Carnival of Lies by D. V. Bishop

Timy reviews Carnival of Lies, the fifth book in the Cesare Aldo historical fiction series by D. V. Bishop.

Review(s) of previous book(s): City of Vengeance, The Darkest Sin, Ritual of Fire, A Divine Fury

An eARC was received by Pan Macmillan via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Possible fit for The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge 2025 prompts:

Joker prompt that goes with anything: Freed from Desire

Venice. Winter, 1539.

When Cesare Aldo learns of a conspiracy to assassinate Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, he is hired to protect the ruler of Florence – with his life, if necessary. The deadly attack that follows leads to bodies, bloodshed . . . and something far more dangerous.

Those behind the plot obtain a journal of the duke’s containing explosive secrets that – in the wrong hands – could destroy all of Florence. Aldo must hunt down those responsible and reclaim the journal, or face banishment from the city and everyone he loves.

The trail leads him towards the one place Aldo has sworn to never return, a city of masks and lies where he has no allies and far too many Venice.

The fate of a dynasty rests on his shoulders – if he can make it out alive . . .

Carnival of Lies is the fifth Cesare Aldo mystery by D. V. Bishop, preceded by A Divine Fury, City of Vengeance, The Darkest Sin and Ritual of Fire.

“Aretino resented interruptions when he was writing, but welcomed them when the work was not going well. Some days words flowed like ink from a bottle; others, it would be e asier to find a virgin at a Carnival orgy than to write prose worthy of the name.”

I’m sticking with Maneskin for Carnival of Lies as well, although it really gets increasingly difficult to pick songs from them that somehow fit the books 😬 Honestly, Trastevere isn’t a perfect choice, but I like how some of the lines remind me of Aldo and the Contessa.

It has been a very, very long year I had to survive without D. V. Bishop‘s magnificent Cesare Aldo series, and I’m happy to report that Carnival of Lies was totally worth the wait. To be fair, I consoled myself by visiting Florence in the meantime, which I definitely recommend to anyone to do. It certainly gave me a new level of appreciation for the whole series.

Before we head into the review, a bit of housekeeping: this being the fifth book, some mild spoilers for previous books could happen despite my best efforts, so go forward with that in mind.

A few weeks/months passed since the events in book 4, and Aldo enjoys his new life, helping out where he can, serving justice in his own way, and spending more quality time with Saul. Until, news of an attempt to take Cosimo Medici’s life reaches his ears through the ever-intriguing Contessa Coltello. As it turns out, this assassination conspiracy is only the beginning – not only is Cosimo’s life in danger, but important papers get stolen as well, which could cause trouble for him. Aldo is tasked to take those papers back if he ever wants to return to Florence. He also has to team up with Ottone, the head of Cosimo’s guard, a fact neither man is happy with. What makes things worse is that the chase takes Aldo to Venice, a city he hates and never intended to return to. His collaboration with the Contessa plunges him right into the heart of Venice’s political snakepit, taking him closer to death than he ever was before.

Carnival of Lies, unlike the other books in the Cesare Aldo series, is not a murder mystery – don’t get me wrong, there are murders and deaths aplenty, but neither of them is very mysterious. The focus is more on a heist and some political intrigue set in Carnival time in Venice, when rules are a bit more lax. This allows Bishop to show us a different side of Aldo, to get to know his past a bit more and understand the man he has become. I certainly did not expect him to be so bold and passionate, despite the fact that he’s been living on the edge of the law in all his life. Being gay in an age when such things are illegal can do that to a man. Plus, this was one of my only minor complaints about the series – I wanted to know Aldo on a deeper level, and I finally got it. Poor Cesare really got put through the wrangler in this one. I properly felt sorry for him.

“Campana was right, of course. Antagonizing those with power or too many weapons at their command was a dangerous game – but also an enjoyable one.”

This time around, Contessa Coltello steps up to become a major character, and it’s clear that Bishop had a lot of fun writing her, which shines through the pages. And honestly, she had become one of my favourite characters as well. I would never ever want to be on her bad side. She is ruthless, cunning, and always two steps ahead of everyone else. The fact that in a men controlled world everyone underestimates her – even when they are aware of her reputation – makes it just so much more fun to read her fucking with them. Figuratively. Mostly. At times, I couldn’t predict what her next move would be which also added to the enjoyment level. I don’t know what the next book will bring, but I do hope she’ll make an appearance again.

“Coltello smiled. It was simple to control most men. All one needed to know was their vulnerabilities, and be ruthless enough to exploit them.”

Speaking of appearances, there was one regular character I sorely missed – Strocchi. He’s probably been my favourite character throughout the series, and while I understand the choice that was made for not including him – at least we’ve got an explanation for his absence -, I keep my fingers crossed for his return. I feel like he and Aldo have some unfinished business yet. But then, Aldo has more unfinished business, making me eager to pick up the next book. A shame I need to wait yet another year.

I’ve been singing this series’ praises ever since I started reading and reviewing them, and of course, Carnival of Lies isn’t an exception. Bishop keeps a steady, very high-quality writing, and knows how to keep things fresh. Taking Aldo out to Venice was an excellent choice to shake things up. With Carnival of Lies D. V. Bishop nudged the bar even higher up, establishing the series as one of the must reads of the historical fiction genre.