The Cenci

Rome, 1599. Francesco Cenci was a rich man who tormented his own household for years and bought his way out of every charge brought against him. When his daughter Beatrice finally arranged his killing, the Pope had her executed anyway, and the city that had refused to protect her turned her into a legend on the day she died.

Dumas retells the case as part of his Celebrated Crimes series, working from the trial records rather than the poetry the story usually attracts. He keeps the focus on how completely the law failed the family before any of them became criminals.