The Black Tower

Bayard's ably written historical whodunit fills in the blanks of a timeless mystery that history itself chose to leave obscure. The novel is a brilliant example of the genre, spun from the century-old rumors that the young son of the doomed Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI avoided their fate. Simon Vance intuitively understands the fun of this enterprise and attacks the narration with a headlong relish, voicing a cavalcade of characters from all strata of nineteenth-century Paris--from duchesses and marquis to thieves and prostitutes. Best of all is his portrayal of the fearsome Eugene Vidocq, the relentless, streetwise detective whose investigation of one murder leads to his determined pursuit into the fate of the young dauphin. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from November 24, 2008
Occasionally, a brilliant audio can improve upon the print original. Simon Vance's skillful enactment of a cast the size of Balzac's The Human Comedy
is a joy. The characters include the credibly naïve and incredibly good bourgeois narrator, Dr. Hector Carpentier; several members of the royal family; and, of course, the servants, soldiers and government hacks that form the majority of the populace. Most amazing is Vance's portrayal of Vidocq, a criminal turned police inspector. A master of masquerade, Vidocq takes on many disguises, complemented here by unique voices. When uncloaked, Vance returns Vidocq to his natural speech, a sort of East Ender drawl. Vance smartly avoids pasting French accents onto the characters. The pace is perfect, as Vance skillfully swirls the reader through a complex Restoration plot that is sure to please. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, July 21).

Starred review from July 21, 2008
A compelling and sympathetic narrator instantly draws the reader into Bayard’s stellar third historical. In 1818, the notorious Vidocq, a master detective who’s rumored to work on both sides of the law, pulls 26-year-old Parisian doctor Hector Carpentier into a torture-murder inquiry. The victim, Chrétien Leblanc, died without revealing that he was on his way to visit Carpentier, news that comes as a complete shock to the doctor, as the dead man was a stranger to him. Vidocq soon discovers that Leblanc was actually in search of Carpentier’s late father, who bore the same name. The elder Carpentier cared for Louis-Charles, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette’s young son, who died in prison in 1795. Bayard keeps the reader guessing until the end, though the puzzle aspect is less prominent than in his previous novel, The Pale Blue Eye
, which featured Edgar Allan Poe as sleuth. Few writers today can match the author’s skill in devising an intelligent thriller with heart.