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Sister Frevisse #2
The Servant's Tale
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240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
65 people are currently reading
690 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Frazer
63 books211 followersMargaret Frazer is a pen name used at first by Mary Monica Pulver Kuhfeld and Gail Lynn Frazer writing in tandem for a series of historical medieval mysteries featuring Dame Frevisse. After the sixth novel, the works are written by Gail Frazer alone, and the name has subsequently been used exclusively by her. A second series of novels by Ms Frazer set in the same time and place feature the player/minstrel Joliffe.
See also: Monica Ferris, Mary Monica Pulver
Series:
* Sister Frevisse
* Joliffe
See also: Monica Ferris, Mary Monica Pulver
Series:
* Sister Frevisse
* Joliffe
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
March 7, 2020
After piecing this collection together, I started it exactly three years ago. It was a gradual acclimatization. Historical fiction is not my milieu but I was impressed. This is a 1434 timeline. This order of St. Frideswide nuns in England, far from frail, are the relatives of warriors. The protagonist is Sister Frevisse, in charge of guest halls. She is well-liked and the Prioress trusts and facilitates her sleuthing. She is neither low or high ranking. She has a travelling history with her parents which she cherishes, knows more of the world than her peers, and Geoffrey Chaucer was her great-uncle! However, Dame Frevisse is content with the cloister life she chose.
Action arose all of a sudden at a pace that did not abate. The titular character is a second, guest protagonist of each novel. Audiences should know that a “cozy mystery” designation does not fit. Descriptions of death are candid and the revelation of the crime in this story is unexpectedly disturbing, diabolical, and grim. Most “standard mysteries” and “thrillers” give salvation to some characters; a relieved and happy conclusion. My grade is three stars for a lack of relief.
On the part of staple personages, we do not lack for compassion and humour. Dame Frevisse is pleased to welcome a troupe of actors, without a patron, due to misalignment of their reputation. They are too easily blamed by the stupid regional investigator, who has no policing skill. A local man, a sour teenager, and a beloved nun make up an incongruous set of murder victims. There are always readers who brag that they guessed suspect A or B, which is meaningless without details. I was stumped but hated the outcome. The pleasure of “The Servant’s Tale” is that the well-liked actors begin a series of their own!
Action arose all of a sudden at a pace that did not abate. The titular character is a second, guest protagonist of each novel. Audiences should know that a “cozy mystery” designation does not fit. Descriptions of death are candid and the revelation of the crime in this story is unexpectedly disturbing, diabolical, and grim. Most “standard mysteries” and “thrillers” give salvation to some characters; a relieved and happy conclusion. My grade is three stars for a lack of relief.
On the part of staple personages, we do not lack for compassion and humour. Dame Frevisse is pleased to welcome a troupe of actors, without a patron, due to misalignment of their reputation. They are too easily blamed by the stupid regional investigator, who has no policing skill. A local man, a sour teenager, and a beloved nun make up an incongruous set of murder victims. There are always readers who brag that they guessed suspect A or B, which is meaningless without details. I was stumped but hated the outcome. The pleasure of “The Servant’s Tale” is that the well-liked actors begin a series of their own!
September 25, 2018
Once again the characters are interesting and clearly made. The players were a good addition to the seasons happenings, discovering the husband of Meg in a ditch, crushed under the cart he was bringing back to his neighbour, and bringing him to the nunnery for help. Unfortunately, I found that the mystery wasn't much of a surprise - the writing is still good and I certainly enjoyed the book.
June 18, 2022
It's Christmastime, and the sisters of St. Frideswide cannot turn away travellers, even the players knocking at the nunnery door. But along with the motley troupe comes the grievously wounded husband of the cloister's scullery maid, Meg. They swear they found the drunken wastrel in a ditch, but the tale sounds like another song and dance. Especially when two dead bodies are waiting in the wings....
Now Sister Frevisse must find out if one of the actors is a murderer in masquerade--or face a very unmerry Yuletide season.
The Servant’s Tale is the second book in the Sister Frevisse Series and I am already addicted to this series. I love St Frideswide’s nuns, and dame Frevisse in particular. The bodies pile up, the nuns have a cold and the natives are getting restless. A solid murder mystery against the backdrop of cloister life. Margaret Frazer’s writing is just fabulous.
Narration is once again in the very capable hands of Susan Duerden. She is wonderful and really makes it into a fab audio book experience.
Themes: 1434, Oxfordshire, Christmastide at St Frideswide, cloister life, players, villeins.
5 Stars
Now Sister Frevisse must find out if one of the actors is a murderer in masquerade--or face a very unmerry Yuletide season.
The Servant’s Tale is the second book in the Sister Frevisse Series and I am already addicted to this series. I love St Frideswide’s nuns, and dame Frevisse in particular. The bodies pile up, the nuns have a cold and the natives are getting restless. A solid murder mystery against the backdrop of cloister life. Margaret Frazer’s writing is just fabulous.
Narration is once again in the very capable hands of Susan Duerden. She is wonderful and really makes it into a fab audio book experience.
Themes: 1434, Oxfordshire, Christmastide at St Frideswide, cloister life, players, villeins.
5 Stars
October 9, 2019
When I initially read that there was infact a whole series of murder mysteries surrounding the character Dame Frevisse and, presumably, the St. Friedeswide abbey, I was skeptical whether the author could keep it intriguing and, for lack of a better word, meaningful. After all, an unending series of murders all taking place at the same abbey sounds very ridiculous. However, to say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.
The book starts off with a very refreshing view on a peasant's life back in the middle ages, with the attention to detail that I have come to expect from Margaret Frazer. The murders, too, all wonderfully went against anything I had expected. After all, when you start reading, it's without a doubt your wonder lies with whether the players put the villein in that ditch or not, whereas in reality we find out (at the very end of the book) the man's murder was that of being suffocated in his sleep.
I didn't figure out who the murderer was again this time through, and it's almost making me feel like I'm doing something wrong. I couldn't help but peek at the other reviews of this book and there's at least several of them claiming the mystery was 'obvious' and 'solved in a matter of hours'. Certainly this wasn't the case for me!
Indeed, Margaret Frazer again took me by surprise with this book, and I can't help but relate back to the first novel in this series (spoilers for "The Novice's Tale"!!). After the murder takes place, the author does a great job at making the reader suspicious when suddenly we are bereft of Thomasine's perspective, which no doubt could mean she was the murderer. At least, that was the case for me. Now, after Sym and his father die in this book, we are still treated with Meg's perspective, yet still her crimes weren't revealed to us.
I'll end it on a note that I'm just a wee bit disappointed we weren't graced with Thomasine's perspective during any of this. Of course, she wasn't very involved in all of it, but I felt as though the first book focused too much on her for her to slide into the background with the rest of the many secondary nuns.
The book starts off with a very refreshing view on a peasant's life back in the middle ages, with the attention to detail that I have come to expect from Margaret Frazer. The murders, too, all wonderfully went against anything I had expected. After all, when you start reading, it's without a doubt your wonder lies with whether the players put the villein in that ditch or not, whereas in reality we find out (at the very end of the book) the man's murder was that of being suffocated in his sleep.
I didn't figure out who the murderer was again this time through, and it's almost making me feel like I'm doing something wrong. I couldn't help but peek at the other reviews of this book and there's at least several of them claiming the mystery was 'obvious' and 'solved in a matter of hours'. Certainly this wasn't the case for me!
Indeed, Margaret Frazer again took me by surprise with this book, and I can't help but relate back to the first novel in this series (spoilers for "The Novice's Tale"!!). After the murder takes place, the author does a great job at making the reader suspicious when suddenly we are bereft of Thomasine's perspective, which no doubt could mean she was the murderer. At least, that was the case for me. Now, after Sym and his father die in this book, we are still treated with Meg's perspective, yet still her crimes weren't revealed to us.
I'll end it on a note that I'm just a wee bit disappointed we weren't graced with Thomasine's perspective during any of this. Of course, she wasn't very involved in all of it, but I felt as though the first book focused too much on her for her to slide into the background with the rest of the many secondary nuns.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2023
It’s Christmastide, 1434, in Prior Byfield’s but for Meg it is bleak midwinter. Her husband Barnaby is a drunkard. Her family is in dire straits after her husband Barnaby, a drunkard, sells off their cow and ox when drunk. Without the ox he could no longer be a member of the village plow team which, in turn, meant he could not keep up the day work he owed Lord Lovel in return for the field strips and their cottage. Meg’s sixteen-year-old, Sym, shows every sign of following in his father’s footsteps—quick-tempered, combative and a drunkard. Megs dreams of a better life for her younger son, Hewe, and in order to earn a few pennies to pay for his education as a priest, she works as a scullery maid for the sisters at the nearby St. Frideswide.
Barnaby had been gone several days because he had been entrusted by Lord Lovel’s steward (amazing in inself) to pickup a tun of wine in Oxford and deliver it to the lord’s manor for the Christmas feasting. Meg worries that he got drunk and failed to deliver the wine, putting himself further out of favor. Meg receives news that, if anything, is even more devastating. Barnaby had successfully delivered the wine but he did get plastered on the return journey, running the hired cart off the road. He suffered grievous injuries, including a shattered hand, and was taken to St. Friedswide by a troupe of itinerant players. Although the convent’s infirmarian, Dame Claire, thinks Barnaby’s injuries are not life threatening, he is given the last rites and dies peacefully during the night as Meg keeps vigil. Meg is comforted by the thought that her sinful husband (who incidentally would never have been able to work again) died in a state of grace, absolved of all sin.
Her quarrelsome son, Sym, is not satisfied, however. He accuses the troupe of actors of assaulting his father in the first place; They are a lowly, lordless group after all. He gets in an argument with one of their number, Joliffe (who later features in his own series of mystery stories) and when Sym returns home to Meg he has a knife wound, dying soon after. Joliffe is suspected but Sister Frevisse , who has come to know him and the rest of the actors, believes he is innocent. The crowner (coroner) Montfort is lazy and none too bright and will seek the most obvious answer unless Frevisse can prove Joliffe’s innocence. Matters are not helped when the terminally ill Sister Fiacre is murdered. Although aseemingly unrelated incident, an eyewitness places Joliffe at the scene of the crime. It became obvious to me pretty early on who was the culprit and another murder could have been averted if Sister Frevisse had focused on identifying the murderer rather than on proving Joliffe’s innocence. I won’t even identify the last victim or what he had been up to because that might give away the game.
There is an interesting array of characters peopling the village and St. Frideswides. Frevisse seems a bit worldly—she is, after all, the niece by marriage of Thomas Chaucer, but maybe a worldly nun was not that unusual in a time when noble women took the veil. And it didn’t bother me that the mystery was easy to solve; it makes me feel smarter than I am.
Barnaby had been gone several days because he had been entrusted by Lord Lovel’s steward (amazing in inself) to pickup a tun of wine in Oxford and deliver it to the lord’s manor for the Christmas feasting. Meg worries that he got drunk and failed to deliver the wine, putting himself further out of favor. Meg receives news that, if anything, is even more devastating. Barnaby had successfully delivered the wine but he did get plastered on the return journey, running the hired cart off the road. He suffered grievous injuries, including a shattered hand, and was taken to St. Friedswide by a troupe of itinerant players. Although the convent’s infirmarian, Dame Claire, thinks Barnaby’s injuries are not life threatening, he is given the last rites and dies peacefully during the night as Meg keeps vigil. Meg is comforted by the thought that her sinful husband (who incidentally would never have been able to work again) died in a state of grace, absolved of all sin.
Her quarrelsome son, Sym, is not satisfied, however. He accuses the troupe of actors of assaulting his father in the first place; They are a lowly, lordless group after all. He gets in an argument with one of their number, Joliffe (who later features in his own series of mystery stories) and when Sym returns home to Meg he has a knife wound, dying soon after. Joliffe is suspected but Sister Frevisse , who has come to know him and the rest of the actors, believes he is innocent. The crowner (coroner) Montfort is lazy and none too bright and will seek the most obvious answer unless Frevisse can prove Joliffe’s innocence. Matters are not helped when the terminally ill Sister Fiacre is murdered. Although aseemingly unrelated incident, an eyewitness places Joliffe at the scene of the crime. It became obvious to me pretty early on who was the culprit and another murder could have been averted if Sister Frevisse had focused on identifying the murderer rather than on proving Joliffe’s innocence. I won’t even identify the last victim or what he had been up to because that might give away the game.
There is an interesting array of characters peopling the village and St. Frideswides. Frevisse seems a bit worldly—she is, after all, the niece by marriage of Thomas Chaucer, but maybe a worldly nun was not that unusual in a time when noble women took the veil. And it didn’t bother me that the mystery was easy to solve; it makes me feel smarter than I am.
December 25, 2017
Book 2 of the series involves a series of 3 suspicious deaths. The first one appears to be an accidental death: a villager, brought to the priory after being injured in a cart accident, appears to be recovering but dies in the night. Dame Claire reasons that he must have had internal bleeding. The man's wife, Meg, works part-time in the priory kitchen; she and the deceased have two sons.
The deceased wasn't very reliable as a husband and provider. He shirked his duty owed to the local lord and drank too much. Their oldest son, Sym, is following in his father's footsteps and has a foul temper to boot. This temper causes a fight with a group a players, the same ones that found his father on the road and brought him to the priory. Sym accuses, without any evidence at all, the players of causing his father's injuries.
Then Sym is killed - dead of a stab wound. He had been drinking in the local ale house and when one of the players began flirting with a village girl that Sym liked, Sym pulled a knife. They scuffled over the knife and Sym went home. According to his mother, Sym became frightened when he saw the stab wound, so she left to get help and when she returned, he was dead.
The final death was a nun who was suffering from breast cancer. She was bashed in the back of the head while at her prayers in the church.
Dame Frevisse knows the crowner will take the easy solution and determine that the player who quarreled with Sym is the guilty one. His name is Joliffe; she likes him and doesn't want him to be guilty. *Although she never suspects the real killer until too late to prevent the fourth and final murder, I knew "whodunit" immediately after the first one. That didn't spoil my pleasure in the book, although I thought this was weaker than the first book of the series.
*edited - I fell asleep in mid-sentence so I had to clean up and complete this review.
The deceased wasn't very reliable as a husband and provider. He shirked his duty owed to the local lord and drank too much. Their oldest son, Sym, is following in his father's footsteps and has a foul temper to boot. This temper causes a fight with a group a players, the same ones that found his father on the road and brought him to the priory. Sym accuses, without any evidence at all, the players of causing his father's injuries.
Then Sym is killed - dead of a stab wound. He had been drinking in the local ale house and when one of the players began flirting with a village girl that Sym liked, Sym pulled a knife. They scuffled over the knife and Sym went home. According to his mother, Sym became frightened when he saw the stab wound, so she left to get help and when she returned, he was dead.
The final death was a nun who was suffering from breast cancer. She was bashed in the back of the head while at her prayers in the church.
Dame Frevisse knows the crowner will take the easy solution and determine that the player who quarreled with Sym is the guilty one. His name is Joliffe; she likes him and doesn't want him to be guilty. *Although she never suspects the real killer until too late to prevent the fourth and final murder, I knew "whodunit" immediately after the first one. That didn't spoil my pleasure in the book, although I thought this was weaker than the first book of the series.
*edited - I fell asleep in mid-sentence so I had to clean up and complete this review.
August 10, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this book with compelling characters set in a medieval English nunnery and nearby village. The mystery itself is intriguing and the historical background authentic. A poor family with an alcoholic father and lazy sons struggles to meet the requirements of renting from the local lord. An ensuing tragedy brings their plight to the attention of the nunnery via a band of traveling players, themselves considered the lowest of the low. Sister Frevisse in her role as hospitality manager tries to keep the peace at a time when she and her fellow nuns are suffering from colds and fevers. Class prejudices, diverse backgrounds and spiritual needs of both the secular and religious characters play a part in this unconventional gathering of people and help or hinder Sister Frevisse in her official job and her unofficial role in solving crimes.
Read
January 2, 2024a domestic tale but a chilling one. Quite original too. One of the better Sister Frevisse stories, and the one where we are introduced to Joliffe
March 6, 2025
My internal narrative:
“There’s no way it’s them… there’s no way… it can’t be… omg I think it IS them. Dammit. I was right.”
“There’s no way it’s them… there’s no way… it can’t be… omg I think it IS them. Dammit. I was right.”
March 3, 2025
The fifteenth century comes alive for a Dame Frevisse historical mystery set at Christmas time in the St. Frideswide’s Priory and local village. Years ago, I read the series and now I’m glad to return to Margaret Frazer’s talented work to get it on audio narrated by the estimable Susan Duerden a familiar favorite narrator.
The Servant’s Tale is the second standalone of the Dame Frevisse series. Though, it reads/listens fine out of order, I will say that there is a flow to the books, characters and relationships and an assumption of how the worldbuilding is laid out that the books are read in order. For those who like to note details, this is the first book where Joliffe the Player and his fellow thespians are introduced and will later go on to have a spinoff series.
The Servant’s Tale opens with a poor villager woman servant’s point of view worrying about how to keep things together with a drunken, lousy husband overdue from his last chance work given by their lord’s steward, her sons running about and leaving their meager animals and hovel home untended while she is working herself to the bone up at the priory earning enough to buy her youngest son’s freedom for the priesthood (which he doesn’t want) and hopefully hold their pittance of land for her oldest son (who’s shaping up to be a drunken brawler like his dad) to farm in his turn.
Her woes increase when her husband is found injured by a troupe of players on the road and the killings start.
Most of the village and priory think the traveling players are the most likely culprits, but Dame Frevisse who shares the narration is convinced that they must look deeper because the deceased were not without local enemies and motives. Although, she admits to herself that she may be biased because her own former life as a traveler has her feeling kinship to the players.
