City of the Dead

by Ian Morson Book 1 in the Nick Zuliani Mysteries series.

First published 2008

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2.5(5)

Crimea and the Mongol Empire, 1262. Venetian trader Nick Zuliani is rescued from poverty by Friar Alberoni, who hires him as bodyguard for a journey to the court of Kublai Khan at Xanadu. The assignment offers escape and profit, but it also carries him into unfamiliar systems of rank, law and belief.

At the imperial court, Nick becomes entangled in a murder and in rivalries that extend into the Inner Palace, where unauthorised entry can mean death. His commercial instincts, languages and willingness to deceive become investigative tools as he tries to survive corruption at the centre of Mongol power.