekly</b> * The liberal sprinkling of quotations, many from the real de Pizan's own works, lend this intriguing tale an air of historical authenticity * <b>Booklist</b> * Bayard excels at describing people and places and puts her knowledge of the period to good use in crafting an engrossing whodunit * <b><i>Publishers Weekly</i></b> on <b><i>In the Presence of Evil</b></i> * This richly detailed and atmospheric historical mystery will draw readers into a fascinating medieval world that devotees of Ellis Peters and Ariana Franklin will savor * <b><i>Library Journal</i></b> on <b><i>In the Presence of Evil</b></i> *

Author Information

Tania Bayard is a freelance writer and lecturer specializing in medieval art, culture, and horticulture. She has taught art history at Fordham, Rutgers, and Hofstra universities and is the author of a number of non-fiction books, including A Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the Fourteenth Century. Previously, she was the curator of the Biblical Garden at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and assistant horticulturist at The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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