Synopsis : 1. On a tué la Reine ! 2008 (The Queen was murdered !)

March 1679, fifteen-year-old Charlotte de Fontenac has just learned that her mother wants to force her to take the veil at the convent of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The following night, Charlotte flees to her aunt, Mme de Brecourt, for refuge.

On the way, she is a fleeting witness to a black mass: a stranger snatches her from that scene, and urges her never to reveal what she had seen before she disappears.

Madame de Brecourt is all the more happy to welcome her niece as she suspects her mother of having poisoned her husband two years earlier and of wanting to get rid of her daughter in order to capture the inheritance.

At the insistence of Nicolas de la Reynie, lieutenant general of the police, she confides Charlotte to Madame, Princess Palatine, Louis XIV's much appreciated sister-in-law.

And so began the girl's adventures at court. Protégée of  Mademoiselle de Fontanges, who became the king's mistress against a background of rivalries between Madame de Montespan in decline and Madame de Maintenon, who works secretly for her triumph, she finds herself in danger after Mademoiselle de Fontanges' suspicious death.

The Queen saves her by taking her into her circle.
But when Maria Theresa dies of a boil in four days, Charlotte discovers with horror that the Queen had been murdered
.

 


Synopsis : 2. La Chambre du Roi 2009 (The Chamber of the King)

While Queen Maria Theresa died under suspicious circumstances, the young Charlotte de Fontenac disappeared.

Last seen entering the King's cabinet after the sovereign, she seemed upset. Since then, no one knows what happened to her. An unimportant disappearance in the middle of the unfolding of the funeral ceremonies.

However, some people wonder and, among them, Madame de Montespan, whose royal favour is wavering but who  is fond of Charlotte, decides to alert  the Lieutenant General of the Police, Nicolas de la Reynie.

What they will eventually learn is truly terrifying and, when the young woman suddenly appears again, everyone can see that she is no longer the same.

What happened during these months of absence which tormented her relatives, her cousin Léonie and especially Alban Delalande, the young policeman who loves her with a hopeless love?

 

Thank you Note of Juliette Benzoni 2009

At the end of this double book, I would particularly like to thank my publisher, Xavier de Bartillat, for his patience, his assistant Judith Becqueriaux, who found me an unobtainable "Chevalier de Lorraine", my Press Attaché Marie-Laure Defretin and all those who worked on the production of this book.

I would also like to thank the great historians, past and present, whose works have enriched this story, and in particular :

Madame, Princesse Palatine and her prodigious biographer, Dirk Van der Cruysse, Philippe Erlanger for Monsieur, frère de Louis XIV, Bruno Cortequisse for Madame Louis XIV, Jacques Saint-Germain for La Reynie et la Police du Grand Siècle and for Louis XIV secret, Michel de Decker for Madame de Montespan and... Marthe Bassenne for her Chevalier de Lorraine, not to mention numerous guides and books on Versailles, Saint-Germain and Paris. I owe them some great moments of reading... and the assurance that I haven't written just anything.

 



The Covers of Éditions France Loisoirs 2009



published also by : France Loisirs, Le Grand Livre du Mois, Livres Grand caractères A vue d'œil
Pocket published them the first time 2010 and re-issued them in 2010
and since 2013, they are also available in Kindle Format
 
Trivia  and Facts :

This series has also been translated in these foreign countries:



The Czech-Republic Editions



The Hungarian Editions



The Portugese Editions



The Russian Editions
 



 

In the Press :

Time to read - Crime in Versailles

"Dame Juliette, the Queen of historical fiction, is in great form. Her new heroine is off to a rocky start. How do you survive at the French court when your mother, on the lookout for your fortune, is bent on your downfall, assisted in her dark designs by the all-powerful Madame de Maintenon, who doesn't like you any better.

Not surprisingly, you bear an unfortunate resemblance to the Sun King's first favourite, the delicate Louise de Lavallière. The worst of it came when your protectress, Queen Marie-Thérèse, was murdered before your very eyes.

Versailles is shaken by the poisons affair. Black masses, thwarted love affairs, murders, plots - all the ingredients are there.

~ Vincent Meylan ~ Point de Vue 2008



« A breathtaking tale where suspense and history intertwine »
 ~ Agnès Cotton~ l'Homme Nouveau 5 juillet 2008

After On a tué la Reine! comes the second instalment in the adventures of Charlotte de Fontenac: intrigues, adventures, suspense and the Poisons affair. Juliette Benzoni combines all these ingredients with her usual mastery.
~ www.editions-perrin-fr ~

With this second volume of Le temps des poisons, Juliette Benzoni succumbs to all the pleasures of the cloak-and-dagger novel (...) Fans of the genre will be delighted.
~ Anne Bernet ~ - La Nouvelle Revue d'Histoire

« The Queen of the historical fresco »

« Would you like some champagne? I detest people who refuse to drink» So, a few bubbles before the red Sancerre, in the company of the queen of historical frescoes.
With her false airs of Bernadette Chirac, Mme Benzoni, 87 years old, including more than forty-five years of writing, loves life, happily typing cardboard on Sundays in her home in Saint-Mandé. Her favourite cards?
Tarot, of course, a beautiful game with kings, queens and knights. After all, this great admirer of Alexandre Dumas has long since lost interest in the Fifth Republic..

