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Book Review of The Black Tower

The Black Tower
The Black Tower
Author: Louis Bayard
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Hardcover
I-F-Letty avatar reviewed on + 73 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


I finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard. This is the first of his books I have read.

It has the crass multi faceted Vidocq the father of modern investigative techniques, teaming up with the young Dr. Carpentier whose father was Physician to the children of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette while they were imprisoned in the Temple.

Called to investigate the murder of a man with Dr. Carpentiers name and address found with the body, Vidocq finds he is not just investigating a murder but the possibility that the young Dauphin has some how survived, against all odds.

It is a imaginative and very well written treatment of the myth, completely plausible with just enough doubt to understand why people believed for so long that he could have survived. A great ending twist that made me smile. I enjoyed it very much. I have Mr. Timothy on my TBR shelf and will be reading that soon, Bayard will be an auto buy for me. I have also been told that the audio version is excellent narrated by Simon Vance.