Publisher: Bantam Press
SYNOPSIS:
February 2014: Police Capitaine Ines Picaut is called out to investigate a blaze in the old town of Orleans. This is the fourth in a series of increasingly brutal arson attacks, and at the centre of the conflagration lies a body. An Islamic extremist faction claims responsibility, but Ines and her team cannot trace its whereabouts, or any evidence of its existence. And a partly melted memory card found in the victim's throat is the only clue to his identity. September 1429: Joan of Arc is in the process of turning the tide of The Hundred Years' War. English troops have Orleans under siege, and Tomas Rustbeard, the Duke of Bedford's most accomplished agent, finally has her in his sights. But he knows that killing 'The Maid' - the apparently illiterate peasant girl who nonetheless has an unmatched sense of military strategy and can ride a warhorse in battle - is not enough. He must destroy the legend that has already grown around her. And to do that, he must get close enough to discover who she really is. More fires rage and the death toll mounts while Ines fights to discover what connects an expert in the analysis of war graves, the unquenchable ambitions of the Family which seeks to hold the city in its absolute power, and the discredited historical theories of her own late and much lamented father. When Tomas risks everything to infiltrate the hotly defended inner circle of the Saviour of France, he finally discovers a secret that will prove as explosive nearly six hundred years later as it would do if revealed in his own time. As each thread of Manda Scott's immaculately interwoven narrative unfolds, Ines and Tomas's quests become linked across the centuries. And in their pursuit of the truth, they find that love is as enduring as myth - but can lead to the greatest and most heart-breaking of sacrifices.
REVIEW:
Ah Manda Scott, an historical author who not only always finds a way to keep me glued but presents tales in a way that very few others seem to be able to do so. Here, within this book is a tale told from two points of view, the rich world of modern day Orleans with the time of Joan of Arc
Its definitely a richly woven story and when added to her cracking prose as well as characters you want to spend time around generates a book that really won’t let you go until the final page is turned.
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