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A review by lhart2222
City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop
5.0
Winter, 1536 Florence, Cesare Aldo works for the Otto as a protector and member of law, tasked with defending a jewish money lender on a journey from Bologna, when they arrive safe home to Florence despite trouble all seems to be fine. Later that day the money lender is found slain in his own home, Aldo feels partially responsible, he is given till epiphany to find the killer and bring them to justice. This is only the start of something much deeper and Aldo must figure out the real reasons he was hired in the first place, or watch the powers of the city crumble as well as the walls surrounding it.
One of my first historical fiction books based on truth, the book managed to blow me away with just how atmospheric it was, every detail was told to near perfection the images it created in my mind were almost real. Managing to blend both descriptive and informative information while remaining entertaining and thrilling, City of Vengeance was a great read.
Setting the scene was done superbly well that when it came to telling the story, half the work was already done. Introducing us to several key characters off the bat, all of whom play an important role come the book's finale, everyone has a purpose and this makes the whole book feel like it needs to be read. The main character Cesare is who we follow for most of the time, not only do we follow him as he tries to solve the crime he’s been tasked with, we also follow him on his own private story which lets us see who he really is, making him feel special, and setting up future books nicely.
The story was one that was written superbly well, using the setting to its advantage and allowing the reader to really get a feel of what it would have been like for men of the law in the 16th century. Maintaining both a murderous and historical side the author does a great job of keeping everything real, not allowing story telling to get in the way of what would have been possible at the time. Not trying too hard to add twists and turns helped this book flow and wasn't trying to trick the reader, allowing you to just enjoy.
Overall, I enjoyed City of Vengeance, both for the unravelling story it told and the wonderful descriptions of 16th century Florence, combining the two to make a really well written and engaging historical crime fiction book. I would definitely recommend reading this book, to both fans of period set books as well as crime books, delivering way above what if first thought, I am very excited to read the next instalment of the Cesare Aldo story.
One of my first historical fiction books based on truth, the book managed to blow me away with just how atmospheric it was, every detail was told to near perfection the images it created in my mind were almost real. Managing to blend both descriptive and informative information while remaining entertaining and thrilling, City of Vengeance was a great read.
Setting the scene was done superbly well that when it came to telling the story, half the work was already done. Introducing us to several key characters off the bat, all of whom play an important role come the book's finale, everyone has a purpose and this makes the whole book feel like it needs to be read. The main character Cesare is who we follow for most of the time, not only do we follow him as he tries to solve the crime he’s been tasked with, we also follow him on his own private story which lets us see who he really is, making him feel special, and setting up future books nicely.
The story was one that was written superbly well, using the setting to its advantage and allowing the reader to really get a feel of what it would have been like for men of the law in the 16th century. Maintaining both a murderous and historical side the author does a great job of keeping everything real, not allowing story telling to get in the way of what would have been possible at the time. Not trying too hard to add twists and turns helped this book flow and wasn't trying to trick the reader, allowing you to just enjoy.
Overall, I enjoyed City of Vengeance, both for the unravelling story it told and the wonderful descriptions of 16th century Florence, combining the two to make a really well written and engaging historical crime fiction book. I would definitely recommend reading this book, to both fans of period set books as well as crime books, delivering way above what if first thought, I am very excited to read the next instalment of the Cesare Aldo story.