Audiobook10 hours
In The Presence of Evil: A French Medieval Mystery
Written by Tania Bayard
Narrated by Steven Crossley
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
2.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Introducing scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan in the first of an intriguing new historical mystery series set in fourteenth-century France
Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about.
Then one of the king's favorites, Hugues de Precy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed. Can Christine prove Alix's innocence and save her from being burned at the stake?
Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about.
Then one of the king's favorites, Hugues de Precy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed. Can Christine prove Alix's innocence and save her from being burned at the stake?
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Titles in the series (4)
In The Presence of Evil: A French Medieval Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In the Shadow of the Enemy: A French Medieval Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Company of Fools Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMurder in the Cloister Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for In The Presence of Evil
Rating: 2.7 out of 5 stars
2.5/5
10 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Paris 1393 and scribe Christine de Pizan discovers a body, one that has been stabbed. Later Hugues de Precy, is found murdered, poisoned and his wife is accused. But Christine believes her innocent.
Unfortunately I struggled to finish this as I do enjoy historical mysteries of various kinds. I found it difficult to engage with the characters and therefore the story.
A NetGalley Book - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/51393, Christine works as a scribe for Queen Isabeau...When she comes across a prostitute carrying a bundle while being chased by a big barefoot man, the story takes shape. Christine gets a fleeting glimpse at the cover of the book, leather bound w/ odd symbols stamped into the cover.Later the same man breaks into the brothel, tearing it apart finds the bundle and takes it to King Charles, who is suffering from severe bouts of maniacal fits.Later when visiting the palace, Christine finds the man dead, stabbed to death by a familiar dagger behind a large chest, book missing.After the wedding festivities of one of the Queen's ladies turns into a flaming nightmare, Christine's friend, Alix de Clairy' is found face down next to her husband, who has been poisoned; Alix's hand over the flask.Christine knows her friend Alix is innocent and sets out to prove it. With the help of a local prostitute, Marion and against the urging of most everyone, Christine investigates the murder of the mysterious man & Alix's husband.The story had its merits, its plot held my interest. But I found the characters, other than Marion, bored me; they were flat and not particularly likable. Christine's children were mannerless brats whom she did not discipline, the daily girl was lazy and was allowed shoddy work and manners, her mother disrespectful of the fact that Christine worked because otherwise there would have been no money to keep the household going.I'll not be reading another.