She delights her many readers with her phenomenal memory of past centuries (she has sold a staggering 100 million copies worldwide). 74, 75, 76... No one knows exactly how many books the charming lady from Saint-Mandé has written, juggling her sagas (Catherine, Marianne, La Florentine, Le Boiteux de Varsovie, Le Sang des Koenigsmark...) since 1962 with secrets of state and alcove, royal wars, knights with true hearts and the mysterious Knights Templar.

From 8 June, she will be tackling a new series, published by Perrin, devoted to Louis XIV and the poisons affair. What's next? "I still have to explore Napoleon III, the eighteenth century, the Middle Ages...". In short, Juliette Benzoni is still praying to the Holy Spirit ("Every morning, for inspiration") and giving thanks ("With each publication").
~ Marianne Payot ~ L' Express

« A well-crafted story that readers will only reluctantly let go of »
~ La Manche Libre ~

 


 

AUDIO :
livres audio - CD-mp3 éditions VDB
 
 
 


 

In 'Le Temps des Poisons', we follow the heroine 'Charlotte de Fontenac' for a few years, who seems to have been really struck by bad luck and who has a powerful enemy...! At the same time, there is a recurring theme throughout the story, starting with 'Monsieur', Louis XIV's brother, saying that Charlotte is the spitting image of someone who once lived at the Court. Juliette Benzoni skilfully mentions from time to time that it is the whim of nature that people have many doppelgängers. Well, in the case of our heroine, it is Louise de La Vallière!  But we won't give any more away here...

This is the reason why I took the liberty of making my creation with a portrait of Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess of La Vallière. I carefully chose a painting that shows her very young and without the courtly pomp. We see her in the picture as the goddess Diana.
Artist : Claude Lefèbvre (1632–1675) the painting can be seen at the Château de Versailles

~ Linda, webmaster ~


 

[creation © Linda Compagnoni Walther]
Painting of Louise de la Vallière, Louis XIV's first official mistress

Extract of « Le Temps des Poisons » On à tué la Reine !
 

Lydie de Theobon to Charlotte de Fontenac

« Well, we are going to do things Madame's way and write you hundreds of letters. Distance is powerless against true friendship »!

Note:
The talk is about 'Elisabeth Charlotte,' Madame de Palatine. Gaston of Orléons wife and Louis XIV sister-in-law.
 


Extract from « La Chambre du Roi » - translated by Linda, webmaster




Louis XIV, ca.1679  [ Artwork : René-Antoine Houasse ]
note: this is how Louis XIV must have looked like when our story begins, webmaster



The King! The King! The bailiff of the Chamber dressed in the tabard with the French coat of arms came to rest at the entrance of the Hall of Mirrors, on the side of the Salon de la Paix where the violins and the clapping of the feet of the bodyguards can be heard. Louis XIV appears....

His pourpoint is entirely embroidered in gold, but unlike his custom, he wears few jewels. However, a whisper of admiration hovers over the Court: staring at the plumet of his hat, a splendid daffodil diamond radiates with a thousand lights... No one has yet known such marvel.

Aware - and probably delighted! - of the effect produced, Louis XIV steps forward with his majestic step, a slight smile floating on his lips. Monsieur and his Nobles watch him approach - especially one of them - with a stupor that brightens his eyes.


[ Monsieur, Philippe d'Orléans ]
Sire, my brother! exclaimed the prince without being able to hold his curiosity any longer. You have a very beautiful diamond here! I didn't know you knew of it!

[ King Louis XIV
]
Neither did I, you see, that's what makes it so charming... ah, Monsieur le chevalier de Lorraine, I didn't see you! You seem uncomfortable tonight? Are you suffering?

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine ]
The King is too good to worry about my health but I am fine. Simply, I am in a state of dazzlement....

[ King Louis XIV ]
This jewel? It is a beauty, isn't it?

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine ]
Is it a recent acquisition? asked Monsieur after swallowing his saliva.

[ King Louis XIV
]
No, it's a gift!

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine /  Monsieur, Philippe d'Orléans ]
A present?

they both said in chorus...

[ King Louis XIV
]
A lady's! That's why I have a very particular faible for it!

[ Monsieur, Philippe d'Orléans ]
She must be... very rich ! hiccuped Monsieur.

[ King Louis XIV
]
Or very affectionate! I was all the happier for it because I was unaware until recently of the existence of this beautiful stone. Otherwise, I probably would have tried to get it. And honestly! I would never have had the idea, for example, to send hatchet men to search a house from top to bottom, as I know some of them are capable of doing. I would have bought it, and without skimping! But it happens to have been given to me.

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine ]
Your Majesty is very fortunate, Lorraine said, without succeeding in completely concealing his spite.

The King gave the gentleman a look from which all traces of amusement had been erased:

[ King Louis XIV
]
The luck is earned, Monsieur. Sometimes it is enough to do good instead of the opposite. In any case, we would not tolerate that this generous lady should still have to suffer from bad procedures. I hope you understand that?

But, as with all the Guises, insolence was never far away with Chevalier, the latter replied:

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine ] 
Yet again do we know the lady in question?

[ King Louis XIV
]
You do not know her?

[ Le Chevalier de Lorraine ]
No, Sire.

[ King Louis XIV ]
Then continue! It will be better for everyone....

 




musique Opéra Phaëton - by Jean-Baptiste Lully
 


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