Christmas time at the priory and a series of murders to solve made for an engaging story. I loved the way Susan Duerden captures the tone of the story and voices all the characters, but particularly her Dame Frevisse voice.
All in all, it was a solid story with well written and obviously researched medieval and religious period background, character and plot development and an overall story from two different class point of views. Definitely a recommend to other historical cozy mystery fans.
My full review will post at The Reading Frenzy 2.12.25.
The Servant’s Tale is the second standalone of the Dame Frevisse series. Though, it reads/listens fine out of order, I will say that there is a flow to the books, characters and relationships and an assumption of how the worldbuilding is laid out that the books are read in order. For those who like to note details, this is the first book where Joliffe the Player and his fellow thespians are introduced and will later go on to have a spinoff series.
The Servant’s Tale opens with a poor villager woman servant’s point of view worrying about how to keep things together with a drunken, lousy husband overdue from his last chance work given by their lord’s steward, her sons running about and leaving their meager animals and hovel home untended while she is working herself to the bone up at the priory earning enough to buy her youngest son’s freedom for the priesthood (which he doesn’t want) and hopefully hold their pittance of land for her oldest son (who’s shaping up to be a drunken brawler like his dad) to farm in his turn.
Her woes increase when her husband is found injured by a troupe of players on the road and the killings start.
Most of the village and priory think the traveling players are the most likely culprits, but Dame Frevisse who shares the narration is convinced that they must look deeper because the deceased were not without local enemies and motives. Although, she admits to herself that she may be biased because her own former life as a traveler has her feeling kinship to the players.
Christmas time at the priory and a series of murders to solve made for an engaging story. I loved the way Susan Duerden captures the tone of the story and voices all the characters, but particularly her Dame Frevisse voice.
All in all, it was a solid story with well written and obviously researched medieval and religious period background, character and plot development and an overall story from two different class point of views. Definitely a recommend to other historical cozy mystery fans.
My full review will post at The Reading Frenzy 2.12.25.
November 2, 2012
I quite enjoyed this medieval murder mystery, part of a series written by Frazer and featuring the clever and intrepid nun, Sister Frevisse who, it happens, was a great-niece of Geoffrey Chaucer. Though this is the second book in the series, it’s the first I’ve read and it stands alone nicely.
Steeped in historic detail that deposits you in the period easily (approx 1430s), the pace of life and religiosity of not only the nuns who share the nunnery with Frevisse, but the villagers as well is described. It’s Christmas time, and a group of travelling players seek the hospitality of the Nunnery as the only child among them is sick. So, we discover, are many of the nuns who have succumbed to the time of year, the bitter temperatures, drafty halls and lack of warmth and a lurgy that spreads. Coughs and sneezes punctuate prayers and hymns and Frevisse herself is fighting off a malady and finds the constant sickness of her peers (and herself) frustrating.
It’s just as well then that, halfway through the book, something happens to distract her. A young villager, Sym, the son of one of the nunnery’s servants, dies after a fight in a tavern. When she examines the body, which is brought to the nunnery for the rites, the sister discovers that it wasn’t the fight in the tavern that killed this feisty, disagreeable sixteen year old, but another, deeper and deliberate wound.
Determined to get to the bottom of this case before the Crowner arrives to investigate, what Sister Frevisse doesn’t expect is the body count to rise – but it does. Suspicion naturally falls on the travelling players, but Sister Frevisse isn’t convinced. Can she overcome the biases of the Crowner and the villagers and see justice done? Or will the travellers pay for a crime they didn’t commit? Or did they? Can she discover the perpetrator before even more people die?
This was an easy to read book that was also a little slow. Setting the scene and time took pages and pages – and while the writing is tight and the characters wonderfully drawn, nothing actually happened till almost the halfway point in the book. After that, the action was swifter, but only by comparison. If a reader is looking for a murder mystery (as the book is advertised), they might be disappointed. As an historical novel, however, the book is excellent.
Steeped in historic detail that deposits you in the period easily (approx 1430s), the pace of life and religiosity of not only the nuns who share the nunnery with Frevisse, but the villagers as well is described. It’s Christmas time, and a group of travelling players seek the hospitality of the Nunnery as the only child among them is sick. So, we discover, are many of the nuns who have succumbed to the time of year, the bitter temperatures, drafty halls and lack of warmth and a lurgy that spreads. Coughs and sneezes punctuate prayers and hymns and Frevisse herself is fighting off a malady and finds the constant sickness of her peers (and herself) frustrating.
It’s just as well then that, halfway through the book, something happens to distract her. A young villager, Sym, the son of one of the nunnery’s servants, dies after a fight in a tavern. When she examines the body, which is brought to the nunnery for the rites, the sister discovers that it wasn’t the fight in the tavern that killed this feisty, disagreeable sixteen year old, but another, deeper and deliberate wound.
Determined to get to the bottom of this case before the Crowner arrives to investigate, what Sister Frevisse doesn’t expect is the body count to rise – but it does. Suspicion naturally falls on the travelling players, but Sister Frevisse isn’t convinced. Can she overcome the biases of the Crowner and the villagers and see justice done? Or will the travellers pay for a crime they didn’t commit? Or did they? Can she discover the perpetrator before even more people die?
This was an easy to read book that was also a little slow. Setting the scene and time took pages and pages – and while the writing is tight and the characters wonderfully drawn, nothing actually happened till almost the halfway point in the book. After that, the action was swifter, but only by comparison. If a reader is looking for a murder mystery (as the book is advertised), they might be disappointed. As an historical novel, however, the book is excellent.
Read
May 8, 2019Guys I just want to tell you that this is the best murder myster set in a cloister detected by a medieval nun that I HAVE EVER READ!
Seriously. Niche market but she makes it work!
Seriously. Niche market but she makes it work!
February 27, 2018
I've been spoiled by the excellent medieval historical novels , Brother Cadfael Mysteries. I read book #2 hopeful that the second book would be better than the first ... alas, I was disappointed. I find that the writing style feels less than professional and the mystery, while engaging, turned out to be disappointing too. The murderer turned out to be less than believable ... or maybe it was just that when the murderer was revealed, I wanted to throw the book out the window because I felt that it just wasn't believable enough for this person to have murdered anyone. Needless to say, I will not be reading the rest of the series !!
August 17, 2014
Shifting focus to the village, the book is effective at contrasting the very difficult lives of the indentured villagers to those of the nuns and the well-to-do. As can often be a casualty in this genre, the overall effect of the story is to somewhat imply that this plight turns people into murderous and slightly insane types, but I'm not sure how you avoid that.
My main complaint was that the plot twists were so obvious, our clever nun appeared positively dense.
My main complaint was that the plot twists were so obvious, our clever nun appeared positively dense.
May 20, 2017
I loved this book, for the scads of historical information, and for the deep humanity of the story.
April 26, 2018
Sister Frevisse is rather a bit too much of a female Brother Cadfael but if you put that aside, it's a readable medieval mystery.
May 2, 2022
Overall writing is good but the story was very predictable, the culprit was obvious, and the pace was a bit slow.
March 6, 2024
The Servant’s Tale
Dame Frevisse #2
By Margaret Frazer
Reviewed March 6, 2024
The Servant’s Tale is book #2 in the Dame Frevisse mystery series, and the first time we meet Joliffe, the traveling player who eventually turns to spy work and gets a series of his own. Although Joliffe can overthink things, repeatedly going over the same matters when trying to figure out a puzzle, he is still my favorite player-turned-spy, but that’s all down the road. Here, he is a member of a small company of actors and becomes the main suspect, at least in the eyes of the crowner, who has a low opinion of players in general.
This story also features a sad tale of poverty and abuse in the person of Meg Shene. Meg is married to Barnaby, a husband with a quick temper and who drinks away what little money they have, putting them deeper and deeper into debt. They have two teenage sons – Sym, who is growing up to be just like his father, and Hewe, who Meg wants to see become a priest and escape a life of hardship.
It is December 1434, with Christsmastide fast approaching. Returning home from picking up a tun of wine for Lord Lovell, Barnaby gets drunk, mishandles the cart, and is badly injured when the cart overturns. Fortunately, he is found by the traveling players mentioned above and taken to Prior Byfields. There, he is treated by the sisters, and it is questionable if he will survive at all. Even if he does, his injuries are such that he will be left crippled and unable to work, further worsening his family’s situation. Just when it looks like things have taken a turn for the better for Barnaby’s recovery, he dies quietly in his sleep.
It is believed by all that Barbaby has succumbed to his injuries, but his argumentative son Sym starts accusing one of the players, Joliffe, of killing his father. Later, while at the local tavern, a drunken Sym picks a fight with Joliffe. Daggers are drawn, and Sym is injured and later dies.
The crowner is called in and is more than happy to pick on the easiest suspect, Joliffe, rather than actually look for what really has happened. Dame Frevisse, who has a soft spot for Joliffe because he reminds her of pleasant days when she was a child traveling the roads with her parents, has to figure out the truth behind these deaths, but will she be able to do so in time?
A bit of a spoiler alert here.
While this is a very satisfying read, don’t go expecting a happy ending.
Dame Frevisse #2
By Margaret Frazer
Reviewed March 6, 2024
The Servant’s Tale is book #2 in the Dame Frevisse mystery series, and the first time we meet Joliffe, the traveling player who eventually turns to spy work and gets a series of his own. Although Joliffe can overthink things, repeatedly going over the same matters when trying to figure out a puzzle, he is still my favorite player-turned-spy, but that’s all down the road. Here, he is a member of a small company of actors and becomes the main suspect, at least in the eyes of the crowner, who has a low opinion of players in general.
This story also features a sad tale of poverty and abuse in the person of Meg Shene. Meg is married to Barnaby, a husband with a quick temper and who drinks away what little money they have, putting them deeper and deeper into debt. They have two teenage sons – Sym, who is growing up to be just like his father, and Hewe, who Meg wants to see become a priest and escape a life of hardship.
It is December 1434, with Christsmastide fast approaching. Returning home from picking up a tun of wine for Lord Lovell, Barnaby gets drunk, mishandles the cart, and is badly injured when the cart overturns. Fortunately, he is found by the traveling players mentioned above and taken to Prior Byfields. There, he is treated by the sisters, and it is questionable if he will survive at all. Even if he does, his injuries are such that he will be left crippled and unable to work, further worsening his family’s situation. Just when it looks like things have taken a turn for the better for Barnaby’s recovery, he dies quietly in his sleep.
It is believed by all that Barbaby has succumbed to his injuries, but his argumentative son Sym starts accusing one of the players, Joliffe, of killing his father. Later, while at the local tavern, a drunken Sym picks a fight with Joliffe. Daggers are drawn, and Sym is injured and later dies.
The crowner is called in and is more than happy to pick on the easiest suspect, Joliffe, rather than actually look for what really has happened. Dame Frevisse, who has a soft spot for Joliffe because he reminds her of pleasant days when she was a child traveling the roads with her parents, has to figure out the truth behind these deaths, but will she be able to do so in time?
A bit of a spoiler alert here.
While this is a very satisfying read, don’t go expecting a happy ending.
December 25, 2025
Another good book in this series. (I count the Joliffe books as the same series. I guess it's a spinoff...)
Sister Frevisse is a good MC for this kind of mystery. She's still about 90% nun, but she's got enough spirit and drive to see innocent people protected to still be a useful and interesting investigator. I like the pace and the construction of the mystery and clues, and though I'm hopeful that there'll be more to love in future books, I'm enjoying these quite a bit.
