Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Liberté ... égalité ... fraternité ... Treachery!

France is victorious as her magnificent empire expands under Napoleon Bonaparte’s brilliant miliary leadership. From the ashes of the Revoloution, a phoenix has risen to spread the grandeur and glory of Parisian culture through the world ... by force, if necessary.

The devoted wife of an ambitious young gendarme, Mme. Victoire Vernet—as sparkling and exquisite as a vintage champagne—revels in the Republic’s many triumphs. But when her husband is wrongly accused of theft and murder, the indomitable Vitoire vows to clear his name

It’s a promise that could prove most perilous indeed for a novice investigator, as the trail leads her from the relative safety of the boudoir into the treacherous heart of an insidious conspiracy to assasinate Napoleon himself.

• • •

Only a woman of elegance and breeding can crush the vipers poised to strike at the heart of La Belle France ...

“Berthier has spoken to me. He suspects you were involved in the murder.”

“Grace and mercy,” said Vernet, going white around the mouth. “But I had nothing to do with it.”

She put her hand on his arm. “Vernet, it’s a very dangerous game Berthier is playing. It seems to me that there is more at stake here than one dead marine private.” As he gave her a startled glance, she explained, “This is a war, and marine privates die. Therefore this death must have significance, or Berthier would not trouble himself over the matter.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” said Vernet, his worry changing to perplexity. “What is his intention?”

“To fix the blame on you, I fear, and so avoid any blame himself,” Victoire said. She stood straighter. “And I will not permit that.”

DON’T MISS THE NEXT MME. VERNET INVESTIGATION: DEATH WEARS A CROWN