City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris

By Holly Tucker

Categories: History

“Tucker writes with gusto . . . high drama.”—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring order to Paris after the brutal deaths of two magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic and fearless, discovers a network of witches, poisoners, and priests whose reach extends all the way to the king’s court at Versailles. Based on court transcripts and Reynie’s compulsive note-taking, Holly Tucker’s engrossing true-crime narrative makes the characters breathe on the page as she follows the police chief into the dark labyrinths of crime-ridden Paris, the halls of royal palaces, secret courtrooms, and torture chambers.

Recommended by 1 person

• John Green: “First, "City of Light, City of Poison," a history book that reads like a thriller about the first police chief of Paris investing a series of poisonings that may have involved aristocrats close to Louis the XIV. It is bonkers and I especially enjoyed the portrayals of what life was like for regular people in 17th century Paris.”