Italský gambit - Nebezpečná Praha Rudolfa II. – Šlechta Vladimír (2024)

This historical detective novel is set in Prague in 1597, during the reign of Emperor Rudolf II. The city is dangerous and cruel, as impoverished knight Jakub Jelínek of Hiršberg knows all too well. Living in a house that does not belong to him and forced to count every penny, he cannot refuse when the servant Matěj Sádlo offers him a job with Kryštof Želinský, the vice-chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia. What seems to be a simple assignment escorting the mysterious Italian nobleman Domenico to the capital soon becomes a fight for survival, in which Jakub receives unexpected help from a mysterious girl. When prosecutor David Rydl is shot in the street by Italian bandits, Jakub realizes that the two attacks must be connected. With Matěj Sádlo’s help, he investigates Prague’s Italians and discovers that they are entangled not only in a dispute between powerful nobles, but also in the long-running war between Catholics and Protestants. To solve the mystery, Jakub must decide whose cause he is willing to risk his life for and play a dangerous gambit that may lead him all the way to the gallows.