Christine De Pizan Mystery

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?

Scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan must discover who wants to kill the king in the second of this richly imagined historical mystery series set in fourteenth-century France. Paris, 1393. A masquerade ball at the palace ends in tragedy, with four revelers 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 rumor, 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?

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 rumors 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?

Christine de Pizan is in danger when she is sent to the Priory of Poissy to catch the killer of a young nun in this vividly imagined historical mystery set in fourteenth-century France. Paris, 1399. Scribe Christine de Pizan is sent to the Priory of Poissy by the palace to copy a manuscript for the prioress. But the prioress already has many copyists at the priory, and Christine senses that something is amiss. Her suspicions are confirmed when the prioress reveals that one of the sisters has been found murdered in the cloister. Fearing for the welfare of the king's young daughter who resides at the abbey, she is eager for Christine to find out who killed the young nun-and why. As Christine investigates, she uncovers dark mischief and closely guarded secrets, but can she unmask a killer?