First published 2012
Vatican courtesan Damiata arrives in the fortress city of Imola with an impossible mission. Pope Alexander VI has sent her to investigate the murder of his beloved illegitimate son Juan, and failure means death for her own child, whom the Borgia pope holds hostage. In Imola, she becomes entangled in the deadly schemes of Duke Valentino, the pope's surviving son, who faces threats from the condottieri, a ruthless alliance of mercenary commanders. As bodies multiply and cryptic messages appear at each crime scene, Damiata realizes the killer walks among these brutal warlords. She turns to two unlikely allies: Niccolò Machiavelli, a minor Florentine diplomat, and Leonardo da Vinci, Valentino's brilliant military engineer. Together they race across war-torn Italy, following a trail of riddles that leads through ancient superstitions and dangerous obsessions. Machiavelli applies his emerging theories about human nature while Leonardo employs his methodical observations to decode the killer's pattern. Their investigation will uncover a truth that reshapes their understanding of evil itself.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unlikely-allies
Setting: Imola, Italy
Period: Renaissance
399 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday