The Book of Unholy Mischief
“What Newmark does bring to the novel…is a richness of atmosphere…It’s clear that her interest lies more in place than chase, and there are some wonderful set pieces that bring the city sparklingly to life…So The Book of Unholy Mischief turns out to be an unexpected hybrid, a highly flavored and faintly preposterous romp that is also a meditation on food, ideas and the importance of keeping hold of the principles of free thought in a world oppressed by censorship.”
New York Times
Elle Newmark's richly seductive prose brings to life the color and scandal of fifteenth-century Venice. Through Luciano, a street urchin apprenticed to a great chef in the palace of the doge, Newmark tells a wicked tale of political and papal intrigue. In Venice where every whisper is a secret or a lie, Luciano's initiation into the chef's spicy world makes for deliciously suspenseful listening.
The Book of Unholy Mischief is more than terrific historical drama; its a love story, an investigation into ancient religious secrets that haunt us today, and its a story of intrigue replete with pulse-pounding chase scenes, murderous assassins, torture chambers and conniving, desperate characters. It's beautifully written, authentically detailed, and fiendishly well plotted. Listeners will want their friends to read or listen to it so they can talk about it over dinner in their favorite Italian restaurant.
Praise