Memories Of Flames
Armand Cabasson, Isabel Reid
(translator)
ISBN: 9781906040840
In
March 1814, less than seventy thousand French troops anxiously wait for the much
larger allied armies coming from the east to invade Paris; while the English already
have taken Bordeaux and Italy appears ready to fall. The Emperor’s brother Joseph Bonaparte fears
Paris will burn, but adding to his gloomy outlook is the assassination in his
home of key military genius,
sexagenarian Colonel Berle with burn marks on the corpse. Aware of Lieutenant
Colonel Quentin Margont’s deft handling of a sensitive matter for the Emperor's
stepson Prince Eugène de Beauharnais (see The Officer's Prey), Joseph
and “The Limping Devil” Talleyrand order him to
investigate discreetly Berle’s murder.
Based on paid information
provided by Swords of the King member Charles de Varencourt to Joseph, the
Emperor’s brother insists Margont join these fiercely dedicated Royalists masquerading
as Chevalier Quentin de Langè. Though Margont expects to die, he is offered no
choice besides going undercover inside a fanatical group who vehemently believe
the end justifies the means even if thousands of innocent French must die. As Margont struggles to be accepted by the
suspicious Royalists in spite of de Varencourt’s sponsorship, a second homicide
similar to that of Berle occurs.
The third Napoleonic
Murders (see Wolf Hunt) is a great historical mystery
due mostly to the profound look at the mental state of the French troops
knowing what most likely will happen to them and the Royalists rationalizing
they save France from worse destruction.
Conflicted Margont is fantastic as he fears capture yet needs
justice.
Harriet Klausner
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