Just Announced: The Children's & YA Book Awards Winners Explore Now

Memory of Flames (Napoleonic Murders Series #3)

Add to Wishlist

Memory of Flames (Napoleonic Murders Series #3)

Paperback

$15.95

View All Available Formats & Editions

Paperback
$15.95

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

Qualifies for Free Shipping
PICK UP IN STORE
Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Overview

March 1814. With the allied armies of Russia, Austria, and Prussia advancing, Paris is in real danger of falling to occupying forces for the first time in four-hundred years. In the final installment of The Napoleonic Murders series, Armand Cabasson creates a gripping and totally convincing narrative.

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781906040840
Publisher:	Gallic Books Limited
Publication date:	12/02/2014
Series:	Napoleonic Murders Series , #3
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Armand Cabasson is a prize-winning author and psychiatrist who lives in the north of France. He is a member of the French Napoleonic Society and has used his extensive research to create a vivid portrait of the Napoleonic campaigns.

Isabel Reid studied History and French at Oxford Universityand has lived in France and Geneva.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/20/2014
Set in 1814, Cabasson’s exceptional third Napoleonic Murders whodunit (after Wolf Hunt) finds Bonaparte’s depleted forces reeling as the allies advance on Paris. Against that dramatic backdrop, the emperor’s self-important older brother, Joseph, believes that royalists plan to murder key members of the team charged with defending the city. The first victim, Colonel Berle, was working at home on a proposal for Joseph to “transform the mound at Montmartre into an impregnable redoubt.” Besides torturing and mutilating Berle, his assassin left behind a royalist emblem, a “white rosette with a medallion in the middle decorated with a fleur-de-lis in the shape of an arrowhead crossed with a sword” known as the Swords of the King. Joseph orders Lt. Col. Quentin Margont to infiltrate the royalist movement and identify the killer as well as discover the plotters’ broader schemes. Cabasson ratchets up the tension masterfully as both the investigation and the assault on the city near their end. The intricate storytelling and sophisticated character development make this one of the best historical mysteries of recent years. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

‘Combines the suspense of a thriller with the compelling narrative of a war epic’ Le Parisien

‘Cabasson skilfully weaves an intriguing mystery into a rich historical background’ Mail on Sunday

‘With vivid scenes of battle and military life ... Cabasson’s atmospheric novel makes a splendid war epic’ Sunday Telegraph

'The author ably combines the two elements of murder investigation and epic war novel, providing the reader with the historical background in a convincing but naturalistic way that does not interfere with the flow of the story' Eurocrime

'[Cabasson] draws on his extensive knowledge of the era to create accurate portrayals of the time and people' Napoleon Series

'This Napoleonic Wars mystery is a great historical whodunit .. The protagonist is fabulous' Follow the Clue

'Cabasson strikes a good balance between battle scenes and the investigation.' Publisher's Weekly, starred review

'The historic information and Cabasson's ability to make the characters and events vivid was an added pleasure' Book Garden

From the Publisher

2014-10-23
Cabasson's (Wolf Hunt, 2008, etc.) third Quentin Margont novel finds the loyal republican soldier caught up in the home-front chaos brought on by Bonaparte's retreat from Russia.It's March 1814, and the Little Corporal is being driven home by the allied armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia and more. Lt. Col. Margont has been relegated to rear-echelon duty because his mentor, Col. Saber, raised the hackles of superior officers. Margont, an experienced officer with a talent for solving unusual problems, is ordered to appear at the offices of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's older brother. There he meets the inept sibling and the "limping devil," Talleyrand. The pair want him to infiltrate a royalist conspiracy group, Swords of the King, that has apparently assassinated Col. Berle, who's drawing up plans for the defense of the capital. Cabasson knows his revolutionary history and its ever fluid loyalties and betrayals. His sketches of Margont—who "tended to see everything as black or white"—and Joseph, who styles himself Joseph I, King of Spain, and Talleyrand—who sees a "world of infinite shades of grey"—kick off the story marvelously. Margont copes with duplicity while being a duplicitous undercover agent himself. With a macabre back story, the conspiracy's leader, Vicomte Louis de Leaume, proves a great catalyst, though he fades away as the conspiracy ripens following the Battle of Montmartre. As with his depiction of that battle and the disarray on Paris streets following the allied occupation, Cabasson's descriptions of dank Paris garrets and candle-lit meetings seem spot-on, right down to his antagonist's motivation being more personal —a little psycho-history here—than political. Cabasson's discussions on the "paradox of liberty," women's rights, religion and more come across well in translation, and his anecdotal exploration of curare's coming to Europe fits the narrative perfectly. A solid combination of historical fiction and adventure perhaps better appreciated by those familiar with the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.

Kirkus Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews