IN THE PRESENCE OF EVIL

Introducing scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan in the first of an intriguing new historical mystery series set in 14th Century France

Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about.

Then one of the king's favourites, Hugues de Précy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed. Can Christine prove Alix's innocence and save her from being burned at the stake?


Tania Bayard is a Ph.D. with a specialty in medieval art, and the author of a number of nonfiction books, including Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers: Medieval Gardens and the Gardens of The Cloisters(The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Godine) and A Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the Fourteenth Century (HarperCollins).