The Stonemason's Tale

Oxford Medieval Mysteries #6

by Ann Swinfen

Oxford, Spring 1354

When the series of accidents to the building of the chapel at Queen’s College begins, they do not appear a cause for concern, but they grow more serious, and stonemasons are injured. Nicholas Elyot becomes involved after it is discovered that an intruder has reached the college by way of his garden. When Jordain Brinkylsworth’s youngest student goes missing, it seems at first that his disappearance is unconnected, yet he is one of the ‘poor boys’ supported by Queen’s. Surely this serious and studious boy cannot be responsible for the troubles?

And then someone is killed.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Medieval, Historical, Fiction, Historical Mystery, British Literature

Audible Audio

First published July 2, 2018

About the author

Ann Swinfen spent her childhood partly in England and partly on the east coast of America. She read Classics and Mathematics at Oxford, where she married a fellow undergraduate, the historian David Swinfen. While bringing up their five children and studying for an MSc in Mathematics and a BA and PhD in English Literature, she had a variety of jobs, including university lecturer, translator, freelance journalist and software designer.

She served for nine years on the governing council of the Open University and for five years worked as a manager and editor in the technical author division of an international computer company, but gave up her full-time job to concentrate on her writing, while continuing part-time university teaching. In 1995 she founded Dundee Book Events, a voluntary organisation promoting books and authors to the general public.

Her first three novels, The Anniversary, The Travellers, and A Running Tide, all with a contemporary setting but also an historical resonance, were published by Random House, with translations into Dutch and German. Her fourth novel, The Testament of Mariam, marked something of a departure. Set in the first century, it recounts, from an unusual perspective, one of the most famous and yet ambiguous stories in human history. At the same time it explores life under a foreign occupying force, in lands still torn by conflict to this day. Her latest novel, Flood, is set in the fenlands of East Anglia during the seventeenth century, where the local people fought desperately to save their land from greedy and unscrupulous speculators.

She now lives on the northeast coast of Scotland, with her husband (formerly vice-principal of the University of Dundee), a cocker spaniel and two Maine Coon cats.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed the six books of this series and look forward to the next entry. The pace is slow in keeping with the times, the 1300's in Oxford after the devastation of the plague. The individuals, families and college community were all impacted in various ways. Nicholas Elyot, the Oxford bookseller who narrates these tales lost his wife, for one, and he lives with his children and sister in a building at Queen's College that he is fortunate enough to own and that also serves as the bookstore.

Each tale features Nicholas as one who must needs analyze and investigate when things go wrong. As a result, he has a necessarily close relationship with the Sheriff. In this installment Queen's College is getting a new chapel, and the area is filled with noise, strangers, carpenters, stone masons and stone dust. Nicholas removes his valuable books from the shelves and stores them away, hangs a blanket at the door to keep the dust from entering where his scriveners are at work with ink and parchment and worries over the ledger.

The descriptions of building a chapel are interesting to me. It may bore some people. There are many pages dedicated to this type of detail, and I do appreciate the author's solid research.

I have to say this was 3.5 stars for me because of the sword fight/assault toward the end. It is not successful in reflecting a believable scene due to long shouting outbursts of explanatory family history and animosity between two "feuding" families whilst thrusting a sword at unarmed people and dogs within a cramped bookstore.

I had the reading of this interrupted by my expiration of Kindle Unlimited, but I was able to grab a 3-month subscription on Prime day for 99 cents. Swinfen's two series available there are the best historical fiction from Kindle Unlimited. I do like this series, but I love the Christoval Alvarez series which I hope and do believe we can see produced before long!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much, and this installment was no exception. The author deftly takes the reader on a tour through medieval Oxford. One can smell the bread of the baker mingled with the detritus in the street. We watch a stone chapel rise where ramshackle dwellings stood before, and walk with beloved characters as they piece lives together after so many were lost to the plague.

Nicholas Elyot is perfect. Not in the typical alpha male kind of way, but in a sweet, charming, bookseller kind of way. If Emma doesn't marry him soon, I'm going to. But I couldn't. They are perfect for each other and seem to be realizing it.

