The Mesmerist's Victim (Black & Gold Classics) book by Alexandre Dumas

This is the second book in the Marie Antoinette Romances series by Dumas. The series includes Balsamo the Magician, The Mesmerist’s Victim, The Queen’s Necklace, Taking the Bastille, The Hero of the People, The Royal Life Guard and The Countess de Charny.

In The Mesmerist’s Victim, the story takes a few dark turns. Several events occur which are not for the fainthearted (more than one main character dies in this one, the first one rather gruesomely). Although Balsamo is not the specific cause of any of them, he is involved in them all. What may possibly be even more disturbing is his justification regarding them. Balsamo is a philosopher among other things, and while he finds criminal violence abhorrent to commit himself, he doesn’t seem to mind others doing it. The fates of Andrea de Taverney, Marie Antoinette, Countess Dubarry and the rest continue to intertwine with King Louis XV. By the end of this second book, you’re still not sure if Balsamo is a hero or a villain.