The rhetoric of death

the long version

Paris, 1686. Charles du Luc, former soldier and half-fledged Jesuit, is assigned to assist in teaching rhetoric and directing dance at the prestigious Collège of Louis le Grand. On his first day, the school's star dancer disappears from rehearsal, and the next day another student is run down in the street. When the dancer's body is found under the worst possible circumstances, Charles is determined to find the killer in spite of being ordered to leave the investigation.