You're into your detective novels, aren't you? I have a recommendation.

C.J. Sansom - he's a history Ph.D, writes novels set in Tudor England with a hunchback lawyer as the 'tec. 'Enery VIII on the throne, succession of queens, Thomas Cromwell plotting, etc and so forth. Very good.

First one in the series is Dissolution, set, unsurprisingly, during the dissolution of the monestaries - monktastic, almost Name-of-the-Rose-esque. He's not quite as wordy as Eco, though, and probably less likely to win a Booker, but there you go.

Posted By: Arizona Bay, Mar 6, 11:59:26