Falconer and the Face of God - Softcover

Morson, Ian

3.67

75 ratings by Goodreads

9780312964108: Falconer and the Face of God

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312964102 ISBN 13: 9780312964108

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1997

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Trapped between the forces of good and evil, William Falconer, an Oxford regent master, deftly investigates the secrecy surrounding the relics of a long-dead saint and a chilling tale of murder. Reprint.

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Review:

If you'd like to sample Ian Morson's excellent historical series about William Falconer, a 13th-century professor and astute crime solver, try this beautifully detailed story. Someone is trying to kill off the head actor, the supremely nasty Stefano de Askeles, in a traveling morality play that arrives in Oxford just as Falconer is doing some down-and-dirty research for his mentor, Roger Bacon. De Askeles survives a fatal blow, but his unlucky stand-in doesn't, which makes Falconer the actor's reluctant protector. As always, Morson captures the feel of the period, and avoids adding modern touches that would jar readers out of their hard-earned propinquity.

From Kirkus Reviews:

His exiled mentor Roger Bacon has asked Oxford Regent Master William Falconer to find an unnamed local alchemist, but he's given Falconer only the most cryptic of clues to the man's identity. By the time Falconer finds the alchemist, he's already been rounded up with 20 other suspected thieves by King Henry II and his venal, obsequious courtier, Thomas de Cantilupe. While waiting for a Christmastide Lord of Misrule to release the unjustly jailed suspect, Falconer can turn his attention to the murder of troubadour Stefano de Askeles--whose strolling troupe of jongleurs hates him with half a dozen motives for murder--and to the fortuitous unearthing of a saint's relics in answer to a greedy Oxford priest's prayers. Lots of subplots and masked figures obscure the rich central metaphor provided by the medieval mystery plays in Falconer's third outing (Falconer's Judgement, 1996, etc.). -- Copyright �1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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