3.8, the end was stronger than the middle.

I appreciate the historian outlook that rumbles along under the narrative. From the afterword:

"...another medievalist scholar writes of a conference in the 1980s where the 2 camps divided so bitterly that they nearly came to blows.

I, for one, would gladly have paid to see this last. In my fantasy, the Venetianists and the Byzantinists are at opposite ends of a large field. Each side is given a disassembled mangonel, operating instructions in the appropriate 13th c. manuscript, and a pile of stones. The last historic standing gets to write the definitive work." ( )

Another top-notch entry in Gordon's Fools' Guild series. In this one, Feste and his wife Viola (now known as Aglaia, and now pregnant) work with their fellow fools to solve the murder of a Venetian silk merchant in Byzantium, and incidentally to prevent the city's destruction by the Fourth Crusade. Both the personal and the historical ring true, and the institution of the Fools' Guild continues to fascinate. ( )

In 1204, with the Fourth Crusade besieging the walls of Constantinople, a minor death may hold the key to the Empire's survival. The Fourth Crusade has shown up outside the gates of Constantinople. Instead of freeing the Holy Land, the city is now their target. Theophilos the Jester and his compatriots within the city are faced with catastrophe and the death of a silk merchant in the Venetian quarter seems insignificant. But if the merchant was not what he appeared to be and if Constantinople is to have any hope, the Jester must solve the crime.
Fools’ Guild Mysteries by Alan Gordon:
Thirteenth Night (1999)
Jester Leaps In (2000)
A Death in the Venetian Quarter (2002)
The Widow of Jerusalem (2003)
An Antic Disposition (2004) ( )