Customer Reviews

Falconer's Judgement - A Medieval Oxford Mystery

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I am a fan of medieval mysteries, but found this one very disappointing. The tale is told through brief glimpses of the activities of a number of characters, none well developed. By the middle of the book I still didn't know who everyone was, and I didn't care. I left the book unfinished. Stick with Ellis Peters, Candace Robb, and Margaret Frazer for GOOD stories in the genre.

I'm a fan of Medieval Mysteries & Ian Morson is one of my favorite mystery authors of this genre. His books are usually set in Oxford University & it's environs. His character, Regent Master William Falconer, is a progressive (modern for the time) teacher and amateur detective & as a result of this has a lot of trouble with his church, his fellows & the other Masters & Regents at Oxford. Falconer is a medieval Sherlock Holmes...or so it seems to me.
In this book(second in the series)Pope Alexander is dying, the brother of one of his likely successors is killed by an arrow. At the same time students in Oxford are rioting (thus some of the confusion in the book). Many believe it's one of these students who killed the victim, but Falconer wonders...?
There are a lot of characters & you have to go back & forth, but I liked this as that's the way real life is.
It's not one of his best, but still a good read.