Books on a par with Name Of The Rose?

[Snowdog]

I loved Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, which I think is still his best work. I've been trying to find other good books in this historical mystery sub-genre (if it is a sub-genre) without much success, so I'm appealing for recommendations.

Other books I've read include Eco's Foucault's Pendulum which is almost brilliant, Iain Pears' An Instance Of The Fingerpost, which was very good, and Zafon and Graves' Shadow of the Wind, which was a little disappointing.

So where next? I should add that I'm not looking for anything like Ellis Peters' Cadfael books or detective series that just happen to have a historical setting.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Dissolution (CJ Samson) , the first of the Shardlake series , is almost certainly what you're looking for - it's REALLY good

 

[jenna]

How historical are they? I haven't read any of the one's you mentioned, but I've just finished a book called Codex by Lev Grossman, that has a recommendation by Iain Pears on the front and a comparison to Name of the Rose by the New York Times on the back, so I think it might be similar. Not too sure though! It's set in the present but the mystery involves medieval manuscripts.

 

[Snowdog]

Dissolution looks promising, I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

The periods for the books I listed are a mix. Foucault's Pendulum is set a few years ago and also deals with the discovery of a coded manuscipt. Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona just after WWII and An Instance of the Fingerpost is set in England just after the ECW. So the actual period isn't that important. Thanks, I'll take a look at Codex.

 

[Vladd67]

Have you tried the Falco books set in ancient Rome by Lindsey Davis?
or the Judge Dee books set in ancient China by Robert Van Gulik?

 

[Snowdog]

No I haven't heard of those, I'll look them up. Thanks.