Changes

|title=The Malice of Fortune

|sort=Malice of Fortune, The

|publisher=Century

|date=March 2013

|website=http://michaelbennis.wordpress.com/

|summary=This historic crime fiction set in the world of Leonardo and Machiavelli is more Umberto Eco than Dan Brown - which is a good thing - but it's a heavy going read and lacking in the characterisation that would lift this compelling story. It's thoroughly researched though.

}}

Michael Ennis sets his ''The Malice of Fortune'' in Italy in the early part of the 1500s. Ennis is a history lecturer so unsurprisingly, his book is full of evidence of detailed research and understanding of the times. And what fascinating times they were. With the Borgia family dominating both the papacy and several political regions, fighting for power and land, a number of family led mercenary armies, and several great figures who would leave a lasting legacy, notably Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli, the latter of whom narrates a very large part of this novel. The real life political wrangling of the times would stretch the imagination of most novelists and Ennis bases his tale on a huge number of real, documented happenings. What he seeks to add to the party is an insight into why and how these events occurred and certainly there are some unexplained gaps in the relationships of the key players. The core story is an attempt to discover the identity of the murderer of the pope's son, Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia. Candidates range from his brother, Cesare Borgia, Juan's courtesan, Damiata to the heads of various powerful, mercenary families. It's historical fiction meets crime fiction.