roshk99's review against another edition
4.0
This fabulous book tells of a detective and doctor, who investigate a mystery involving the possibility of the survival of Charles, son of Louis XVI. Enthralling read.
cleocleveland's review
4.0
Very good literary historical mystery with excellent narration by Simon Vance. As others have said, Vidocq makes the book in many ways. He's a larger than life character (as I believe he was in real life) - gruff, profane, brilliant and humorous. My only complaint is that the last 25% or so gets darker than I was really comfortable with but I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to violence to defenseless characters.
chasing_dallas's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book and it is probably 3.5 stars but it was not so stunning to deserve a 4 star rating. The characters and story was interesting and actually seemed to get better as the story built. I would consider this a good airplane or beach book.
mycouscous's review
For some reason or another, this just couldn't hold my attention or interest. Was listening to it in the car and finished almost two discs, but for the life of me, I couldn't tell you what happened.
destak's review
5.0
I am giving the audiobook version 5 stars. The story was okay, but the performance was incredible. If you've never listed to an audiobook, I would recommend this as one to begin with...but then again, it might be setting the bar too high for the rest.
lsneal's review
3.0
An enjoyable mystery, centering on the fate of the royal children of Marie Antoinette after the French Revolution.
lc8558's review
5.0
What if the dauphin Louis-Charles did not die, but successfully escaped? This book examines the question and brings in the great inspector Vidocq. An interesting take looking back on the revolution.
innatejames's review
3.0
gripping historical mystery about the Bourbon's right after the revolution when France reinstated the royal family.
lnatal's review
5.0
Just arrived from Sweden, kindly sent by my dear friend Bettie. It will follow its journey to USA....
ibeforem's review
4.0
I love historical fiction that introduces me to a time I’m not familiar with, in this case, the French Restoration following the ousting of Napoleon. Unlike The Firemaster’s Mistress, a recently unfinished read which also took place in an unfamiliar era (early 1600s England), I almost immediately got a feel for Paris in the early 1800s. One is pulled into this story not by Hector Carpentier, who serves as little more than narrator for most of the book, but by Vidocq, the eccentric yet extremely effective police chief who comes to Hector in search of a murderer. And, someone who actually existed! A fact I did not know until after I finished. That’s another mark of good historical fiction to me… it sends me straight to Wikipedia to learn more. It left me wanting to know about the real mystery of the Dauphin, and whether he really did live or die. History does not truly know, and by the time you get to the end of this book, you’re not sure Fiction knows either.
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