The Black Tower: A Novel

A "delicious" historical mystery featuring a Paris detective and master of disguise by the author of The Pale Blue Eye (Entertainment Weekly) .Chief of a newly created plainclothes police force, Vidocq is a man whose name sends terror rippling through the Parisian underworld of 1818 - and the inconsequential life of Hector Carpentier is violently shaken when Vidocq storms into it. A former medical student living in his mother's Latin Quarter boardinghouse, Hector finds himself dragged into a dangerous mystery surrounding the fate of the dauphin, the ten-year-old son of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette presumed to have suffered a cruel death years earlier in Paris's dreaded Temple. But the truth of what happened may be even more shocking - and it will fall to an aimless young man and the most feared detective in Paris to see justice done for a frightened little boy in a black tower . . . no matter what the cost.Inspired by the colorful real-life detective who became legendary in his native France, The Black Tower showcases "all the narrative verve and sly wit - both plot twists and turns of phrase - that make [Bayard's] books such a pleasure to read" (The Washington Post) ."Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the nineteenth century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand." - The New York Times Book Review"A writer of historical thrillers in the vein of Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist, and nineteenth-century writers such as Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo." - The Wall Street Journal"Stellar . . . Few writers today can match the author's skill in devising an intelligent thriller with heart." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)