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Falconer and the Great Beast [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Ian Morson (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Book Description

July 2003
Eastern horsemen rampage across the European mainland, trampling underfoot the emergent kingdoms, unwieldy empires, and fledgling principalities that comprise medieval France and Germany. These are the Tartars, and in 1268 they reach the end of a long ride. Now, having driven their pillage to the very ends of the earth, they cross the English Channel under a banner of peace. They claim to seek audience with the king - but can they be trusted?

The people of Oxford, as unwilling hosts to the Tartar delegation, greet their arriving guests with cold silence. When the visitors stage an enormous banquet outside the city walls, that silence gives way to a sense of murky foreboding. Within hours, the Tartar ambassador is dead. It appears someone murdered him, but how? Magic?

Master William Falconer doesn't think so. On the case once again, this committed scientist knows a rational explanation lay behind the emissary's death . . . or he thinks he knows. But the numbers just don't add up, and before the mystery is solved, Master William may come to doubt his own methods. And, even if he figures out the murder, the great Falconer must still trick the murderer into revealing himself.

Falconer and The Great Beast chronicles the medieval sleuth's fifth case - his most complicated yet - in this classic murder mystery series.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fifth installment in Morson's medieval mystery series featuring William Falconer, Regent Master at Oxford (A Psalm for Falconer, etc.), finds the university town intrigued and repelled by two foreign visitors. The first is King Henry III's elephant. The second is an encampment of Tartars, an Eastern tribe that has vanquished parts of Europe and now seeks an audience with the English king. Hostilities between town and university, as well as within the Tartar tribe come to the fore when the Tartar leader, Chimbai, is brutally murdered. Falconer investigates the death with the help of Peter Bullock, the city's constable. Suspects abound, including Chimbai's smug successor, Guchuluk, and a disgruntled English knight. The clue may lie in the hands of an old Jew, Bellasez, whose own murder prolongs the investigation. Set in 1268, the novel is permeated with period details. Morson skillfully draws parallels between Oxford's suspicion of the Tartars and the townspeople's attitudes toward the elephant: both are alien to the insular English, who regard the interlopers with a mixture of fear and awe fed by wild imagination. And once again, Morson uses Falconer's only weakness, his secretive personality, to lure readers into an enjoyable addition to a well-written series. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-The people of Oxford don't know exactly what to do or how to act when a delegation of Tartars sets up tents outside the city walls in 1268. They await Sir Hugh Leyghton, the envoy of King Henry, in order to begin any diplomatic talks. Waiting proves to be fatal for the leader of the group, who is found dead in a secured tent, killed by an arrow that pierced his armor and his heart. William Falconer, regent master at Oxford University, aids the town constable, Peter Bullock, in the task of solving the murder only to find that a strange disappearance also needs to be explained. With the help of Falconer's old friend, Roger Bacon, both mysteries are solved. Capturing the sights, smells, and details of medieval life, Morson presents a realistic and lively backdrop against which to tell his story. The rustic elements of daily life are especially clearly drawn, from cooking and eating to the almost nonexistent methods of hygiene. Science, thought to be more the work of the devil than the result of thinking minds, appears as the struggling discipline of the times. The author includes lots of physical action and some surprises to keep the plot moving. This title adds another perspective to the period explored in Ellis Peters's stories involving Brother Cadfael or P. C. Doherty's medieval mysteries that feature Hugh Corbett.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Audio Cassette
  • Publisher: Isis Audio; Unabridged edition (July 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0753116936
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753116937
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best effort, July 1, 2003
By A Customer
This Falconer is not up to the level of Morson's previous books. The plot is contrived and thin, and the characters are never engaging. He could have done much better.
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0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best effort, July 1, 2003
By A Customer
This Falconer is not up to the level of Morson's previous books. The plot is contrived and thin, and the characters are never engaging. He could have done much better.
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