The Assassin of Venice

By: Alyssa Palombo

Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella

Valentina Riccardi is many things: beautiful, cultured, deadly. As one of Venice’s famous courtesans, she’s perfectly positioned to seduce powerful men, get them alone, and assassinate them. Spies. Traitors. Who they are doesn’t matter—only that they made an enemy of the Council of Ten, the shadowy and seemingly omniscient power from which Valentina takes her orders without question.

Venice is her home, and after losing everything once before to an invading army, there's nothing she won’t do to protect her city, for there's nothing she loves more.

Almost nothing.

She vowed to never fall in love again, but Valentina can’t help but give her heart to Bastiano Bragadin, a fellow assassin. But when Bastiano starts asking the wrong questions, Valentina receives a new assignment: kill him.

Yet the more Valentina learns about the Council of Ten, the more she wonders if they're truly acting in the interest of the Venetian state or if they're using her for their own dark ambitions. If Valentina is to save Bastiano, she must untangle their conspiracy—with the help of her fellow courtesans—before it’s too late.

The Assassin of Venice is a captivating, sensual novel that brings 16th-century Venice to life and draws on the fascinating real history of both Venetian cortigiane oneste—“honest courtesans”—and Renaissance Venice’s sprawling intelligence service.

©2024 Alyssa Palombo (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Perfectly plotted

This author can make a sympathetic murderess. I’m not gonna lie: it’s a skill. 😂 And this author did an amazibg job.

A twist at every turn

I loved the characters in this novel! They became real and were easy to either like or dislike. Through out the story you are never sure of what will happen next, which makes it all the more engaging. The ending is satisfying and in some ways hoped for but not a certainty.