The mystery here is intriguing, even if my favorite part of the book is simply experiencing 14th century life. Nicholas manages to get himself into a bit of a scrape due to his sleuthing skills, but he is not one to walk away where he sees he could be of help. Maybe there is a little bit of a rebel in this quiet bibliophile after all.

As always, I wait eagerly for the next book!

[C.P. Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stars are not only for this book—although it's one of the better entries in the series—but for the Oxford Medieval Mysteries of which it is a part. And more generally for this author's work, given that she passed away suddenly a couple of months ago. I loved many of her books, liked others, and didn't care for a few. But I genuinely regret that this series and, even more, the Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez will now remain forever unfinished.

In this book, the Oxford bookseller Nicholas Elyot learns of tricks apparently intended to halt the building of a new chapel for Queen's College. Small at first, the disruptions become more dangerous over time, until two workmen suffer serious injuries and a third dies. Meanwhile, a schoolboy goes missing and the grandfather of Emma Thorgold, the young noblewoman Nicholas loves, calls her home to discuss her marriage. Lots of twists and turns, and a surprise ending that might have been better foreshadowed, but altogether a worthy ending to a memorable writing career.

[Mairi Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved all of the series, not least for the wonderful sense of time, place and character. It was a great shock to learn of Ann's death, and I'm sad, not only for the loss of a fine writer, but that I'll never know how it worked out for Nicholas & Emma, Margaret & Peter, although I like to think it would have been happily ever after.

[Anna Furtado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stunning tale by Swinfen. It is very sad that these tales will no longer continue since Swinfen passed away unexpectedly (per a notice from her husband on her web site) in 2018. Her descriptions and history of England in the mid-1300s are stunning and her characters are so very interesting. Nicholas, Emma, his sister Margaret and Nicholas' two children (even their dog, Rowan) are a delight. Her plots are thoughrough while leaving us with obvious plot threads yet to be explored without making the reader feel cheated. Her writing has been near- flawless and the only consolation I find at reading the last tale available in this (unfinished) series is that she has left us another series, a list of stand- alones (both historical and contemporary) and a handful of short stories. I will look forward to reading every one of them over time.

[Loretta]

There's just something delicious about curling up with an Ann Swinfen medieval mystery. OK, the mysteries aren't that mysterious but the characters, the beautiful descriptions, the gentle pace of them I find quite enchanting.
Sadly Ms. Swinfen died recently. I shall miss her writings, and miss watching the progress of Nicholas, Emma and the others.

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Built in Stone – 4.5 stars

Once again we join bookseller Nicholas Elyot, his family and friends in the mid-1300s city of Oxford. Not yet the beautiful city of ‘dreaming spires’ that is so recognisable today, Queen’s College is making a start by building a stone chapel. When the stonecutters and dressers begin their work it causes much trouble for several of the nearby residents as the stone dust gets into everything. Nicholas has to remove his stock from the shop and store it elsewhere in the house, away from the stone dust and the ale maker is not happy when a new batch is ruined. It is little domestic details like these that make Swinfen's stories so real.

Within a day or so of starting work, the builders are having to deal with small malicious acts of sabotage that begin to escalate. Who is behind these acts? What is the reason? Is it enmity between Colleges, or between the masons and carpenters?

Meanwhile, Jordain has a problem with one of his students. It seems highly unlikely that there is a connection between the two, so we have two mysteries to solve, and Nicholas being Nicholas, just can’t help getting involved with both.

As always with books written by Ann Swinfen, this one is thoroughly researched and history and story entwine so effortlessly, it is difficult to realise how much history is being absorbed as one reads. As I have said before, the mediaevals were much more advanced and creative than we give them credit for. Swinfen’s imagination, meticulous research, writing skills, a superb gift for story-telling, and a good editor combine to give the reader a delightful reading experience. The ‘Historical Notes’ at the end round the story out and give context. As with all of Swinfen’s books I have read I can recommend this one.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final book of the Oxford Medieval Mystery series before the author's untimely death. Nicholas Elyot. the bookseller is at home in Oxford when work starts on the chapel of nearby Queens College. The masons mysteriously lose some of their tools and a very young student from the north of England goes missing and then more serious incidents occur. Meanwhile, Nicholas and Emma move closer together until she receives a letter from her uncle who bids her come home as he has a suitor for her hand. Great descriptions of their walk along the bank of the Cherwell River in the spring sunshine.

