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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
reviewed on + 1452 more book reviews


Vidocq is the legendary founder and chief of a newly created plain clothes police force in Paris. Known as the father of modern investigative techniques, his disguise mastery and surveillance methods help him capture the criminals he seeks.

In this tale he works with Hector Carpentier, a medical student. whose father was a physician to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's children when they were imprisoned. The two are investigating a man's murder who has a Dr. Carpentiers name and address in his clothing. The case seems entangled with the royal family who were imprisoned in the Paris's Temple, the black tower of the title. Officials had proclaimed the death of the dauphin, Prince Louis-Charles, while imprisoned. And, yet the death of the ten-year-old was in doubt.

This is 19th century Paris as it really existed. Vidocq, leads the investigation and accepts the identity of Hector while the pair investigate numerous bodies that seem to connect to the note on the body. The mystery deepens when the two discover a simple man going by the named Charles Rapskeller. He may be the prince. But the question remains: Is he or isn't he? And, how is this involved with the murders? Good, good read.