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Title: The Rhetoric of Death
Author: Judith Rock
Genre: Historical mystery (17th century Paris)
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A Jesuit brother gets caught up in the Counter-Reformation and is sent to Paris to teach ballet and rhetoric as a way to keep out of trouble. But when students turn up missing, he cannot help but get involved in what turns out to be an increasingly political plot.
Thoughts: I had initially intended to give this book a much stronger rating. Charles du Luc is an endearing character, devout but troubled with a sense of wonder and curiousity that will continue to get him in trouble throughout the book. The portrait of historical Paris, from the progressive Jesuit school in the Latin Quarter to the beggar-inhabited Louvre, is fascinating and beautifully drawn. (Although there are some passages that I sensed were included solely because the author came across factoids in her research that she wanted to include. It was ok; they were sufficiently interesting that I was glad she did so, even if it was not always perfectly graceful.)
A nice mystery gets set up when the lead dancer in the upcoming ballet for the king bolts from the classroom and mysteriously disappears. When the vanished student's little brother is nearly trampled in the street, Du Luc suspects there is more going on. The plot thickens at a good rate, introducing politics, religious wars, seduction, false priests, adultery, royal displeasure, and shocks from Du Luc's own past to increasingly raise the stakes and muddy the waters.
However, given how believable many of the motives are of some of the suspects and how many red herrings are thrown in, I was terribly disappointed by the final revelation of the murderer.
(Slight spoilers)
Finding that he's basically an Iago evil-for-the-lulz type seems a cheat. There were lots of excellent reasons for murder, from religious conviction to sexual jealousy to ambition to desperation to desire for order. The actual conclusion was abrupt, mostly unguessable, and unworthy of the characters.
Also, I found Charles' last desperate act to be rather ineffectual and foolish.
But overall, it's still a fairly enjoyable book packed full of fascinating tidbits. It's a pity the end did not quite live up to the rest.
Author: Judith Rock
Genre: Historical mystery (17th century Paris)
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A Jesuit brother gets caught up in the Counter-Reformation and is sent to Paris to teach ballet and rhetoric as a way to keep out of trouble. But when students turn up missing, he cannot help but get involved in what turns out to be an increasingly political plot.
Thoughts: I had initially intended to give this book a much stronger rating. Charles du Luc is an endearing character, devout but troubled with a sense of wonder and curiousity that will continue to get him in trouble throughout the book. The portrait of historical Paris, from the progressive Jesuit school in the Latin Quarter to the beggar-inhabited Louvre, is fascinating and beautifully drawn. (Although there are some passages that I sensed were included solely because the author came across factoids in her research that she wanted to include. It was ok; they were sufficiently interesting that I was glad she did so, even if it was not always perfectly graceful.)
A nice mystery gets set up when the lead dancer in the upcoming ballet for the king bolts from the classroom and mysteriously disappears. When the vanished student's little brother is nearly trampled in the street, Du Luc suspects there is more going on. The plot thickens at a good rate, introducing politics, religious wars, seduction, false priests, adultery, royal displeasure, and shocks from Du Luc's own past to increasingly raise the stakes and muddy the waters.
However, given how believable many of the motives are of some of the suspects and how many red herrings are thrown in, I was terribly disappointed by the final revelation of the murderer.
(Slight spoilers)
Finding that he's basically an Iago evil-for-the-lulz type seems a cheat. There were lots of excellent reasons for murder, from religious conviction to sexual jealousy to ambition to desperation to desire for order. The actual conclusion was abrupt, mostly unguessable, and unworthy of the characters.
Also, I found Charles' last desperate act to be rather ineffectual and foolish.
But overall, it's still a fairly enjoyable book packed full of fascinating tidbits. It's a pity the end did not quite live up to the rest.