I suppose what I miss is awesome people being awesome, being the smartest person in the room, one step ahead of the bad guy, like Sherlock or Benoit Blanc or Poirot. And I like to see other characters give them their due. So while Frevisse figuring out what really happened is cool, I'd like someone to acknowledge her accomplishments, give her a slow clap or something. Her triumphs are very low-key. In some mysteries, you get a fist-pumping "Yes!" moment when the investigator outsmarts the bad guy. Frevisse's wins here are more or less satisfying, sure, but less awesome because nobody really recognizes her achievement.
Anyway, still fun to read, with excellent use of setting and rewarding historical accuracy. (Apparently.) I feel like I'm learning some stuff while I'm being entertained.
I'm gonna get me a stack of the sequels. Here we go...
Sister Frevisse is a good MC for this kind of mystery. She's still about 90% nun, but she's got enough spirit and drive to see innocent people protected to still be a useful and interesting investigator. I like the pace and the construction of the mystery and clues, and though I'm hopeful that there'll be more to love in future books, I'm enjoying these quite a bit.
I suppose what I miss is awesome people being awesome, being the smartest person in the room, one step ahead of the bad guy, like Sherlock or Benoit Blanc or Poirot. And I like to see other characters give them their due. So while Frevisse figuring out what really happened is cool, I'd like someone to acknowledge her accomplishments, give her a slow clap or something. Her triumphs are very low-key. In some mysteries, you get a fist-pumping "Yes!" moment when the investigator outsmarts the bad guy. Frevisse's wins here are more or less satisfying, sure, but less awesome because nobody really recognizes her achievement.
Anyway, still fun to read, with excellent use of setting and rewarding historical accuracy. (Apparently.) I feel like I'm learning some stuff while I'm being entertained.
I'm gonna get me a stack of the sequels. Here we go...
October 16, 2018
An Edgar Award-nominee, it's second in the Sister Frevisse medieval mystery series based in a nunnery, St. Frideswide, near Prior Byfield outside Oxfordshire. The story revolves around Dame Frevisse, one of the nuns in the year of Our Lord 1434 at Christmastide.
Interestingly enough, Basset and his traveling troupe appear in this installment (from her Joliffe the Player series that begins with A Play of Isaac ).
My Take
It's a woman's worries about her family. Keeping them safe. It's ignorance about the world, about oneself.
Another very good story from Frazer even if the killer was too obvious. Frazer does such a beautiful job of the language and setting a medieval scene. This one provides a more in-depth look at the everyday life of a villein and the constrictions on their movements as well as how they see such "godless", landless men as...gasp…players!
The feudal system has its pluses and minuses. In this story, it's rather like a factory job with built-in nepotism. The system keeps carrying you along until the man of the house really screws up. If he dies, his oldest son, if he's old enough or strong enough, inherits and carries on. It's also interesting to read of the horror people tied to the land have of those who are not. Say what you will about our current society and our lack of security, I'd rather this with its freedoms than the ignorance of medieval serfs bound to one small area.
I did enjoy Dame Frevisse's moves to get around Montfort, although I don't think this story had the dramatic depth as the first one.
The Story
It's been a struggle for years, Meg having to cope with Barnaby and his boasts, his drinking. This job at the priory is her own secret. The profits hoarded to fund her dream of freedom for her youngest. Now if only her children would cooperate. Help around the cottage. Only Sym is too much like his father with his boasting, quickness to fight, and preference for ale.
And Barnaby is on Lord Lovel's short list. If he can complete this errand successfully, the family has a chance of being kept on...if not…
But it seems that Meg and her family's luck may be out when a troupe of players shows up at the priory with a sorely injured Barnaby. And the presence of the players brings out strong feelings on many sides. Feelings that are taken advantage of by a murderer, or murderers, as one by one, people die. Sym's fight with Joliffe at the tavern after Sym and Ellis' altercation on the green. Hewe is spending too much time with the players with an interest in following them. The sister's pain and feelings of joy for God. All contribute to the deaths.
The good is the joy Dame Frevisse derives from conversation with intelligent people who have traveled the roads as she did with her parents. The bad is the fear of the unknown, of loss...taking the easy way out when Montfort arrives.
– That phrase comes to mind…"he can't handle the truth". And, boy, if that ain't the truth about Montfort…!
The Characters
Dame Frevisse is in charge of the guesthouse. Domina Edith heads up this order of Benedictine nuns. Dame Claire is their healer. Sister Amicia is frivolous and gossipy. Sister Thomasine is a nun with a true calling (see The Novice's Tale).
Dame Alys is the cellarer in charge of the kitchens and Domina Edith's second-in-command. Not the best choice as she hasn't any patience and a strong preference for complaining. Dame Perpetua is in charge of the novices. Father Henry is the priory priest. Sister Juliana, Sister Lucy, Sister Fiacre whose brother's perfidious desires lost Bassett his sponsor, and Sister Emma.
Annie Lauder is the priory's laundress. Roger Naylor is the priory's steward; he does his best for the priory but he conflicts with Dame Frevisse.
The Villagers:
Meg struggles to survive the fall down the feudal ladder her husband Barnaby's alcoholism is pushing her and their family. Sym is their oldest son at 16; he seems to be following in daddy's footsteps. Hewe is more his mother's son, but he doesn't want to be a priest.
Gilbey Dunn is their neighbor and has been agitating to be given Barnaby's strips of land. Now he seeks them through Meg.
The Players:
Thomas Bassett is the leader of this group of players and well understands how unwelcome his type is in any decent house. His daughter Rose tumbles to attract audiences and helps to collect money. Her young son Piers plays angels, demons, and young ones in their performances. Ellis and Joliffe who plays the female roles round out the remaining members of this smaller troupe. Tisbe is with them and has thrown out a shoe.
Thomas Chaucer, Dame Frevisse's uncle-by-marriage, is mentioned. Master Montfort is the king's crowner. He must see the body and ask the questions to determine how someone died and, if someone did it. Hopefully, someone will take him by the hand and lead him to the truth...he prefers the easiest choice.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a repeat of that from The Novice's Tale but with turquoise marble panels. The view through the window is of a leather-covered table showcasing an orange with a knife through it.
The title reflects the main character around whom this tale revolves, The Servant's Tale.
