Featured Author: Margaret Frazer

Featured author is Margaret Frazer. She has two historical mystery series; the second is a sort of spin off from the first:



I. Protagonist: Dame Frevisse, a 15th century nun in Oxfordshire, England

• The Novice’s Tale (1992)

In 1431, the convent of St. Frideswide's peaceful English September is disrupted by the arrival of a familiar but less-than-welcome guest. Lady Ermentrude, great aunt to the saintly novice Thomasine, always enjoys tormenting the timid girl by threatening to find her a husband before Thomasine can take her final vows. This time she's just two weeks away from that great moment. So when Ermentraude dies of poisoning in St. Fridewide's guest hall, after a hard and hasty ride on some mysterious family business, Thomasine - unlikely murderess though she might make - is nevertheless everyone's prime suspect. Everyone's, that is, except Sister Frevisse. Although she has to admit that Thomasine does look guilty, the convent's hosteler looks elsewhere instead of accepting the too-easy answer.

• The Servant’s Tale (1993) Finalist 1994 Edgar Award for Best Paperback




It's a very cold Yuletide at St. Frideswide in the 1433. All the sisters are either sick or recovering from colds. Sister Frevisse is also not feeling herself, but she is thrown into another murder investigation when a village lad is found dead. A group of players (actors) bring in a badly injured man. Before long there's another murder and the players are the chief suspects.



• The Outlaw’s Tale (1994)

May 1434. Sister Frevisse and Master Naylor journey with Sister Emma toward her godchild's christening. Their trip is interrupted by Nicholas, Frevisse's cousin, who seeks her assistance in obtaining a pardon for him and his band of outlaws. While Sister Frevisse is waiting for an answer about this pardon she is lodging at the home of one her cousin's business partners and a murder is commmitted.




• The Bishop’s Tale (1994)



Late November, 1434. Frevisse's beloved uncle Thomas Chaucer is dying, which brings her into contact with his old friend Bishop Beaufort for the first time. Attending a funeral dinner at Ewelme Manor, Sister Frevisse and Bishop Beaufort are amazed when querulous Sir Clement Sharpe brazenly challenges God to strike him down and promptly falls down dead. Since other guests have supped on the same meat and wine without ill-effect, all believe the Lord's hand smote Sir Clement. The wily Bishop Beaufort, however, secretly orders Frevisse to snoop from the kitchens to the chapel for an unusual poison.




• The Boy’s Tale (1995)



Summer, 1436. Who could ever want to harm two young boys, ages five and six? When the boys are half brothers to Henry VI, King of England, the list is long and distinguished. A lady in their mother's household flees with the boys to St. Frideswide's and asks for sanctuary. But as attempts are made on the boys' lives inside St. Frideswide's walls, Sister Frevisse realizes that from the ambitious and the wicked, there is no sanctuary...




• The Murderer’s Tale (1996)



Visiting Minister Lovell while on pilgrimage from St. Frideswide, Sister Frevisse suspects that a mentally ill guest, who is prone to violent fits, has been framed for the murder of an innocent man.



• The Prioress’ Tale (1997) Finalist 1998 Edgar Award for Best Paperback




Late October, 1439. When Domina Alys becomes prioress of St. Frideswide, the convent becomes a guest house for her disagreeable and greedy relatives, until a long-standing family feud leads to kidnapping and murder, and it is up to Sister Frevisse to find a killer and rid the convent of its unwelcome guests. Combine this with the contruction of a tower, the kidnapping of a prospective bride, Domina Alys' pettinesses and revenges, the appearance of an old "friend", and the murder seems like just another event.





• The Maiden’s Tale (1998)



November 1439. Sister Frevisse has made an unusual journey to London to meet the new prioress of St. Frideswide's. At the urging of her abbot, she stays with her wealthy cousin Alice, lady wife of the earl of Suffolk. But Frevisse suspects more is involved than a friendly visit - for this London home houses a secret that has turned deadly: Alice is involved in the dangerous political machinations of the Duke of Orleans and King Henry VI. Their private correspondence is being routed through the Suffolk's home. But when one of the messengers dies under mysterious circumstances and Frevisse is asked to carry letters in his place, she finds herself faced with a deadly question: Can she find the traitor before the murderer strikes again when she herself has become the target?



