Three crimes at the court of Charles IV
E-book, Czech
Three crimes at the court of Charles IV
Tales from the Imperial Court of 1368
These three detective stories take place in 1368, mostly in Prague's Old Town, but also at the imperial court. Imperial notary Jakub of Zbyn and his university friend, Master Damiánus of the High College, are tasked with solving them. Empress Elizabeth of Pomerania also gets involved in most of the cases. In 'The Goblet Full of Poison', the case revolves around the mysterious death of a woman, which seemingly has the devil's hand in it. However, the death of the wife of sub-chamberlain Beneš of Michalovice is just as inexplicable. 'The Dead Widow' is a story that takes place at the beginning of Advent. A murder occurs during a masked procession, and the reeve very quickly convicts and imprisons a student. But Jakub of Zbyn's nephew, who is also a student, finds it all rather suspicious. In the case of 'The Bloody Captain', a band of robbers who have been ambushing merchants near Prague must be caught. When they are apprehended, the reeve is surprised to discover that these villains are not responsible for the death of the royal huntsman. Fortunately, Jakub of Zbyn manages to devise a clever trap.
Vlastimil Vondruška
After graduating from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, he worked at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the National Museum. During that time, he published more than fifty scientific studies on the history of material culture and several academic books. He currently lives near Bezděz castle and devotes himself exclusively to literature and historical journalism. To date, he has published roughly eighty historical novels and detective stories, four books for young adults, and, with his wife Alena, two dozen popular science books. Several of his titles have been published abroad. According to statistics from the National Library, he has been the most-read Czech author in Czech libraries in recent years, having sold 2 million printed books and over 100,000 audiobooks. He has received numerous literary awards (e.g. the IBBY Prize, UČS Prize, an honorary Mensa award, and readers' choice awards from MOBA publishing house). His novel, The Hussite Epic, was named Bestseller of the Year in 2015. For his journalism, he received the Krameriova Prize, awarded by the Association of Independent Media. In 2017, he was awarded a state decoration for literature.
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