Conspiracy (2016) by S. J. Parris
Good Reads meta data is 474 pages, rated 4.20 by 3254 litizens.
Genre: Historical fiction.
DNA: Garlic, oops, Gallic.
Tagline: It is worse than you think.
Verdict: I got lost in the backstabbing and betrayals.
That lady killer Giordano Bruno is at it for the fifth time, now in Paris of 1585. In addition to his harem he encounters a mountain of superfluous historical detail and a confusing cast of characters. Worse, he is inept, as usual, but gets away with it because this is a work of fiction.
Catherine d’ Medici is the villain-in-chief, and she cuts quite a figure. Her nearest rival is the Duke of Guise, who thinks he ought to be king since every mirror confirms that he is so damned kingly. Catherine’s son is King Henri III, and he occasionally, but rarely, acts kingly.
The wheels are turning for another religious ceremony of mutual slaughter since it has been so long since the last one in 1572. Check Saint Bartholomew’s CV for details. Along the way we get detailed descriptions of torture, not once but twice, and a recurrent emphasis on the smells of the city in those days before Pine-o-Scent.
I needed a score card to keep track of the characters, but the important ones are clearly differentiated: Catherine, Henri III, Guise, and, especially, Charles Paget, who plays all sides against the others. Also noteworthy was the anonymous doorman who wants no friends.
The tie-up to the plot is genetic. Catherine does what she does because she is a Medici. Why dig any deeper than the name? Very unsatisfactory.