I should have read this before 'Small Gods', which is clearly a satire of this mediaeval detective novel. Chock full of nods to modern dectective fiction, particularly Sherlock Holmes, as well as tags and references displaying Eco's scholarly knowledge of the period, it seems the author has used his own character to flesh-out the brilliant but ultimately unsuccessful mendicant friar, William of Baskerville. The writing at times seems a little self-indulgent, rather like William and Jorge's final conversation, yet it may be that this was the very tone Eco was aiming for considering the back-story he gives in the preface. 
 A gripping mystery, slightly undermined by the nihilist gloom it seems to have been written under. 
 JM 28/10/16.