Real figures from the past are always an intriguing part of historical fiction. The bonus for crime writers is being able to mix them up in murder mysteries and Legat has chosen the Polish physicist Nicolaus Copernicus to be her protagonist and amateur detective in A Pact With the Devil.
The mathematician and astrologer appeared in John Banville’s Dr Copernicus in 1976 – a fictional portrait of the man who challenged the Church’s teaching that the earth was at the centre of the universe. By observing the skies and doing the calculations, Copernicus showed that the planets revolve around the sun, a discovery that changed our scientific understanding.
Here, Legat gives us the young Copernicus, in his student days and away from home for the first time. He may be naive maybe but has a clever inquisitive mind and is hungry for adventure. Of course, that makes for the perfect budding detective. This is a rite of passage for the 19-year-old scholar.
Copernicus is studying at university in Cracow with his brother, Andreas. He is dedicated and hardworking, whereas Andreas prefers the earthly delights the city has to offer a young man. When Dr Faustus, scholar and royal apothecary, is found dead in his college rooms, rumours proliferate about a pact he forged with the devil that cost him his life and his soul.
His death is seen as a comeuppance and people tar his daughters with the same brush. Of course, the reality is far more grounded: the teacher was poisoned. The university authorities want to keep everything running smoothly, so they scapegoat a college porter called Bartlomiej. Professor Brudzewski has him arrested for murder and soon after his wife is drawn in too as an accomplice.
Copernicus thinks they have the wrong man. Bartlomiej’s guilt is assumed due to his proximity rather than any damning evidence. So he sets out to help the poor man, find the real culprit and uncover the reason behind the slaying Faustus.
The story opens on the streets of a growing, pulsing Renaissance metropolis, teeming with life from all strata, traders and scholars alike, a hub of learning but also full of old superstitions. From the earliest scenes we get a feel for the dirty streets and bawdy pubs, the daily life of the ordinary people and those of rank.
Cracow is also a tough city, justice is often exacted by the crowd, which is febrile now with the murder. The law is random and skewed towards the interests of the powerful. This is a complex world of religion and politics based around the machinations of the royal court, where rivals vie for influence and power.
Copernicus has a thirst for knowledge and a young man’s sense of justice. He knows right from wrong, which makes him a zealous sleuth. He can’t resist investigating a death at the university. SJ Parris chose Giordano Bruno and Robert Lloyd chose Robert Hooke for similar roles as scholarly detectives, but their characters are more mature men.
As far as the historical setting goes, this has an authentic feel, evocative rendering of time and place. Legat takes us to 1491, when the Polish empire was ruled by Casimir Jagiellon, whose reign was coming to an end after decades in power.
A satisfying mystery has a couple of neat twists that play out drawing in the field of philosophy, where religion and superstition still vie for hearts and minds, and the belief in magic is not entirely dead either. This all makes the most of the legend of the alchemist Faust, familiar to us from the play by Christopher Marlowe and a similar work by Goethe.
The intrigue of the royal court is as vividly realised as the squalor of the streets. Opulent parties, conspiracies and manoeuvrings as power games are played out between lords and bishops, dangerous foes for the budding detective. The murders are not finished yet. This is the cusp of a new century, a new reign is coming and this is a portrait of the emerging Renaissance man, Copernicus. This feels like a deeply researched tale. A brief and enjoyable novel that opens a window on the past.
Sharpe Books
Print/Kindle
£8.99
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
