(Perhaps it's not necessary to mention that these are all Borgias, so in Renaissance Italy, raw displays of power are as common as segreto sauce.) Damiata is one of the 'cortigiane oneste' or 'honest courtesans'-or even more colloquially, a whore with the proverbial heart of gold. The first narrator in this labyrinthine tale is Damiata, whose son is kidnapped by his grandfather, the pope, in a raw display of power and privilege. At the center of this swirling unscrupulousness are several key historical figures, most notably the ruthless Duke Valentino of Romagna his equally merciless father, Pope Alexander VI a brilliant military engineer and draftsman named Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli, who bases his political theory of power on the machinations of the aforementioned duke. In this epic novel, Ennis gives ample evidence that political and religious corruption in early-16th-century Italy makes anything vaguely analogous look like Sunnybrook Farm. Fans of superior historical mystery writers such as Steven Saylor and Laura Jo Rowland will be enthralled. What could have come across as a contrived partnership is anything but in Ennis's skilled hands, and he seamlessly integrates the search for the murderer with the power struggles of the day. and planting of cloven footprints suggest that the devil himself is responsible. Da Vinci's scientific approach to examining the corpses advances the inquiry, even as the killer's vicious m.o.

Against this turbulent backdrop, the future author of The Prince seeks to apply 'the principles that govern the nature of men' to solve a series of brutal murders that have left women mutilated.

The assassination of Juan Borgia, an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, leads the pope to turn to Juan's older brother, Cesare, to further his military and territorial ambitions, which are opposed by mercenaries who fear the Borgias' consolidation of power. Ennis (The Duchess of Milan) brilliantly recreates the complex politics of early 16th-century Italy in this absorbing and intelligent thriller that teams Leonardo da Vinci with Niccolo Machiavelli.

The malice of fortune