• The Reeve’s Tale (1999)

June 1440. Frevisse is ordered to temporarily take over the duties of Master Naylor, the convent's steward. She finds herself in the middle of a land dispute when Matthew Woderove, a convent serf, is found dead and his widow, Mary, along with her new beau, Tom Holcote, tries to claim his land rights. Disputing the claim is wealthy villein Gilbey Dunn, who wants to add to his hefty holdings. The argument is quickly set aside when Matthew's death turns out to be murder and most of the village children come down with sometimes fatal cases of measles. Aided by a neighboring reeve, Simon Perryn, whose own children are among the sick, Frevisse seeks to untangle the roots of the crime, which grow to claim a second murder victim.




• The Squire’s Tale (2000)

Lent 1442. Robert Fenner married the twice-widowed Lady Blaunche to obtain her properties. The ownership of one of these manors is in dispute. Robert is willing to settle by arbitration, but the greedy Blaunche has other plans. Dame Frevisse and Dame Claire find themselves in the midst of this turmoil when they escort Katherine, one of the household's young women, home from their convent. Conflicting loyalties, secrets, and greed lead to murder, and Dame Frevisse must see that justice is done.





• The Clerk’s Tale (2002)



January 1446. Frevisse accompanies her prioress on a journey to St Mary's nunnery to visit the prioress's dying sister. Upon arrival, Frevisse is immersed in the aftermath of a murder of a much hated local official which occurred on the nunnery grounds. Master Montfort was not particularly liked by anyone in the town of Goring. Even his own wife and clerk despised him. And as royal escheator he was trying to settle a heated dispute between a wealthy woman and her supposed nephew. Now Dame Frevisse must step in and untangle the fortunes and felonies in a rivalry of wealth, family, and politics.




• The Bastard’s Tale (2003)



February 1447. Powerful men from all of England have been summoned to Parliament in the great pilgrimage town of Bury St. Edmunds. Most come to make laws and pass taxes. But a small group of nobles will use this chance to bring down their greatest rival through treachery... From her nunnery, Dame Frevisse is brought into this swirl of politics and plotting by the ambitious Bishop of Winchester. While she is meant to merely observe and report to him what she sees, she is instead drawn into the dangerous maelstrom encircling the throne of England. Also of note is the poignant and amusing relationship between Joliffe and Dame Frevisse.




• The Hunter’s Tale (2004)




Summer 1448. When Sir Ralph Woderove is found murdered near his estate, not even his family mourns. A hard, vicious man of many quarrels, Sir Ralph could have been killed by almost anyone. And though the consensus is that his soul has surely gone to Hell, Sir Ralph will continue to infuriate his heirs in death through the grossly inadequate terms of his estate's settlement. It falls to Dame Frevisse to escort Sir Ralph's widow and daughter back to their manor, when another death occurs under questionable circumstances - making it clear that not all grievances have been laid to rest.

The Widow’s Tale (2005)

Spring of 1449, a young widow is brought to St. Frideswide. Accused by her in-laws of being wanton and deranged, the widow, Cristina Helynton, has been sentenced to spend her days at St. Friedeswide's in contrition, the hope being that she will show penitence for her ways and take the veil. Cristina is a woman deeply wronged: kidnapped, falsely charged and imprisoned, Cristina has been torn away from her home and her two daughters because of the greed of her dead husband's cousin, Laurence Helynton. Now, Cristina, torn between fear for her children, grief for her dead husband, and anger at her relatives, waits for her brother, Sir Gerveys, to rescue her and to help her regain her daughters and her former life. For Cristina has one ace up her sleeve: an incriminating letter that the Duke of Suffolk would pay dearly to have in his possession... Sister Frevisse feels caught in a growing storm in which those who know the truth are subject to murder but she realizes if revealed could lead to civil war.






• The Sempster’s Tale (2006)




Summer of 1450. Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to arrange the funeral vestments for her cousin's murdered husband, the Duke of Suffolk. But she is also charged with secretly recovering - and then conveying to her cousin - the gold the late duke sent out of England shortly before his death. But her duty and their love become more dangerous a rebel army advances on London - and a murdered body is discovered in the crypt of a London church, mutilated with what a Franciscan friar of the Inquisition claims are Hebrew letters.

• The Traitor’s Tale (2007)




Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in burying her husband-but the late Duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe. Wandering player Simon Joliffe is also in London, on a mission with vital information for the exiled Duke of York: a list naming the English noblemen who purportedly betrayed their King by conspiring with the French, including some of Suffolk's men, whom Joliffe has been seeking-and now found dead. Joining the player on his search for the men on the list, Frevisse starts to wonder whether or not the list is real-or part of an even greater conspiracy against the crown.





• The Apostate’s Tale (2008)

As the nuns of St. Frideswide's priory prepare for the welcome end of Lent, their peaceful expectations are overset by the sudden return of long-vanished Sister Cecely. Nine years ago she fled from the nunnery with a man. Now her lover is dead and she has come back, bringing her illegitimate son with her. She claims she is penitent, that she wants only to redeem her sin and find a safe haven for her child. Is she truly interested in repenting for her sins—or is she just in hiding after involvement in schemes that threaten everyone at St. Frideswide?

II. Protagonist: Joliffe, the leader of traveling players in 15th century England

• A Play of Isaac (2004)




The year is 1434, and preparations are under way for the Corpus Christi festival in Oxford, England. Plays are a traditional part of the celebration, and Joliffe and the rest of his troupe are to perform Isaac and Abraham. Until then, their theatrical antics are in demand by a wealthy merchant who offers them an opportunity to ply their trade for room and board. But when the body of a murdered man is found outside the barn door where the troupe is lodging, Joliffe must raise the curtain on the merchant's mysterious past and uncover the startling truth behind a murder most foul...

• A Play of Dux Moraud (2005)




It is the autumn of 1434, and the end-of-harvest reckoning during Michaelmas has been less than plentiful. Fortunately, Joliffe and his fellow players are surviving and thriving under the patronage of Lord Lovell. His grace is sending them to perform at Deneby Manor as a gift for the marriage of Sir Edmund Deneby's daughter, Mariena. But Joliffe has been engaged to play two roles - that of a player and that of a spy. Deneby's daughter was betrothed once before, to a healthy man who fell ill and died before they married, and Lord Lovell fears a similar fate befalling Mariena's newly intended. And as Joliffe uncovers the secrets of the Denebys' sordid history, it becomes clear that this is a wedding celebration destined to end in tragedy...





• A Play of Knaves (2006)




In the spring of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow players are sent to the village of Ashewell not only to stage plays, but to uncover some dark secrets about the town's three wealthy families: the Ashewells, the Medcotes, and the Gosyns. A rivalry has been brewing among the families, entangling the entire town in a web of seduction, deception, and blackmail. Matters go beyond the breaking point when someone turns to murder to settle their grievances. And if one murder is good, why not another? If all the world is a stage, then it's up to Joliffe to bring the curtain down on this tragedy - before another man takes his final curtain call...





• A Play of Lords (2007)

In the late autumn of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow players are in London to perform for the Bishop Beaufort. But his Eminence has other duties in mind for the company. With the Duke of Bedford's passing, ambitious lords and clergymen are plotting to assume his role as advisor to the young King Henry VI - and the Bishop needs to know what his rivals are planning. Dispatched to entertain - and spy on - England's royals, Joliffe and company encounter intrigue from various factions both within and without the kingdom. And when men who know too much begin to die in violent ways, the players start to fear for their own lives...

About the Author:

Her website can be found at http://www.margaretfrazer.com/. The first six books in the Dame Frevisse series were written by Monica Ferris and Gail Frazer, under the joint pseudonym Margaret Frazer. In 1997 Gail Frazer began writing alone under the pseudonym Margaret Frazer. Her website bio states, "lI'm living in the countryside north of Elk River, Minnesota, with four cats and not enough bookshelves. Over the years I’ve had a rag-tag of various jobs, including librarian, secretary, reseacher for a television station, gift shop manager, and assistant matron at an English girls’ school. Married once upon a time but not anymore, I have two well-grown sons who become uneasy if I read books about poisons at the supper table and refuse to turn their backs on me when I say I want to try something I might use in a story. I write more days than not, and when once I moaned that 'I have to get a life,' my loving family informed me, 'You have one. It’s in the 1400s.' That seems to sum up things rather nicely."

Both are very good series that could be read by any age -- if you're trying to introduce mysteries to a young adult or trying to censor sex and violence from a grandmother. Being from a theatre background, I like the world of Joliffe and the players. And I like Frevisse when she is involved in political intrigue as well as the daily life at St. Frideswide.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster