Helpful Score: 1
I finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard. This is the first of his books I have read.
It has the crass multi faceted Vidocq the father of modern investigative techniques, teaming up with the young Dr. Carpentier whose father was Physician to the children of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette while they were imprisoned in the Temple.
Called to investigate the murder of a man with Dr. Carpentiers name and address found with the body, Vidocq finds he is not just investigating a murder but the possibility that the young Dauphin has some how survived, against all odds.
It is a imaginative and very well written treatment of the myth, completely plausible with just enough doubt to understand why people believed for so long that he could have survived. A great ending twist that made me smile. I enjoyed it very much. I have Mr. Timothy on my TBR shelf and will be reading that soon, Bayard will be an auto buy for me. I have also been told that the audio version is excellent narrated by Simon Vance.
It has the crass multi faceted Vidocq the father of modern investigative techniques, teaming up with the young Dr. Carpentier whose father was Physician to the children of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette while they were imprisoned in the Temple.
Called to investigate the murder of a man with Dr. Carpentiers name and address found with the body, Vidocq finds he is not just investigating a murder but the possibility that the young Dauphin has some how survived, against all odds.
It is a imaginative and very well written treatment of the myth, completely plausible with just enough doubt to understand why people believed for so long that he could have survived. A great ending twist that made me smile. I enjoyed it very much. I have Mr. Timothy on my TBR shelf and will be reading that soon, Bayard will be an auto buy for me. I have also been told that the audio version is excellent narrated by Simon Vance.
Vidocq is the legendary founder and chief of a newly created plain clothes police force in Paris. Known as the father of modern investigative techniques, his disguise mastery and surveillance methods help him capture the criminals he seeks.
In this tale he works with Hector Carpentier, a medical student. whose father was a physician to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's children when they were imprisoned. The two are investigating a man's murder who has a Dr. Carpentiers name and address in his clothing. The case seems entangled with the royal family who were imprisoned in the Paris's Temple, the black tower of the title. Officials had proclaimed the death of the dauphin, Prince Louis-Charles, while imprisoned. And, yet the death of the ten-year-old was in doubt.
This is 19th century Paris as it really existed. Vidocq, leads the investigation and accepts the identity of Hector while the pair investigate numerous bodies that seem to connect to the note on the body. The mystery deepens when the two discover a simple man going by the named Charles Rapskeller. He may be the prince. But the question remains: Is he or isn't he? And, how is this involved with the murders? Good, good read.
In this tale he works with Hector Carpentier, a medical student. whose father was a physician to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's children when they were imprisoned. The two are investigating a man's murder who has a Dr. Carpentiers name and address in his clothing. The case seems entangled with the royal family who were imprisoned in the Paris's Temple, the black tower of the title. Officials had proclaimed the death of the dauphin, Prince Louis-Charles, while imprisoned. And, yet the death of the ten-year-old was in doubt.
This is 19th century Paris as it really existed. Vidocq, leads the investigation and accepts the identity of Hector while the pair investigate numerous bodies that seem to connect to the note on the body. The mystery deepens when the two discover a simple man going by the named Charles Rapskeller. He may be the prince. But the question remains: Is he or isn't he? And, how is this involved with the murders? Good, good read.
