Game of Patience

Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims prove to be Célie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.

Célie’s enigmatic and bitter friend Rosalie Clément provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward Philippe Aubry, a young man with a violent past who had been in love with Célie. According to an eyewitness, however, Aubry could not have murdered Célie. As time passes, Aristide finds himself falling in love with Rosalie, albeit reluctantly, as he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say.

When Aristide uncovers evidence that points to Rosalie herself, he must learn whom she is protecting and why before he can obtain justice for Célie and save Rosalie from the guillotine. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafés, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of post-revolutionary France, Aristide’s investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.

With elaborate French cultural atmosphere, author Susanne Alleyn has created a sophisticated and stylish mystery set in the uneasy and turbulent years between the Terror and the rise of Napoleon.

"Police procedural fans and historical novel buffs, rejoice! Susanne Alleyn’s fast-paced Game of Patience is an engrossing, richly detailed whodunit set in edgy, post-revolutionary Paris. From the opening guillotine scene to the wrenching why-dun-it denouement, I was riveted."---Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Fatal Fashione and The Last Boleyn"Susanne Alleyn’s Game of Patience is a well-crafted historical mystery, authentic in every detail. Wonderfully entertaining."---Sandra Gulland, author of  The Josephine Bonaparte Collection

"Post-revolutionary Paris is the setting for this sophisticated and stylish novel, a true mystery, penned by Americna author Susanne Alleyn, who creates the atmosphere of those pre-Napoleonic days that challenges the skills of Caleb Carr of The Alienist fame." ---Big Sleep Books

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