A good enjoyable read and it seems certain that further episodes were planned.

4stars.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opnieuw bovengemiddeld goede middeleeuwse mystery novel. Zoals elk boek in de reeks heeft ook dit verhaal een thema waardoor je veel te weten komt over een specifiek aspect van het middeleeuwse leven. In dit geval over het bouwen van een kapel en hoe de steenhouwers en timmerlieden te werk gingen.

3.5 ster maar ik rond naar boven af.

[Kivrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good read in this series. As usual, the mystery wasn't too hard to figure out (at least the who part), but I read these more for the medieval setting and the nice family of characters. Some nice forward motion in character development points to what is to come in future volumes.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so sad the author died! I want to see a few loose ends tied up. I guess I can finish the saga in my mind...

Great book and very appropriate for readers/listeners of all ages.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. Another episode in the life of Nicholas Elyot, his friends and family, and a mystery to detangle. I so enjoyed reading this series and I've just read on this site that the author passed away unexpectedly in 2018, so there will be no more books. I'm grateful to have found her work and I look forward to many late nights and early mornings devouring her other wonderful stories.

I know from this tale that Nicholas will marry Emma and Margaret will (probably) marry Peter. I reaaaally wanted to see it all happen, with a juicy mystery thrown in, but it was not to be. (I did have hopes about Margaret and Jordain hooking up, but I realize that it wouldn't work.) I found the "getting back to normal" observations in each of these books intriguing, taking place as they do after the Black Death. These were written before Covid-19, but many of her descriptions were right on the mark.

When I happen to run across a photo of an illuminated manuscript in the future, I will think about Nicholas the medieval bookseller and Emma the scrivener and illuminator: A wonderful image and a gift from the mind of an extraordinarily accomplished writer and this gentle reader.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful tale from the Medieval Oxford Series! I enjoyed this tale as there are many plots and stories involved within the mystery, but I also found interesting the nuances of patronage, building techniques, which prompted me to research further to discover that Ann Swinfen gave an accurate and simple description of historic building practices, and seeing familiar, minor characters from previous mysteries, whose roles aren't drawn out, extraneous, wasted, or forgotten. Centering a novel around the building of Oxford, how the town progressed, especially after The Pestilence, and how people thrived is fascinating and prompted me to conduct historical research.

Then, there is THE story. Oh, no spoilers here, but Yes! to the things to come for many of our major characters. I'm thoroughly in love with this series, because Swinfen has written in a style that readers are invested in the characters themselves, as if they are real people, and those are my favorite kinds of fiction.

[Ivor Armistead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ensemble of family and friends who surround Nicholas Elyot, bookseller and bookmaker, are back in Oxford trying to carry on with their lives in the midst of the construction of a chapel for Queens College. The ensuing calamities and mystery of their cause provide the vehicle for another rich experience of 14th century English life and growth of the relationship between Nicholas and Emma. The identity of the culprit is easily guessed, but the motive isn’t revealed until the final pages. However, as ever, the real value of Ann Swinfen’s Oxford mysteries is her ability to transport us into that time and place.

Sadly, Ms Swinfen has passed away and will not give us her answer to what will become of Nicholas and Emma. Her death leaves it to her readers to complete their story. As a lover of happy endings, I am confident that the bookseller and his scrivener will spend a joyous, productive and loving life together.

[Alissa McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mid-1300's Oxford, and Queen’s College is building a stone chapel, the first of many that will make this village into the "city of dreaming spires." Details such as stone dust that is everywhere, forcing Nicholas has to move his stock, ruining the ale makers new batch, and settling on every flat surface available, are what bring these stories to life. This makes it even more heartbreaking that the author, who passed away suddenly a couple of months ago, will never be able to tell us what happens to Nicholas and Emma, or Margaret and Peter.

