The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England : A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century, by Ian Mortimer

Didn't actually finish, because it was massively overdue, but nicely written. Just couldn't focus on it.

The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson

This book starts with the bubonic plague. It has essentially decimated Europe in the 14th century (A.D.), killing off almost everyone on the continent and allowing Asia to become dominant instead of Europe. China and the Middle East, and to a lesser extent India, become the superpowers, and eventually even the "New World" is allowed a seat at the global table.

Very interesting. The last couple of chapters were a bit meh, but the religious, political and scientific discussions of the rest of the book were fascinating.

The Wildcats of Exeter, by Edward Marston

This is the book I skipped somehow, and it's a little disconcerting to find that it hardly mattered.

Obviously, the commissioners have headed to Devon for this book, along with yet another additional head to help them sort things out. Of course, like Ensign Red-Shirt in the original Star Trek shows, this just means he's either going to end up dead or on the wrong team.

The 'case' they end up trying to solve surrounds a man killed as they arrive in Exeter. The dead man has land that is under their review too, and after his death two new people come forward saying they should have the title, making a total of five claimants. Solving his murder becomes important to figure out if he was killed so that the new claims are the result of his death. In the meantime, the new commissioner is killed, and Golde becomes involved in an attempt at blackmailing the wife of their host.

The plot was convuluted, with the dangling carrot of Gervase and Alys' imminent wedding being held out as reason to continue reading the series.

The Serpents of Harbledown, by Edward Marston

I got this one out of order and read the next book in the series before this one. Oh well.

This one finds the commissioner's in Kent, headed for Canterbury. Upon their arrival they are faced with a deep disagreement between the archbishop and the local priory, and also with a poisoned young girl found near a leper's colony. The wife of the house in which they are staying was good friends with the dead girl, so they are drawn into finding out how she was killed.

Then the leader of the monks who run the leper colony dies, and both deaths are soon reclassified as murders, and laid at the doorstep of a French heretic who has snuck into the country.

Interesting sub-plot about what constitutes heresy as opposed to sincerely-held alternative thoughts on the rights of the church and individuals. The main plot was pretty much a pot-boiler, but I still like the history I'm spoon-fed as I read this.