The Book of Unholy Mischief [Paperback]

It is a clutching story, with love interests and court shenanigans, odd fellows and weird sisters, lurking in wait for their stage entrance, scenes of comic hilarity around the dinner table, and a high spirited tribute to the fruits of knowledge...In her own neat piece of alchemy, Newmark takes the heft of a potato and turns it into an ode for paying attention Kirkus Reviews, US Rumour, court machinations and a rattling good plot Fanny Blake, Woman & Home 'Unashamedly fun and will appeal to fans of Kate Mosse and Dan Brown... full of twisting passageways, wall tapestries complete with spy holes, and all manner of skulduggery... The plot crackles along, piling up the murders and conspiracies among the culinary metaphors. A very promising new author' New Books Magazine

This gripping tale moves swiftly through the colourful world of fifteenth century Venice and the suspense is maintained effortlessly by this talented writer
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

A beautifully written, fiendishly well-plotted commercial debut, set in 15th Century Venice, perfect for fans of Kate Mosse and Joanne Harris.

It is 1498, and the whole of Venice is abuzz. Hidden somewhere in the labyrinthine city is an ancient book, rumoured to contain thorny heresies and secrets of immeasurable power.

Luciano, a penniless orphan, has been plucked from the street and taken on as apprentice to the chef at the doge's palace. While learning the alchemy of cooking, he quickly finds himself entangled in the search for the ancient tome, even suspecting the chef, his maestro, may be concealing valuable information.

But lurking in the wings are some of the most powerful, dangerous men in Venice, and Luciano's secret will lead him through a perilous maze to the centre of an intrigue that will test his deepest desires and loyalties.

'Are you sure, Luciano, was the man truly dead?'

'Yes, Maestro.'

'Other states can be mistaken for death.'

'Maestro, he was poisoned. I saw his eyes. Dead as stone.'

'Oh, Dio,' The chef put his head in his hands. 'It's begun.'

For centuries the people of Venice have been seeking an extraordinary book, rumoured to contain the key to immeasurable power. Now, in the year 1498, mischievous street orphan Luciano stumbles across a secret that others will kill for . . .

Elle Newmark lives in the hills north of San Diego, California. Her father, the chef who inspired her book, lives next door. He's 90 year's old, and still cooking. This is her first novel and she is currently writing her second.