Falconer's Crusade and Falconer's Judgement: a very short review

Ian Morson has written about half-a-dozen titles in a mystery series featuring Regent Master William Falconer of Oxford University.

The books are set in the middle of the 13th century.

Morson is a skilled writer, and he knows his tradecraft.

If you are interested in medieval times, and enjoy thinking about what it was like to live in England 800 years ago, you'll probably like these books. There's lots of fine intrigue involving Papal Legates, Baronial Uprisings, the Welsh Marches, etc., and lots of careful detail about the differences between Franciscans and Dominicans and Carmelites, how the role of the Abbot or Prior or Bursar affected your status in the monastery, etc.

But, really, the Middle Ages were a pretty nasty time (even if they did produce Roger Bacon), and it's not totally clear to me why people seem to have such endless fascination for such things.

I enjoyed the first two books well enough, but I think I've had my fill of Regent Master William Falconer and his times.