Interestingly enough, Basset and his traveling troupe appear in this installment (from her Joliffe the Player series that begins with A Play of Isaac ).
My Take
It's a woman's worries about her family. Keeping them safe. It's ignorance about the world, about oneself.
Another very good story from Frazer even if the killer was too obvious. Frazer does such a beautiful job of the language and setting a medieval scene. This one provides a more in-depth look at the everyday life of a villein and the constrictions on their movements as well as how they see such "godless", landless men as...gasp…players!
The feudal system has its pluses and minuses. In this story, it's rather like a factory job with built-in nepotism. The system keeps carrying you along until the man of the house really screws up. If he dies, his oldest son, if he's old enough or strong enough, inherits and carries on. It's also interesting to read of the horror people tied to the land have of those who are not. Say what you will about our current society and our lack of security, I'd rather this with its freedoms than the ignorance of medieval serfs bound to one small area.
I did enjoy Dame Frevisse's moves to get around Montfort, although I don't think this story had the dramatic depth as the first one.
The Story
It's been a struggle for years, Meg having to cope with Barnaby and his boasts, his drinking. This job at the priory is her own secret. The profits hoarded to fund her dream of freedom for her youngest. Now if only her children would cooperate. Help around the cottage. Only Sym is too much like his father with his boasting, quickness to fight, and preference for ale.
And Barnaby is on Lord Lovel's short list. If he can complete this errand successfully, the family has a chance of being kept on...if not…
But it seems that Meg and her family's luck may be out when a troupe of players shows up at the priory with a sorely injured Barnaby. And the presence of the players brings out strong feelings on many sides. Feelings that are taken advantage of by a murderer, or murderers, as one by one, people die. Sym's fight with Joliffe at the tavern after Sym and Ellis' altercation on the green. Hewe is spending too much time with the players with an interest in following them. The sister's pain and feelings of joy for God. All contribute to the deaths.
The good is the joy Dame Frevisse derives from conversation with intelligent people who have traveled the roads as she did with her parents. The bad is the fear of the unknown, of loss...taking the easy way out when Montfort arrives.
– That phrase comes to mind…"he can't handle the truth". And, boy, if that ain't the truth about Montfort…!
The Characters
Dame Frevisse is in charge of the guesthouse. Domina Edith heads up this order of Benedictine nuns. Dame Claire is their healer. Sister Amicia is frivolous and gossipy. Sister Thomasine is a nun with a true calling (see The Novice's Tale).
Dame Alys is the cellarer in charge of the kitchens and Domina Edith's second-in-command. Not the best choice as she hasn't any patience and a strong preference for complaining. Dame Perpetua is in charge of the novices. Father Henry is the priory priest. Sister Juliana, Sister Lucy, Sister Fiacre whose brother's perfidious desires lost Bassett his sponsor, and Sister Emma.
Annie Lauder is the priory's laundress. Roger Naylor is the priory's steward; he does his best for the priory but he conflicts with Dame Frevisse.
The Villagers:
Meg struggles to survive the fall down the feudal ladder her husband Barnaby's alcoholism is pushing her and their family. Sym is their oldest son at 16; he seems to be following in daddy's footsteps. Hewe is more his mother's son, but he doesn't want to be a priest.
Gilbey Dunn is their neighbor and has been agitating to be given Barnaby's strips of land. Now he seeks them through Meg.
The Players:
Thomas Bassett is the leader of this group of players and well understands how unwelcome his type is in any decent house. His daughter Rose tumbles to attract audiences and helps to collect money. Her young son Piers plays angels, demons, and young ones in their performances. Ellis and Joliffe who plays the female roles round out the remaining members of this smaller troupe. Tisbe is with them and has thrown out a shoe.
Thomas Chaucer, Dame Frevisse's uncle-by-marriage, is mentioned. Master Montfort is the king's crowner. He must see the body and ask the questions to determine how someone died and, if someone did it. Hopefully, someone will take him by the hand and lead him to the truth...he prefers the easiest choice.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a repeat of that from The Novice's Tale but with turquoise marble panels. The view through the window is of a leather-covered table showcasing an orange with a knife through it.
The title reflects the main character around whom this tale revolves, The Servant's Tale.
June 18, 2024
A good second installment in the Sister Frevisse series, probably more of a 3.5 or 3.75 for me. The servant, Meg, works for the nuns at St. Frideswide as a scullery maid. Her husband, the drunken Barnaby, is allegedly killed in an accident when his cart collides with a troupe of actors. Soon to follow are two more deaths, and the acting troupe is in the frame. Frazer highlights the social and class biases at play against the troupe and we get more character development of Sister Frevisse and the head of the convent, Domina Edith, as well as Dame Claire, the apothecary/medical person for the convent. I found the development slow, as many pages are given over to sitting around dead bodies, although this does prove important to the story. It is probably best read in just a few sittings to keep track of some of the smaller details, not all of which necessarily lean toward the "whodunnit" aspect, but provide a lovely and clever sense of connectivity. Motives seem weak for all possible suspects, and that is a bit frustrating as we don't learn the actual motive until the very end, which always seems a bit of a cop-out to me. There are not a lot of clues in this one--but plenty of deception.
February 24, 2018
Another excellent installment in the series. Of course, this is only book two, but my hope is the series continues along at its high standard.
Once again, the mystery is complex and the culprit not immediately obvious. Only when Sister Fiacre was killed did the light go on and I guessed who and the motivation for the killings. Sad, really.
I love the detail of the cloister and the nuns duties and routines. Margaret Frazer really did a good job of immersing the reader in time and place. (For those, like me, who really enjoy visualizing a scene, there are a couple of maps of St. Frideswide on Margaret Frazer's website which you might want to check out.) She also possessed a gift for making a simple scene quite poignant. The whole scene with Meg and Barnaby and the orange had me tearing up.
The only annoyance in the entire book was, again, Montfort. But he is meant to be annoying, so Margaret Frazer did her job there. I only hope Dame Frevisse does not have to put up with his ignorance in every single book. I've already ordered the next title and I can't wait for it to get here.
