The Name of the Rose

"The Name of the Rose" is a book with a mystery. In the early 14th century, shortly after Dante composed the "Divine Comedy," dead bodies are discovered in a Benedictine monastery in the heart of Europe. Blood is shed, celestial spheres are opened. A series of crimes reproduces not an English nursery rhyme, but the heralds of the Apocalypse. The detective, of course, is English. He resembles Sherlock Holmes, and his young apprentice resembles Dr. Watson. In the rigid structure of the detective story, there is room for vivid facts of Medieval history, echoes with the history of the 20th century, narratives about religious conflicts and uprisings, a touching tale of love, and a multitude of new mysteries that we, the readers, are eager to solve, but the cunning author invariably outplays us...

Until the paradoxical and chilling finale.