Poison and Crown

Reading audiences know Maurice Druon primarily for the saga “The Accursed Kings,” which unveiled the dark secrets of the Middle Ages. Behind each work in the cycle was meticulous research in the National Archive, studying documents written in archaic French or Latin. “Poison and Crown” continues this series of historical frescoes that began with the novels “The Iron King” and “The Prisoner of Château-Gaillard.”
…Six months have passed since the death of Philip the Fair. Under his reign, France was a great power. But the son of the Iron King, Louis X — a weak and inept monarch — is allowing rebellious barons to sow discord in the provinces, and officials are plundering the state treasury. There is famine in the country.
Perhaps this is merely the fulfillment of the curse of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar…