City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris"An artful reconstruction of seventeenth-century Paris with riveting storytelling." —The New Yorker In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring order to Paris after the brutal deaths of two magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic and fearless, discovers a network of witches, poisoners, and priests whose reach extends all the way to the king’s court at Versailles. Based on court transcripts and Reynie’s compulsive note-taking, Holly Tucker’s engrossing true-crime narrative makes the characters breathe on the page as she follows the police chief into the dark labyrinths of crime-ridden Paris, the halls of royal palaces, secret courtrooms, and torture chambers. |
Contents
The Street at the End of the World | |
To Market | |
King of Hearts | |
The Dew and the Torrent | |
The Door Marked 1 | |
Dinner Guests | |
The Question | |
Monsters | |
She Gave Her Soul Gently to the Devil | |
Quanto | |
Search and Seizure | |
A Noble Pair | |
The Burning Chamber | |
He Will Strangle | |
She Will Turn Us All into Poisoners | |
Madame Is Dying Madame Is Dead | |
Poison in the | |
An Alchemists Last Words | |
The Faithful Servant | |
Brinvilliers Is in the Air | |
Cease Your Scandals | |
House of Porcelain | |
Offering | |
The Sneakiest and Meanest Woman in the World | |
Burn after Reading | |
Other editions - View all
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of ... Holly Tucker No preview available - 2018 |
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of ... Holly Tucker No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
accusations Affair apothecary Archives arrest Arsenal asked Athénaïs Bastille Bosse Bouillon Brinvilliers Brinvilliers's brother carriage Charas Château Châtelet Chaussée Chéron Christopher Glaser claimed Clément Colbert court crimes d'Aubray death Desgrez Dreux duchess duchess of Bouillon duke Early Modern Early Modern France father Filastre fols Fontanges français France French Grange guards Guibourg Henrietta Anne Histoire husband Ibid interrogation king king’s knew La Grange La Reynie La Voisin later Launay Leféron Lepère Lesage letter lieutenant Louis XIV Louise Louvois Louvois’s Luxembourg Madame de Montespan Madame de Sévigné Mademoiselle Maintenon Marie Marie-Marguerite Mariette marquise Mémoire minister mistress Monsieur Monstreux mother noblewoman Oeillets once Paris Parisians parlement Philippe Pirot poison police chief Poncet Pontchartrain Poulaillon powder priest Procès-verbal Question Revue Reynie Reynie's royal Saint-Germain Sainte-Croix secret servant Sévigné siècle streets told torture tribunal University Press Vallière Versailles Vigoureux Vincennes Voisin Voisin's daughter wife woman women wrote