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Author

Ian Morson

21 fiction

Ian Morson is an English author of medieval historical mysteries. Born in Derby shortly after the Second World War, he studied at Oxford and Leeds before working as a librarian in north-west London. He began writing during the 1990s and has also contributed stories to collaborative novels produced by the Medieval Murderers, a group of historical crime writers.

Morson is best known for the Master William Falconer Mysteries, beginning with Falconer’s Crusade. Set principally in thirteenth-century Oxford, the series follows a university scholar who applies observation and deduction to murders involving religious disputes, royal politics and the intellectual controversies surrounding Aristotle and Roger Bacon. Later titles include Falconer’s Judgement, Falconer and the Face of God, A Psalm for Falconer, Falconer’s Trial and Falconer and the Death of Kings. Morson also wrote two mysteries featuring Nick Zuliani, a Venetian adventurer and investigator at the court of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan: City of the Dead and A Deadly Injustice.

Periods and events

Medieval France Reign of Edward I Thirteenth-Century Oxford and the Early University Medieval Wales Reign of Henry III of England, 1216–1272 Early Medieval Mongol Empire Norse Exploration of the North Atlantic Arthurian Britain Second Barons’ War Black Death Pax Mongolica Anglo-Saxon England Medieval England after the Norman Conquest

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Ian Morson (3 series)

William Falconer Medieval Mysteries in Order

by Ian Morson 9 books 4.2

The William Falconer mysteries follow a Regent Master at the early University of Oxford between 1261 and 1275. Falconer approaches murder through observation, logic and experiment at a time when natural philosophy, Aristotelian teaching and church authority are contested. His cases involve students, clerics, royal officials, theatrical companies,…

Falconer’s Crusade

4.0

Falconer’s Judgement

4.4

Falconer and the Face of God

4.3

A Psalm for Falconer

4.0

Falconer and the Great Beast

4.3

Falconer and the Ritual of Death

4.3

Falconer’s Trial

4.3

Falconer and the Death of Kings

4.6

Falconer and the Rain of Blood

4.5

Medieval Murderers in Order

by various authors 10 books 3.9

The Medieval Murderers books are collaborative historical-mystery anthologies in which a shared relic, manuscript, legend, place or moral theme links separate crimes across centuries. Each contributor writes an episode using characters from an established series or a new historical setting, so the central object accumulates competing meanings as…

The Tainted Relic

3.8

Sword of Shame

3.9

House of Shadows

3.8

The Lost Prophecies

4.3

King Arthur’s Bones

4.1

The Sacred Stone

4.2

Hill of Bones

3.7

The First Murder

3.7

The False Virgin

4.0

The Deadliest Sin

4.0

Nick Zuliani Mysteries in Order

by Ian Morson 2 books 3.9

The Nick Zuliani mysteries follow a Venetian trader and adventurer who enters the service of Kublai Khan in the 1260s. Far from Venice, Nick uses commercial experience, languages, improvisation and deception to investigate crimes across the Mongol Empire. The series combines murder investigation with travel through the Pax…