[Ösp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sjötta og síðasta bókin um Nicholas Elyot og Emmu. Þær verða því miður ekki fleiri þar sem höfundurinn lést árið 2018, aðeins mánuði eftir útgáfu þessarar bókar. Verið er að byggja steinkapellu fyrir Queen's College í Oxford. Allt gengur vel í byrjun en svo fara verkfæri að hverfa eða eru skemmd, veggir hrynja og verkamenn slasast. Nycholas Elyot getur að sjálfsögðu ekki haldið sig í fjarlægð.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the end of this delightful series of books. I have enjoyed it very much. There is a gentleness and kindness, a humanity that is frequently missing in modern mysteries. Nicolas Elyott and his friends and family have been wonderful companions. The details of the era have made my appreciation of the time richer. Thank you Ann Swinfen and vale.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am very sad that Ann Swinfen passed away at the age of 80 a couple of years ago. She was a gifted storyteller. I recommend all of her books. Her standalone historical novels are some of the best I've ever read (The Rough Ocean and The Fens 2 book series). She is a true loss to the world of historical fiction...

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I hope Ann Swinfen's estate will find someone who can continue the Oxford Medieval Mysteries! There are so many potential stories left to tell! Will Nicholas and Emma be allowed to marry? There are so many other relationships bearing further development.

As to The Stonemason's Tale, it is another delightful mystery in the series.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm extremely sad to see this series end before it's time. Swinger had a wonderful way of telling a story and developed fantastic characters that you cared about. I'll just have to believe that Nicholas and Emma are able to be together as well as Meg and Peter.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicholas is a wonderful, kind, thoughtful man, and Medieval Oxford is expressed beautifully by the author. I have enjoyed this series, and though the author is sadly gone, I feel she left us enough hope for the future of the main characters.

[George Otte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gift from someone who knows I like historical fiction, the more historically distant the better, and this is set in 1354. Like so many mysteries, it is fun less for the solution than the information you pick up along the way, in this case the pre-printing-press art of scrivening and book-making, and also the early history of Oxford, specifically Queen's College. But it comes with disappointments. One is an odd side-effect of first-person narration. The Stonemason's Tale is actually a tale told by one Nicholas Elyot, Oxford book merchant. To give the tale the right historical flavor, he is constantly speaking of "what needs must be done" and telling someone that they "have the right of it"; this setting is pre-Chaucerian, of course, and authentic Middle English phraseology would be well-nigh unintelligible, but the ersatz Elizabethan phrasing is centuries off as well as off-putting. Then there is the mystery itself, too easily solved by accidentally encounter and blurted confession after so much build-up, and the result is that nothing happens, privileges and disadvantage of class and station being what they were then. Interesting for the historical backgrounding, The Stonemason's Tale flags as a tale.

[Jenny Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying to make this book last as I know it's the final one of the series of six.

Another visit to Oxford, where town and gown navigate various tensions. This time, a chapel has been commissioned at Queen's college but it seems that someone is not happy. Consecutive mishaps show that the work is being sabotaged, but by who? Small events become bigger accidents and inevitably, workmen are injured feeding suspicions between carpenters and stonemasons. When a man loses his life, the stakes are raised again.

Meanwhile, a poor student has gone missing and Nicholas Elyot, the bookseller tries to help his friend Jordain Brinkylsworth in the search while protecting his stock from the stone dust, keeping an eye on his children and overseeing the work of producing quality books for discerning customers.

A gentle, slow-moving story, fitting for the time (1300s), beautifully rooted in Oxford as it was then. Not quite the ending that I'd hoped for and expected, but perhaps she planned to write more in the future.

I've enjoyed this series immensely and am only sorry Ann Swinfen is no longer with us to expand the tale and wrap up a few lose ends.

[Cindy Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing mystery

This is, yet, another finely written story after copious investigation for historical background.

Although I have been extremely busy with personal matters of late, I found this engaging tale very difficult to put down as protagonist Nicholas, once again, is wound up in the mystery of whodunit and why as the stonemasons's and carpenter's crews are set upon by the malicious misdeeds of a person or persons attempting to stop the building of a chapel on Queens University grounds. The horrendous outcomes escalating "accidents" in the site of the progressing building become more and more serious sparking the interest of Nicholas and his colleagues to invesrigate. Added to the unsettling incidents at the site is the case of a missing child student of the university.

