In the mid seventeenth century two advisers to King Louis XIV were murdered in Paris. City of Light, City of Poison by Holly Tucker recounts the events that happened in the city at the time and the investigations undertaken by Nicolas de la Reynie who was appointed by the king to investigate.
What de la Reynie found was alarming. The city had many practitioners of magic to whom people would go to have their problems resolved – usually by the provision of poison. Poisoning was rife but often difficult to diagnose at a time of early death from infection, spoiled food and another causes.
Once de la Reynie got his teeth into the investigation he was able to arrest, interrogate and execute many people from all parts of society. It wasn’t a good time to be a suspect as torture was routine, even for those who confessed, and death was not pleasant. Eventually some evidence pointed to one of the king’s mistresses and at that point the king intervened to hush it up.
This was an interesting story of superstition and folk beliefs as well as poisoning and the man who worked to clear up the problem. De la Reynie was also appointed to take care of safety and health in Paris and the book covers what he did in those areas too where he was very effective in introducing street cleaning and gas lighting.
This is the story of a city at a particular time and in a particular political climate. The book has plenty of background and context so that it is a social history as well as a book about crime. At times the background is greater than the actual story but I enjoyed all the detail and found this a fascinating account.
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