The nearly nude, decomposing body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Bloomington, Minnesota park preserve area. Indications are that the girl has been raped and strangled while running in the park, but an autopsy and other evidence lead Bloomington police detective Druke to theorize that the killing was a case of mistaken identity, that the rape was staged to mislead investigators, and that the murder may have been committed by a professional killer, who might well still be stalking his real target. Druke also adroitly deduces that the real person who is earmarked for assassination is Druke’s own headstrong daughter, Sydney, who is the victim’s look-a-like. Someone, for some reason, has been killing all members of the Druke biological lineage, of which Sydney is the last. Druke must try to protect Sydney, discover the reason behind the conspiracy, and stop the assassin before Sydney is killed. More murders, clues, action and erotic romance lead or follow Sydney and/or Druke to places like Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania; San Onofre, California; Bloomington’s mega Mall of America; England, France, Germany; and ultimately to Rome and the very private apartments of the Vatican, where the conspiracy finally comes to light.

The illegitimate daughter of Pope Julius II, Felice della Rovere became one of the most powerful and accomplished women of the Italian Renaissance. Now, Caroline Murphy vividly captures the untold story of a rare woman who moved with confidence through a world of popes and princes. Using a wide variety of sources, including Felice's personal correspondence, as well as diaries, account books, and chronicles of Renaissance Rome, Murphy skillfully weaves a compelling portrait of this remarkable woman. Felice della Rovere was to witness Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel, watch her father Pope Julius II lay the foundation stone for the new Saint Peter's, and saw herself immortalized by Raphael in his Vatican frescos. With her marriage to Gian Giordano Orsini--arranged, though not attended, by her father the Pope--she came to possess great wealth and power, assets which she used to her advantage. While her father lived, Felice exercised much influence in the affairs of Rome, even egotiating for peace with the Queen of France. After his death, Felice persevered, making allies of the cardinals and clerics of St. Peter's and maintaining her control of the Orsini land through tenacity, ingenuity, and carefully cultivated political savvy. She survived the Sack of Rome in 1527, but her greatest enemy proved to be her own stepson Napoleone, whose rivalry with his stepbrother Girolamo ended suddenly and violently, and brought her perilously close to losing everything she had spent her life acquiring. With a marvelous cast of characters, The Pope's Daughter is a spellbinding biography set against the brilliant backdrop of Renaissance Rome.

The papacy has often resembled a secular European monarchy more than a divinely inspired institution. Roman pontiffs bestowed great wealth on their families and forged strategic alliances with other powerful families to increase their power. Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), for example, forced his daughter Lucrezia into a series of marriages for political reasons. When her marital alliance was no longer advantageous, as was the case in her second marriage, her husband was brutally murdered. Many papal families also intermarried in hopes of forming a hereditary papacy; at least two members of the Fieschi, Piccolomini, Della Rovere, and Medici families served as pope. Papal families since the early history of the church are fully covered in this comprehensive work. Genealogical charts graphically show the descendants of the popes, presenting in many cases the interrelationships between the papal families and their relationships with many of the leading families of Europe. Detailed histories examine the impact of the papacy on each pope's family and how each influenced the history of the church.