Gollancz Crime
3 total works
Falconer has been scouring the backstreets of medieval Oxford in search of an alchemist to help his mentor, Roger Bacon, in his research. There he witnesses the final rehearsal of Stefano de Askeles's play - and the death of an unfortunate stand-in. It seems that someone wants de Askeles dead.
"Oxford University in 1264, seems an oasis of peace in the power struggles that rack England ... until the savage murder of a young girl kindles a frenzy of suspicion between privileged students and impoverished townspeople. And when on of Falconer's students who may have witnessed the crime narrowly escapes being beaten to death by a lynch mob, the Regent Master rushes to his defense. Daringly progressive teacher, Aristotelian philosopher, falconer is also a keen amateur detective who must use his sharp eye for human foibles and his relentless logic to solve the heinous crime. Reviewing one suspect after another, he will soon discover dangerous secrets that will challenge every one of his skills and tangle him in a world of heresy, magic, politics and ferocious violence."--BOOK COVER.
An old friend's promise of access to some rare texts of Aristotle takes William Falconer to remote Furness Abbey. While crossing the shifting sands of Lancaster Bay with a local guide, he witnesses the recovery of a body from the sandbanks. It turns out that it may not have been an accident.