A "delicious" historical mystery featuring a Paris detective and master of disguise by the author of The Pale Blue Eye (Entertainment Weekly).

Chief of a newly created plainclothes police force, Vidocq is a man whose name sends terror rippling through the Parisian underworld of 1818 -- and the inconsequential life of Hector Carpentier is violently shaken when Vidocq storms into it. A former medical student living in his mother's Latin Quarter boardinghouse, Hector finds himself dragged into a dangerous mystery surrounding the fate of the dauphin, the ten-year-old son of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette presumed to have suffered a cruel death years earlier in Paris's dreaded Temple. But the truth of what happened may be even more shocking -- and it will fall to an aimless young man and the most feared detective in Paris to see justice done for a frightened little boy in a black tower... no matter what the cost.

Inspired by the colorful real-life detective who became legendary in his native France, The Black Tower showcases "all the narrative verve and sly wit -- both plot twists and turns of phrase -- that make [Bayard's] books such a pleasure to read" (The Washington Post).

"Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the nineteenth century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand." -- The New York Times Book Review

"A writer of historical thrillers in the vein of Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist, and nineteenth-century writers such as Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Stellar... Few writers today can match the author's skill in devising an intelligent thriller with heart." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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• Mystery, Thriller & SuspenseMysteryHistorical
• Literature & FictionHistorical FictionMystery, Thriller & Suspense
• Literature & FictionHistorical FictionUnited States

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• Print Length: 480 Pages
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