I have to say this is a thoroughly engrossing tale with a background story of romance that is sweet and gentle. I loved the entire story!

I highly recommend this novel by gifted author Ann Swinfen, and look forward to her next book of this wonderful historically accurate series.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, 3.5 stars. I didn’t find the plot as complex as the previous books although this one was as readable and the characters were as engaging as ever. Really, I figured out very quickly who the culprit of all the mischief at Queen’s building site was. Not that it was that difficult; Swinfen practically put a neon sign over the person. I also mostly got the reason too, not the details, which Swinfen cleverly pulled out of actual historical fact, but the likely motivations. I think I’ve said enough about that now. Anyhoo, Nicholas Elyot’s ongoing sort-of romance with Emma progresses, and now Meg has a suitor too, which is nice. Mary Coomber takes in the ribbon maker, Aelyth (gotta admit, it never occurred to me where ribbons came from but now I know), as well as a young Plague orphan called Sarah as a dairy/ribbon maker apprentice, and all the other denizens of 1353 Oxford carry on as before. Very soothing. I’ve just learned that the author passed away in 2018 (at the age of 81 or so) so I’m sad about that. I was hoping things in Oxford would carry on infinitem.

[Sarah Stirrup · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed this series tremendously, with a cast of lovable and human characters that you really do care about. Ann Swinfen was amazing at painting a realistic portrayal of medieval England, and I’ve learnt a lot that I would never have from general history books. The mystery parts of her stories are always a bit more basic, especially where the mystery and culprit was glaringly obvious, and also how the main character can sometimes annoyingly get too involved in things that don’t concern him! However, I’ve fallen in love with this story and it’s a real shame than Ann died before she could complete it. Although it is very easy to imagine what she planned to happen to our lovable cast, one more book would have been more than enough to tie it all together at least, but I can imagine she was planning a few more books. A loss of a talented author.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid but slow-paced sequel to this excellent series, continuing the formula of exploring the workings of a 14th century profession (here, obviously, stonemasonry), continuing the soap-opera around our beloved main characters, and solving a crime - usually more violent and off-screen rather than a subtle or tangled mystery. I was saddened to hear of the author's death so, alas, there will not be any more. There is enough progress in the main romance, and it is not a series that uses cliffhanger endings, so this finishes things off passably. However, it does feel like the author had much more stored up and to be left forever unresolved. We'll just have to use our imaginations.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding. Spring has come to Oxford in 1354, and with it Queen's College begins a project, building their own chapel. The noise and the grit from the work become annoyances to Nicholas Elyot and his neighbors, but then the work itself is disrupted by acts of sabotage. Why? Who would do such a thing. When the youngest student at Queen's also disappears, neither Jordain, his tutor, not Nicholas believe he could be responsible, so what has happened to him? Once again the author has expertly depicted life shortly after the Black Death, with believable, recognizable characters, and an interesting plot that slots neatly into history. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately the author passed away in 2018, so there will be no further volumes in this series.

[Argum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just binged whole series and am sad to have read last available. Things are a bit topsy turvy this spring as the neighboring college is building a stone chapel. Lots of dust and noise for the shop means lack of custom. But things get worse when strange accidents start at the building site. The undersheriff and best men are off bandit hunting so the awful man in charge does little about it. Additionally, a student is missing and they all fear the worst like William. And Emma's grandfather is asking her home to marry. Interesting learning about stone building in this one. Cant wait for the next one.

[Own Timis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good end to Ann Swinfen's medieval mystery series but probably the weakest of them. While I enjoyed the story it was pretty obvious from minute one as to who the killer was, both for the reader and the protagonists. I also felt that the characters were a bit too twee and nicey-nice (though I've also recently read Essex Dogs by Dan Jones which presents the medieval period in a very different, and perhaps more realistic, light, so perhaps this was just me noticing the contrast between the two).

Sadly the author's untimely passing has meant this is the last in the series. It's a shame we'll never find out what happens with Nicholas and Emma as I'd definitely have read more of the series.