The Dante Trap
by Arnaud Delalande
Pietro
Luigi Viravolta de Lansalt, alias The Black Orchid, languishes in
a noisome dungeon; next door is Casanova. Pietro is Venice’s
most dashing swordsman, lover, secret agent and bon viveur but now
faces charges that could lead to his execution. Fortunately, he
has at least one powerful friend who has told the Doge that he is
the only man to unmask The Chimera is a horrifying murderer whose
first (but by no means last) crime was to kill an actor in a gruesome
yet extravagant style. Pietro is soon to discover, as the bodies
start to pile up, that his adversary is the kingpin of a vast conspiracy
hoping to end the fading glory of La Serenissima…
Mix Dennis Wheatley with Paul Doherty, throw in a bit of James Bond
and add some period details and voila, you have this delightfully
readable tale. I honestly didn’t know people still wrote books
quite like this, and what fun that they do! There are not only murders
and conspiracies in here, but black magic and all the spectacle
of Venice during Carnivale. You can even find out all about Venice
and its history reading this, as interspersed with the action are
plenty of facts, some of them presented in a rather obvious way
but germane to understanding the uniqueness of Venice. As well as
the plot and history lesson, the author paints a convincing picture
of this inimitable city at its decadent height, replete with masks,
palazzos, gondolas, sinister cults, spies, dungeons and dangerous
politics. I am unsure whether this is the first in a new series,
but I do hope so. In a genre over-filled with certain places and
time periods, it is always a treat to come across something new.
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The
Book
|
Weidenfeld & Nicholson (Orion) |
11 June 2007 |
Hardback |
9780297852025 |
Historical Crime - 1756, Venice, Italy |
More
at Amazon.com |
Excerpt |
NOTE: Some gory scenes |
The
Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
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