I'm reading the series in sequence. I wasn't as captivated by this book as by the earlier books. It seemed a bit more mechanically constructed. When Bruno figures it all out... well, I'm sure the solution has places for all the clues, but it seemed a bit contrived. The real passions of Bruno didn't really play any part in the plot - they appear in more like cameo roles.

The book was still a plenty fun read, and we do get plunged a bit into French history. I am a bit fascinated by Henry IV ... we don't meet him in this book, but the passions surrounding him do appear. It's good historical fiction, for sure. ( )

7/10 (good): A decent thriller, set in Paris in 1585. The historical background of the French court is accurate enough, but the plot itself is too far-fetched to be anything other than an entertaining read. ( )

After a gap of four and a half years, this is the fifth book in this series of murder mysteries featuring historical Italian religious renegade Giordano Bruno, a refugee from the Inquisition in his Italian homeland in the 1580s. Like the others, it is intricately plotted, but Bruno seems more in his element here and less incongruous as an investigator of a murder mystery surrounding the French throne, than he did in his previous adventures set in England, where I thought his sleuthing was always hindered by his sticking out like a sore thumb in Protestant England of the high Elizabethan era. Despite this being set during the religious wars between Catholic and Protestant, the mystery eventually resolves to being about different more personal issues surrounding King Henri III, his wife Louise and the notorious Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, and the future of the Valois dynasty. Some colourful characters here (historical and fictional) make this a rich brew and I am glad there is at least one more book in this series, to be published in spring 2020. ( )

In Paris, Giordano Bruno asks a friend from his university days for help. A few days later the friend is beaten up and before he dies he whispers a cryptic message to Bruno. Bruno must find who the murderer is before the murderer and the people behind the murderer decide he knows too much.

It wasn't as immediately gripping as the previous instalment in the series, but once it got going we had excitement, laughter, and tears enough. I do think Bruno's escape from the slaughterhouse stretched credibility to its limits, though. ( )

Excellent episode in the ongoing stories about Gordian Bruno. This one is set in Paris and has Bruno investigating at set of murders in the highly charged atmosphere of the Catholic League, under the control of the Duke of Guise, and King Henri III. Bruno is compelled by each party to prove it was the other side that caused the killing. As always, Parris produces a rollicking narrative with plenty of thrills and twists. ( )