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Sigismondo #4
Poison for the Prince
Sigismondo, the courtier, mercenary, and sleuth who is as deft with his brains as he is with an ax, returns in this third tale of Renaissance Italy. Prince Scipione of Viverra is in danger: his vassal Carlotti has claimed the city of Mascia for his own, and the Pope is ready to give the Papal state to another if the Prince proves weak. Not only does the Prince need a victory, but he also needs to discover the Philosopher's Stone to make gold for his empty treasury. When Sigismondo arrives from Mascia he brings news of triumph - the Prince's condottiere, Ridolfo Ridolfi, has taken the city - but finds the Prince still in peril. Is it from those closest to him? Is his wife Isotta concealing an affair that threatens the Prince and his state? Does the hostage Donato Landucci want vengeance for his father's defeat? Has Ridolfi turned fickle? What about the mysterious alchemist, Doctor Vergilio or the celebrated holy friar Brother Ambrogio, who is using the people's fear of encroaching plague to preach sedition? Foul murder finally strikes, but who is poisoned and where will it lead? Sigismondo, accompanied, as always, by the shrewd halfwit Benno and Biondello the dog, is challenged time and again by those who would give poison to a prince...
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
Elizabeth Eyre
14 books10 followersAKA Susannah Stacey, Elizabeth Eyre is the pseudonym of the couple of writers Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey.
Jill Staynes writes her own novels as well as writing under the name of Elizabeth Eyre and Susannah Stacey with Margaret Storey. They were pupils at the same school where they invented bizarre characters and exchanged serial episodes about them. Their first book together. at the age of fifteen, was called 'Bungho, or why we went to Aleppo'. It was not offered for publication. They have both written stories for children, and together created the highly praised Superintendent Bone modern detective novels as well as this series of Italian Renaissance whodunnits.
Jill Staynes writes her own novels as well as writing under the name of Elizabeth Eyre and Susannah Stacey with Margaret Storey. They were pupils at the same school where they invented bizarre characters and exchanged serial episodes about them. Their first book together. at the age of fifteen, was called 'Bungho, or why we went to Aleppo'. It was not offered for publication. They have both written stories for children, and together created the highly praised Superintendent Bone modern detective novels as well as this series of Italian Renaissance whodunnits.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2019
Sigismondo, solitary soldier of fortune, has established a formidable reputation in Renaissance Italy. Now Prince Scipione of Viverra wants to bring Sigismondo into his service. He is surrounded by unidentifiable enemies weaving power schemes, while the Prince simply wants to pursue the Philosopher's Stone in peace. Now the Prince's enemies are Sigismondo's enemies, and none the less deadly for being reflected off Prince Scipione's position.
One of the elements to the chaos in Viverra is a friar "ripped from the headlines" - Brother Ambroglio is a doppelganger of Savonarola, and Viverra becomes the historical Florence's double.
The authors wield a clever rapier. Following the wave of conversions brought about by Brother Ambroglio's first sermon in the city:
"Quite a few considered that people in general, and neighbors and family in particular, should accept their obligation to behave in a more Christian manner. Indignation and high words followed when they discovered that their neighbors and friends expected this obligation to start with them."
I have the first edition hardcover, and the front flap says it is 3rd in the series, not 4th.
Read 3 times
One of the elements to the chaos in Viverra is a friar "ripped from the headlines" - Brother Ambroglio is a doppelganger of Savonarola, and Viverra becomes the historical Florence's double.
The authors wield a clever rapier. Following the wave of conversions brought about by Brother Ambroglio's first sermon in the city:
"Quite a few considered that people in general, and neighbors and family in particular, should accept their obligation to behave in a more Christian manner. Indignation and high words followed when they discovered that their neighbors and friends expected this obligation to start with them."
I have the first edition hardcover, and the front flap says it is 3rd in the series, not 4th.
Read 3 times
September 4, 2018
An underappreciated gem of historical murder mystery - my only real knock on it is the writing style feels very dated now. But this features great characters, a lively plot, and is just generally witty and intelligent.
April 21, 2012
Historical mysteries have been around for awhile, but really began to grace the bestseller lists in the 1980s and 90s with the books of Anne Perry (Victorian England), Elizabeth Peters (Victorian and Edwardian England and Egypt) and Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael in Norman England). Around that era, two women who were former classmates, Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey, decided to pen their own historical mystery series under the pen name Elizabeth Eyre.
There were a total of six books, published once per year from 1991 to 1996. Poison for the Prince (1993) is a middle installment in this series set in the Italian Renaissance. Like the other books, it features courtier and sleuth Sigismondo, assisted by his shrewd half-wit servant Benno and a dog named Biondello. In this outing, Sigismondo and Benno are in the city of Viverra, where its weak and near-penniless ruler Prince Scipione is kept in power by high-priced mercenary Ridolfo Rodolfi. Scipione suffers from a chronic illness that the prince's wife and his alchemist attribute to fumes from the laboratory where the Prince works to replenish his supply of gold. Sigismondo, however, suspects poison and has a host of suspects including Scipione's cheating wife, his playboy son, the mysterious alchemist and a charismatic monk who preaches against alchemy.
"Publishers Weekly" noted that "Trailing after Eyre's sleuths is like making one's way through crowded fairgrounds--not much character development, but plenty of entertaining distractions." Kirkus was more complimentary, adding, "Less earnestly didactic than Sigismondo's earlier adventures, but still aswirl in enough Machiavellian plots, moonlit assignations, treacherous hirelings, and summary beheadings to keep you bedazzled in a perpetual haze of Renaissance chiaroscuro."
Sigismondo is an appealing character, once described as a brilliant deductionist who is bald like a monk but who fights like a soldier, while his slack-jawed manservant, Benno, is someone who has an air of amiable idiocy. Although London's publication "The Mail on Sunday" trumpeted that Sigismondo could well be starting a career to equal Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael, the series never quite took off, and the books are mostly out of print now.
There were a total of six books, published once per year from 1991 to 1996. Poison for the Prince (1993) is a middle installment in this series set in the Italian Renaissance. Like the other books, it features courtier and sleuth Sigismondo, assisted by his shrewd half-wit servant Benno and a dog named Biondello. In this outing, Sigismondo and Benno are in the city of Viverra, where its weak and near-penniless ruler Prince Scipione is kept in power by high-priced mercenary Ridolfo Rodolfi. Scipione suffers from a chronic illness that the prince's wife and his alchemist attribute to fumes from the laboratory where the Prince works to replenish his supply of gold. Sigismondo, however, suspects poison and has a host of suspects including Scipione's cheating wife, his playboy son, the mysterious alchemist and a charismatic monk who preaches against alchemy.
"Publishers Weekly" noted that "Trailing after Eyre's sleuths is like making one's way through crowded fairgrounds--not much character development, but plenty of entertaining distractions." Kirkus was more complimentary, adding, "Less earnestly didactic than Sigismondo's earlier adventures, but still aswirl in enough Machiavellian plots, moonlit assignations, treacherous hirelings, and summary beheadings to keep you bedazzled in a perpetual haze of Renaissance chiaroscuro."
Sigismondo is an appealing character, once described as a brilliant deductionist who is bald like a monk but who fights like a soldier, while his slack-jawed manservant, Benno, is someone who has an air of amiable idiocy. Although London's publication "The Mail on Sunday" trumpeted that Sigismondo could well be starting a career to equal Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael, the series never quite took off, and the books are mostly out of print now.
November 3, 2007
Love Eyre's tight writing and wit. Great detective and sidekick.
March 13, 2014
Back and forth silly
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews