Book review - The Apostate's Tale by Margaret Frazer

Warning:  Contains spoilers!

I don’t know if Margaret Frazer intended this to be the last Dame Frevisse novel, since she passed away in 2013, the final book ends on a high note.  Without giving away the mystery, I’ll just say the last words in the book are “Domina Frevisse, prioress of St. Frideswide’s”.  Okay, enough of the spoilers.

Other than the non-surprising ending, The Apostate’s Tale was a let-down given the excitement of the previous novel, The Traitor’s Tale.  This final installment lacked the politics and intrigue of Henry VI’s disastrous reign, but it also lacked its enjoyability. 

The story takes place entirely within the confines of St Frideswide.  Frevisse isn’t sent away on an errand and her cousin Lady Suffolk isn’t even mentioned.  That being said, there really wasn’t much mystery to this novel.  The story centered around an apostate nun who had fled St. Frideswide nine years before with a man, and is back with young son in tow.

The sisters are none too happy to see her and send for Abbot Gilberd, Domina Elisabeth’s brother to help them with what to do with Sister Cecely.  Thrown into the mix are a young woman who wants to be a nun (much against her mother’s wishes) and Sister Cecely’s paramour’s family, who think she has stolen important papers from them.

All right, one more spoiler:  There is no murder in The Apostate’s Tale.  Only two close calls.  And the solution isn’t a total surprise.

I was really expecting something more from Frazer’s final Frevisse tale.

Book review - The Traitor's Tale by Margaret Frazer

I think this is one of the best Dame Frevisse novels Margaret Frazer has written.  “The Traitor’s Tale” takes Frevisse out of St. Frideswide for most of the novel (as usual) and puts her into the midst of the scandals and treasons of the lords surrounding King Henry VI.

Frevisse’s cousin Lady Alice de la Pole has once again summoned the good sister from her idyllic life in St. Frideswide to help her with a conundrum.  The former duchess of Suffolk feels the enemies of her late husband, who was hated by just about everyone, may not be satisfied with his murder and might exact their revenge on her and her son. She feels Frevisse is the only one she can confide in.

Meanwhile, Joliffe is being sent on his own mission by the duke of York.  The powers that surround the king are trying to discredit him and find evidence (i.e. make up something) to charge him with treason,   truth and facts notwithstanding.  It isn’t long before Joliffe and Frevisse meet and their paths become intertwined, whether they want them to or not.

The biggest mystery here is a letter, written by the duke of Suffolk, which supposedly calls out a number of people involved in a treasonous plot.  The previous king, Henry V, scored a major victory over the French, but in a generation his son has lost everything.  Not so much Henry VI’s fault as much as the corrupt, greedy lords around him.

Joliffe and Lady Alice’s man Vaughn risk a lot to find the letter and deliver it to the duke of York and Frevisse is right in the middle of it.

As Joliffe is nearly killed retrieving the letter but manages to get the letter to Frevisse, Frazer’s writing style turns from mystery to action.  “The Traitor’s Tale” becomes an exciting page-turner. Toward the end I had trouble putting it down.  Usually Frazer has twists and turns as Frevisse reveals ‘whodunit’, but the excitement builds as Frevisse, Joliffe and Vaughn near their destination. 

Frazer takes Frevisse in a different path from her usual cozy murders and it works.

Book review - "The Sempter's Tale" by Margaret Frazer

Over the past few books, Frazer has concentrated mainly on the corruption that surrounded Henry VI.  Her sleuth, Dame Frevisse, is cousin to the duchess of Suffolk, Alice de la Pole.  Alice’s husband was the duke of Suffolk, who was murdered after years of usurping the king’s power and treasuries for his own gain.  Frazer’s novels have taken an interesting turn from Frevisse solving murders in and around the quiet nunnery St. Frideswide, which is a safe distance from the dangerous London, to her in the midst of the court intrigue with its backstabbing and vices, usually culminating in someone’s murder.  A series that started out as cozy mysteries is now historical fiction based on the life of King Henry VI.

In "The Sempter’s Tale" (‘sempster’ a medieval term meaning ‘seamster’), Frazer addresses the vile hatred toward the Jewish in mid-fifteenth century England, where Jews had been banned, but lived in utmost secrecy to save their skins.  The sempter/widow Anne is hopelessly in love with Daved, a secret Jew.  She knows who he is and knows the dangers to him will also be hers if they are found out. 

Against her will, Frevisse is forced to become a pawn yet again, in another of her cousin’s troubles.  This time, Alice wants her husband’s gold to be secretly brought back into England, without paying the required taxes but also without attracting the attention of the late duke’s enemies.  Anne and Daved are part of this plan to return Alice’s gold to her as well.

Then a boy, who is part of Anne’s household disappears and is found later murdered, with wounds that are similar to a crucifixion.  Immediately, suspicion falls on the Jews, although there aren’t supposed to be any in London.  Later, when Daved is unsurprisingly discovered, a fanatical priest blames him for the murder.  Frevisse, again, must sort through the convoluted clues and events to discover what happened to the young man.

Frevisse has her own doubts about Jewish people, but having known some in her youth, she isn’t as prejudice as almost everyone around her.  I found it interesting some of the horrible arguments and feelings that Londoners used to justify their oppression of the Jews.  But as Daved points out in his ‘discussion’ with the fanatical priest, Christians don’t mind them when Jews are helping them make money. 

   

Frevisse does not get into any arguments about faith, but has to withhold her own judgment when she discovers the depth of Anne and Daved’s relationship. 

Not much on mystery in this one, but definitely another great insight into the environment of fifteenth-century England, Henry VI included and not included.

Book review - The Widow's Tale by Margaret Frazer

And she’s back!  In my review of “The Bastard’s Tale” last week, I theorized there were two people writing as Margaret Frazer.  One likes to write exciting murder mysteries while the other likes the more subtle, intrigue-laden stories.  “The Widow’s Tale” was written by the first writer, which means it moves at a much faster and therefore, must better pace.

The novel focuses on a young woman who loses her husband to an untimely and unidentified illness.  After his death, his greedy cousins immediately move in, taking over his manor and its holdings.  They kidnap the widow Cristiana and cart her off to a nunnery for “penance”, telling the nuns many lies and forbidding anyone to talk to her. Of course, the nunnery turns out to be St. Frideswide and soon Dame Frevisse is up to her eyeballs in a new mess.  When Master John Say, a close associate of Cristiana “rescues” her, Domina Elisabeth and Frevisse are obligated to go with her.

The future of Cristiana and her daughters is caught in a tug-of-war between Say and Cristiana’s cousins-in-law.  Fortunately, Frevisse can watch from the sidelines and not get sucked into the middle of everything.

Until her cousin Alice de la Pole, duchess of Suffolk, charges her with finding a traitor among the household.  The real murder mystery doesn’t begin until three-fourths of the way through the novel.  Still there is enough action to keep the reader interested but this pattern of alternating slow-fast stories, one can predict how the next book will read.

Book review of "The Bastard's Tale" by Margaret Frazer

Sometimes I think Margaret Frazer is actually two people writing, both with expert knowledge of fifteenth century England but with different ideas for mystery. One writes an exciting, fast-paced story where Frevisse’s intellect is put to the test.  The other puts more emphasis on scandal and intrigue in the courts of King Henry VI and his noblemen.

“The Bastard’s Tale” is one of the latter.  Frevisse is called to wait on her cousin, Alice de la Pole, who is married to the duke of Suffolk.  The duke is in a power play for the king’s favor with the duke of Gloucester.  Whoever the king favors controls the king. 

Frevisse would much prefer to stay at St. Frideswide where the quiet days and nights are structured with the Offices and the duties and tasks assigned to the sisters.  However, since she has no choice, she is drawn into the intrigue surrounding King Henry VI and the suspicious death of the duke of Gloucester.

Joliffe, the performer with whom Frevisse has worked before, is present but this time his actions suggest he’s up to much more than performing.  And Frevisse is worried.

Joliffe and Frevisse befriend the duke of Gloucester’s illegitimate son Arteys.  The duke had never shunned Arteys and neither had his wife, who had been arrested and imprisoned by the king.  They were hoping Henry will grant her freedom, but tragedy strikes.

One thing that sets “The Bastard’s Tale” apart from Frazer’s earlier novels is the finale.  I won’t put any spoilers here but Frevisse does something she’s never done before.  My jaw dropped.

This one started out slow but the last third of the book was a page-turner!

 

 

Book review - "The Clerk's Tale" by Margaret Frazer

After reading “The Squire’s Tale”, I was a little disappointed because it almost felt as if Margaret Frazer had given up.  The novel was slow and predictable.  Reluctantly, I read the next book in her Dame Frevisse series, set in the 1400’s during the reign of Henry VI.

“The Clerk’s Tale” restored my faith in Frazer.  The mystery is set within the first few pages and doesn’t slow down. The novel opens with the murder of Master Montfort, crowner and frequent thorn in Frevisse’s side.  He’s found stabbed in the cloister garden of St. Mary’s where Domina Elisabeth and Frevisse are visiting the prioress’ dying cousin.

Since Master Montfort and Frevisse butted heads every time they met (and she was always right), she finds it difficult to be sorrowful, but soon discovers no one else is, either.  To her big surprise, Montfort’s son Christopher, the new crowner, is nothing like his father.  He is more interested in finding the truth, rather than making a rash, simple decision.  His methodical, not greedy.  He and Frevisse quickly form an alliance to discover who killed his father.

At the heart of the problem is the legitimacy of Master Stephen, grandson of Lady Agnes.  His inheritance of her vast fortune is being brought into question by the boy’s aunt, who is convinced he is not her sister’s son.  There doesn’t seem to be any connection between the murdered crowner and the contentious family.

Frevisse, Christopher Montfort and the clerk John Gruesby persevere, questioning everybody and doing heavy footwork. Their tenacity pays off.  Unlike the previous novel which was rather predictable and slow, Frazer has some surprises for her readers.

“The Clerk’s Tale” is head and shoulders above “The Squire’s Tale”.  Frazer returns to the old school sleuthing that we’re used to.

Book Review - Margaret Frazer's "The Squire's Tale"

Sometimes I wonder if authors who write a series of novels run out of ideas or get to appoint they have nothing left to offer their readers.  Such is the case for The Squire’s Tale, the tenth in Margaret Frazer’s Dame Frevisse series.  In The Maiden’s Tale, we got a glimpse of the intrigue of King Henry VI’s reign.  In The Reeve’s Tale, we saw how convoluted land ownership could be by family ties, who bequeathed what to whom, who has the most money, etc.

In The Squire’s Tale, Frazer attempts to show us how disputes were settled without turning to lawyers or some form of government, but it's mostly a family feud.  Fully three-fourths of the novel passes before the mystery starts.  Up to that Point, Dame Frevisse and Sister Claire have been asked to escort a young lady back to her guardian, Sir Robert Fenner, whom Frevisse met in Frazer’s first novel of this series.  Robert had been wounded when family members who have a quarrel with his wife attacked him to confiscate his ward and force her into marriage.  Katherine is sent to St. Frideswide for protection.

When she is recalled back to the manor, Frevisse and Claire accompany her.  For most of the novel, Frevisse watches the drama around her, wishing she wasn’t there, wishing she didn’t have to see everything, and hear everything.  The story tends to bog down.

I enjoy reading Frazer’s works but this one is far from her best output.

Book Review - The Reeve's Tale by Margaret Frazer

 

 

Silly me.  In the beginning of The Reeve’s Tale, the ninth in Frazer’s Dame Frevisse series.  St. Frideswide’s reeve, Master Naylor’s freeman status is called into question and is temporarily relieved of his duties until the matter can be resolved.  Domina Elisabeth charges Frevisse to assume his duties as reeve until that time.  I thought Frazer had run out of ideas to get Dame Frevisse out of the convent and into the secular world where her sleuthing abilities are needed.

I underestimated Frazer’s creativity, since nothing in her novels is superfluous. 

Although Frevisse spends most of her time in the confines of St. Frideswide, she is not uninformed about the world outside the cloister.  Almost from the moment she takes on Master Naylor’s duties, she becomes involved in a land dispute over a tract up for grabs.  One contender a wealthy man with a Midas touch and therefore not well-liked.  The other is the brother-in-law of the village’s reeve, Master Perryn, Naylor’s counterpart.

Mary Woderove, Perryn’s sister and Matthew’s wife, has the disposition of a rabid wolverine. It’s no surprise to the village when Matthew disappears and nobody is grieving when his body is discovered a few days later, miles away. Not even Mary who turns to her paramour for comfort. And to take up her cause for the tract of land.

But things don’t go in her favor and soon her lover is killed.  Frevisse and Master Perry struggle to find out who hated the two men few people even cared for, less kill them. Although unpopular, neither man was hated.

The king’s crowner, Thornton, shows up in his boisterous manner, more interested in lining his pockets than finding the truth.  As before, he and Frevisse clash but this time she finds an ally in Thornton’s son.   He’s not like his father and is eager to find the truth, as much as Frevisse does. 

The Reeve’s Tale is the first novel that I found to be an actual page-turner, not that the others were not, but during the Reeve’s climax, Frevisse takes Mary head-on with an anger and coldness she hasn’t exhibited before. It was interesting and exciting to see Frevisse shed her nun’s habit, so to speak, and bring out the claws!

Review of The Maiden's Tale by Margaret Frazer

It seems the more Dame Frevisse tries to shun action and trouble, the more they find her.  Throughout Margaret Frazer’s excellent series featuring nun-sleuth Dame Frevisse, the good sisters wants nothing more than to live out her days in the comfort of her daily office and prayers and the structure of St. Frideswide’s routine.  However, this comfort and security has been disrupted ever since Domina Edith passed away and, through a series of unusual events, Dame Alys was elected prioress.

The readers knew, even if Frevisse didn’t want to know, is that being Prioress would go straight to Alys’ head.  And it does.  The events of the Prioress’ Tale, the previous novel in the series, bleed over into the Maiden’s Tale.  Dame Aly has led St. Frideswide into financial ruin with half-finished unusable structures on site.  The convent has been assigned a new prioress and Frevisse is one of the two nuns chose to travel to London to meet her and help her with the transition. 

She finds out that her cousin Alice, Lady of Suffolk, has engineered her involvement in the process with Bishop Beaufort.  Frevisse is puzzled then furious when she finds out the reason for it, her cousin is mixed up in bringing the Duke of Orleans to London for a clandestine meeting with King Henry VI, unbeknownst to the king’s uncle, the Duke of Gloucester.  A young man in Alice’s household, was part of Lady Alice’s scheme to pass messages back and forth, died under mysterious circumstances.  Alice needs someone discreet and above suspicion to replace him.

Frevisse is reluctant to undertake the role of spy but her cousin convinces her it’s the best possibility for peace.

The Maiden’s Tale and its predecessor, The Prioress’ Tale are both cozy mysteries with more historical details then murder and mayhem.  But as I’ve mentioned in earlier reviews of this genre, you can always learn something new.  Reading Frazer and her peers is more fun that reading history or non-fiction sometimes.  Here we can see the excitement of London as Parliament is gathering but also the fears of the populace if the Lord of Gloucester can convince the young king to declare war on France.

The rich backdrop of a tense event in England’s hardly-ever-boring royal family lifts this novel, making it an enjoyable read.

The Cloisters - New York City, NY

We drove to New York City and picked up a friend from Dallas on Dec. 16.  After visiting Elizabeth Taylor's jewels, having lunch at Sylvia's in Harlem we drove to the Cloisters, a collection of medieval art and treasures in an ancient abbey on the far northwest corner of Manhattan.  It is now a state park.

The statue of St. Margaret: ca 1330-1340. 

Stained glass from the castle of Ebreichsdorf south of Vienna near the border of present day Hungary.

Cloister arcades from the Cisterian Abbey at Bonnefront-en-Comminges and other nearby monasteries made of marble from the late 13th or early 14th century.

Two Riddles of the Queen of Sheba from the Upper Rhineland, Strasbourg, 1490-1500.

Doorway and Staircase Entrance from the courtyard at 29 rue de la Tannerie, Abbeville, France, Picardy (Somme), late 15th or early 16th century.

A view west across the Hudson River. 

Embroidered hanging with Old Testament Scenes: Silk on linen, Germany, Lower Saxony, late 14th century. 

The Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duke of Berry: Completed in 1408 or 1409, the Belles Heures is a private devotional book.