Category: Crime, Historical Fiction, Novel
Language: EnglishKeywords: 1500's Johannes Kepler Murder prague Rudolf II
Written by Benjamin Black (John Banville)
Read by Simon Vance
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Variable
Unabridged
Christian Stern, an ambitious young scholar and alchemist, arrives in Prague in the bitter winter of 1599, intent on making his fortune at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, the eccentric Rudolf II. The night of his arrival, drunk and lost, Christian stumbles upon the body of a young woman in Golden Lane, an alley hard by Rudolfâs great castle. Dressed in a velvet gown, wearing a large gold medallion around her neck, the woman is clearly well-bornâor was, for her throat has been slashed.
A lesser man would smell danger, but Christian is determined to follow his fortunes wherever they may lead. He quickly finds himself entangled in the machinations of several ruthless courtiers, and before long he comes to the attention of the Emperor himself. Rudolf, deciding that Christian is that rare thingâa person he can trustâsets him the task of solving the mystery of the womanâs murder. But Christian soon realizes that he has blundered into the midst of a power struggle that threatens to subvert the throne itself. And as he gets ever nearer to the truth of what happened that night in Golden Lane, he finally sees that his own life is in grave danger.
June 6 2017
9 hrs and 57 mins
Christian Stern, an ambitious young scholar and alchemist, arrives in Prague in the bitter winter of 1599, intent on making his fortune at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, the eccentric Rudolf II. The night of his arrival, drunk and lost, Christian stumbles upon the body of a young woman in Golden Lane, an alley hard by Rudolfâs great castle. Dressed in a velvet gown, wearing a large gold medallion around her neck, the woman is clearly well-bornâor was, for her throat has been slashed.
A lesser man would smell danger, but Christian is determined to follow his fortunes wherever they may lead. He quickly finds himself entangled in the machinations of several ruthless courtiers, and before long he comes to the attention of the Emperor himself. Rudolf, deciding that Christian is that rare thingâa person he can trustâsets him the task of solving the mystery of the womanâs murder. But Christian soon realizes that he has blundered into the midst of a power struggle that threatens to subvert the throne itself. And as he gets ever nearer to the truth of what happened that night in Golden Lane, he finally sees that his own life is in grave danger.
June 6 2017
9 hrs and 57 mins