Once again, the mystery is complex and the culprit not immediately obvious. Only when Sister Fiacre was killed did the light go on and I guessed who and the motivation for the killings. Sad, really.
I love the detail of the cloister and the nuns duties and routines. Margaret Frazer really did a good job of immersing the reader in time and place. (For those, like me, who really enjoy visualizing a scene, there are a couple of maps of St. Frideswide on Margaret Frazer's website which you might want to check out.) She also possessed a gift for making a simple scene quite poignant. The whole scene with Meg and Barnaby and the orange had me tearing up.
The only annoyance in the entire book was, again, Montfort. But he is meant to be annoying, so Margaret Frazer did her job there. I only hope Dame Frevisse does not have to put up with his ignorance in every single book. I've already ordered the next title and I can't wait for it to get here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2020
I just finished reading this tale a few minutes ago. It's as much a historical-fiction character study as a mystery.
Much of the storyline revolves on telling of the lives of two different groups of people on the bottom-most rung of their society: a group of traveling actors and a dirt-poor family of village villeins. The actors are viewed with contempt by most members of settled society - even the dirt-poor and powerless. The villeins are viewed as nearly worthless, expendable drones.
The other central group in this tale are the nuns of St Frideswide. Dame/Sister Frevisse is the central investigator. She's a devout believer, who came to her vocation by her own preference; but she also suffers her own set of worldly foibles and limitations. She's also quite self-aware of her own strengths and weaknesses. The other nuns in the tale exibit similar mixes of devotion and real-world quirks of behavior.
The mystery unfolds near the half-way point of the book and takes a number of credible twists and turns before Dame Frevisse figures out the truth
Much of the storyline revolves on telling of the lives of two different groups of people on the bottom-most rung of their society: a group of traveling actors and a dirt-poor family of village villeins. The actors are viewed with contempt by most members of settled society - even the dirt-poor and powerless. The villeins are viewed as nearly worthless, expendable drones.
The other central group in this tale are the nuns of St Frideswide. Dame/Sister Frevisse is the central investigator. She's a devout believer, who came to her vocation by her own preference; but she also suffers her own set of worldly foibles and limitations. She's also quite self-aware of her own strengths and weaknesses. The other nuns in the tale exibit similar mixes of devotion and real-world quirks of behavior.
The mystery unfolds near the half-way point of the book and takes a number of credible twists and turns before Dame Frevisse figures out the truth
December 3, 2022
As a mystery, 3 stars. As a story of life in medieval England and a window into live in a convent, 4.5 stars. The whole time, I was just thinking how AWFUL villein Meg's life was. Which was probably the point of the book. But it was kind of a depressing book to read, coming as it did with Dame Frevisse meditating on her lost freedom. Reading these books gives me a window into the beliefs of the Christians of the day and the hopes they pinned on their worship.
I will definitely keep reading these, and am glad already to know that book three has Dame Frevisse out riding on a journey. She deserves a break!
I will definitely keep reading these, and am glad already to know that book three has Dame Frevisse out riding on a journey. She deserves a break!
August 15, 2024
Excellent mystery. I love the use of somewhat archaic language,it puts you right in the mood. Multiple murders, and our ever hated crowner was more than happy to take the easy way out and blame those lordless and lawless players. It was wonderful to see how Joliffe met Dame Frevisse. It had been mentioned in one of the other (later) books I read. The mystery was excellent with very little to tell you if the first death was a murder or not. And the second seems just a accident, at first…. But the killer, especially with all the different ways the people died, was somewhat of a shock to me. I was delighted!
January 22, 2025
I really like the first book in this series — and half-way through this book I was thrilled because I was thinking: this one is even better! Then it ended and I felt confused and sad — and now, after a day or so, I’m back to liking it a great deal. Pros: even more character development, more insight into the lives of serfs, a manor, travelers, the world-view of someone from the Middle Ages. It’s given me a lot to digest. In addition I have faith in God, and this book has given me a lot to think about regarding Christianity, Catholicism, devotion, love, and living and working in a community, like the cloister. The mystery / plot is intriguing and keeps the book spinning.
August 26, 2024
Друга книга з серії середньовічних детективів, де головна героїня - сестра Фревісса, черниця у невеличкому англійському монастирі. Ця історія досить похмура: спочатку гине місцевий селянин, жінка якого працює в монастирі, потім його старший син, все вказує на заїжджих акторів, але Фревісса підозрює, що все не так просто. Ну й доводить той факт, що злидні ще нікого краще не робили.
Гарна атмосфера міцно сплетеної громади, де всі одне одного знають і перебувають в якихось стосунках - родинних, васальних, дружних. Це аж ніяк не cosy mystery, хоча життю в монастирі теж віддається багато уваги.
Гарна атмосфера міцно сплетеної громади, де всі одне одного знають і перебувають в якихось стосунках - родинних, васальних, дружних. Це аж ніяк не cosy mystery, хоча життю в монастирі теж віддається багато уваги.
August 26, 2017
I am rereading the whole series, with the hope of actually finishing at this time around. A woman from the village, Meg, is working in the kitchen at the convent. Her husband dies in a accident while drunk. Her two sons are subsequently murdered. Dame Frevisse figures it all out, and you can see how extreme religious belief can make people do very bad Things. Meg killed them all for her own twisted reasons.
August 10, 2025
3.5 The second novel in this series is more captivating . An intricate murder mystery set in the relative safety of a nunnery in the unforgiving world of medieval England. Frazer tells the story from a poor widow's perspective . A life were disease, accidents or bad luck can be the difference between a roof over one's head or begging in the streets. It's not hard to guess who the killer is but it's still a fun read.
November 10, 2020
Interesting murder mystery set in a 15th Century English priory. This is one of seven Sister Frevisse mysteries by Margaret Frazer. The historical setting is well drawn of serfdom, hopeless poverty and life in the nunnery. But the plot itself could be better in leading or not leading to the ultimate killer. Interesting that the words villein (serf) and villain have the same Latin root.
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