Le convent du sang

A FELLOWSHIP IN BLOOD
In 1778 in the tiny streets of old Lyon, Freemasons from all over Europe are convening. Their purpose is to denounce the common ties between the Freemasons and the Knights Templar as their association has become much too dangerous in Catholic France. At the head of this painful revision is Jean-Baptiste Willermos, a successful silk merchant.
However, on the evening before the convention, a mysterious corpse is discovered wearing the costume of the Knights Templar. The lieutenant general of the Lyon Police, (and Freemason) Prost de Royer is immediately alerted and together with Willermos they begin to investigate. Another dead body is found the next day in front of Willermos' home at the exact time of the first meeting of the Masters of the Lodge, the "Unknown Superiors" of the Freemasons of Lyon. Their host himself is assaulted and miraculously saved by the sudden appearance of a magician, none other than Caliostro....
In London, the Counsil of Nine, secretly formed a few decades earlier, is keeping an eye on a group of political activists, the "Illuminati of Baveria" who are intent on sabotaging Willermos's plans and destroying the Freemasons.
Alain Bauer is a criminologist who teaches at the Sorbonne, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of New York and the Academy of Criminal Police of China. He has published numerous works on terrorism.
Roger Dachez is a doctor and a professor of the history of medicine. He has written numerous books and articles on the historical origins of the Freemasons.