⭐⭐⭐
Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
A murder mystery set in Paris during the reign of Louis XV. Two prostitutes are found murdered with their faces removed. Time for his majesty's inspector of strange and unexplained deaths (and his trusty sidekick monk/C.S.I) to step in. However the underage sex workers were known to the royal family (art imitating life?)
Inspector Volnay must tread a tightrope to conclude his investigation. Power lies with the king, Madame Pompadour , the kings ex lover and now pimp in chief seeks to consolidate her role as the Kings confidant. Sartine the corrupt chief of police seeks to advance his position through any means possible. Add to this two secret societies, religious groups (who turn a blind eye abuse because the perpetrator is a powerful catholic, again the more things change the more they stay the same!) Various henchmen, whom you don't know belong to which group because everyone is a spy. Oh and the all round chancer Casanova and a love interest are thrown into the mix as well.
It has the makings of a good period murder mystery, e.g. C.J Sansome's Shardlake series, but with too many threads, groups and red herrings the plot sort of disappears up its own arse. A pity because there is a decent book hiding within this one.
I enjoyed reading about Volnay and the detective work. The writer brings to life the poverty and depravity of Paris and the wealth and depravity of Versailles. Its an OK 3 out 5 for me, could have been a 4 but the ending did little to resolve the status quo so you are left thinking that after all that effort nothing has really changed.
No comments:
Post a Comment