In the Company of Fools
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A baby abandoned in the palace gardens leads scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan into a mystery involving murder, superstition and scandal in fourteenth-century France.
Paris, 1396. Scribe Christine de Pizan is shocked when the Duke of Orleans' fools find a baby, wrapped in rags and covered in sores, abandoned in the palace gardens. Was there really a wicked plan to substitute the child for the queen's own baby daughter and blame the Duchess of Orleans, Valentina Visconti? Who would commit such an evil act, and why?
Accused of being a sorceress, Valentina is the victim of much slander and has powerful enemies at the palace, where rumours of witchcraft and superstition run riot. Convinced of the duchess's innocence, Christine is determined to uncover the truth, and soon makes a number of disturbing discoveries. Could the palace fools be the key to unlocking the mystery?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's 1386 in Bayard's immersive third French Medieval mystery (after 2019's In the Shadow of the Enemy), and the bouts of madness of Charles VI are of growing concern. Some members of the king's court suggest that they're the result of sorcery on the part of Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orl ans and wife of the king's brother. Meanwhile, in an atmosphere rife with accusations of witchcraft and evil omens, the king's fools find a baby girl wrapped in dirty rags, her face blackened by grease, in the king's garden. In this condition, the child would be considered "a gift' from the Devil" and destroyed. To spare the baby this fate, the fools ask court scribe Christine de Pizan for help. She takes the infant home and vows to find her mother. When a woman is found dead in the garden the next day, Christine suspects a connection. As she delves deeper, she uncovers a sordid tale of revenge and murder. Christine's sound observations stand in nice contrast to the prevailing belief in magic. Fans of well-researched historical mysteries will be rewarded.