The Rhetoric of Death

by Judith Rock

Overview

An "amazing"* debut historical novel (*Ariana Franklin, national betselling author of Grave Goods)

Paris, 1686: When The Bishop of Marseilles discovers that his young cousin Charles du Luc, former soldier and half-fledged Jesuit, has been helping heretics escape the king's dragoons, the bishop sends him far away-to Paris, where Charles is assigned to assist in teaching rhetoric and directing dance at the prestigious college of Louis le Grand.

Charles quickly embraces his new life and responsibilities. But on his first day, the school's star dancer disappears from rehearsal, and the next day another student is run down in the street. When the dancer's body is found under the worst possible circumstances, Charles is determined to find the killer in spite of being ordered to leave the investigation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101444122
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/05/2010
Series:	A Charles du Luc Novel , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	906,623
File size:	348 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Judith Rock, a modern dancer and choreographer for many years, founded Body and Soul Dance Company in Berkeley, California, toured extensively as a solo concert dancer, and studied baroque dance. Research for her PhD in art and theology took her to Paris, where she lived at the Jesuit Cultural Center and researched the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century ballets produced at the Paris Jesuit College of Louis le Grand.In a startling leap, Rock then spent several years as a police officer before taking that experience back to the stage as a playwright and actress. She was an auxiliary officer in the NYPD and later a part-time police officer in Minnesota, working midnight shifts.Rock has written on dance, art, and theology for many journals, and has been the artist in residence and taught and lectured at colleges, seminaries, and conferences across the United States and abroad. After years in New York, she and her husband now live in Sarasota, Florida. The Rhetoric of Death, her first novel, was a 2011 Barry Award nominee.

Editorial Reviews

Rock's superb historical debut opens with 28-year-old Charles du Luc arriving in 1686 Paris to serve as a teacher of rhetoric in a Jesuit school. He's spent seven years in the Society of Jesus and a stint in the French army that left him with a permanently damaged left arm. Soon after Charles takes up his position, Philippe Douté, a 16-year-old student under his charge, flees the school's grounds and disappears. A day later, a horseman almost runs down Philippe's younger brother in the street under circumstances that make Charles suspect that one enemy has targeted both boys. When Philippe's strangled corpse turns up in a latrine, Charles gets approval to look into the murder. His inquiry soon leads to danger for himself and his family. With an experienced writer's ease, Rock incorporates details of the political issues of the day into a suspenseful story line. Fans of Brother Cadfael, another military man turned priest sleuth, will be pleased. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Rock offers a debut novel rich with historical detail about everyday life in Paris, especially among the Jesuits, in the year 1686.

Twenty-eight-year-old Maître Charles Matthieu Beuvron du Luc has just completed the most difficult task of his young life by helping his distant cousin and love of his life, Pernelle, a Huguenot, escape from France. Charles and Pernelle were in love once, but she married another and Charles allayed his sorrow by marching off to war. Gravely injured, Charles decided upon his recovery to join the Jesuits and, although he has not yet taken his final vows, he has been shipped off to Paris by an uncle who discovered Charles' role in Pernelle's escape. The Huguenots remain in a dangerous place in the politics of the time, and aiding one is an offense not taken lightly. Charles presents himself at the College of Louis le Grand, where he is assigned as a rhetoric instructor. He is also tasked with helping to produce the school's annual production, which combines a play (in this case Latin tragedy) with an elaborate dance performance. As Charles settles into his new life, a student is murdered and another injured in a strange chain of events. Charles suspects that a high-ranking school official has ties to the crimes and sets out to solve the case. He follows the leads he uncovers, but is soon discovered and pressed into service by the police, who want him to spy for them. Soon, Charles finds himself a target—and even worse, he discovers that others are also in harm's way. Charles struggles to identify the killer against the backdrop of a Paris swollen with intrigue and religious strife. Rock's book, though somewhat overwritten, is meticulously researched. She captures a city and time that is lively, dangerous and politically charged, and makes it sing.

Readers will divine the good guys from the bad much faster than the likable and conscientious hero, but Rock's fine eye for historic detail and well-drawn characters will continue to engage readers long after they've put a name to the villain.

Kirkus Reviews