Margaret Frazer
The Prioress' Tale (1997)
Author: Margaret Frazer
Genre and (subgenre): Mystery (Cozy/Amateur Detective)/Historical
Plot Summary:
Sister Frevisse is a busy nun; she is in a constant struggle with the prioress Domina Alys, (it is her tale that gives the book its plot), and this tension is heightened because Domina Alys's two cousins, Sir Hugh and Sir Reynold, and their men are quickly depleting the priory's resources and taking up space in the guest halls. Sister Frevisse is no fan of Sir Reynold or Sir Hugh and she believes Domina Alys's stubborn attachement to them is harming the priory. To make matters worse, Sir Reynold kidnaps a teenage girl and brings her to the priory. And, she is intended to marry a a man that is from a family that has had a long feud with Sir Reynold and his family. Joliffe, a traveling minstrel, who Sister Frevisse met five or six years ago, arrives at the priory and thankfully helps Sister Frevisse with many important tasks throughout the book. The growing cast of characters doesn't stop there; after Joliffe appears a madman arrives and is promptly beaten by Sir Reynold and his men. Joliffe and Sister Frevisse manage to save him from the mob, give him food, new clothes and send him on his way. He appears again, is again beaten, and is saved when Joliffe, Sister Frevisse and the nuns bring him to the church's altar, where the nuns have to convince Domina Alys to let the madman stay. SPOILER: One of Sir Reynold's men is mortally wounded and he is brought to the priory. Sir Reynold tells Domina Alys he has killed the person who attacked his clansman. He also tells her that he and his men were out stealing from the family they have long feuded with to bring back food and supplies for the priory and the man they killed was simply trying to protect his home. Domina Alys is shocked and sickened by Sir Reynold's stealing. Later that same day Sir Reynold and Sir Hugh visit Domina Alys and tell her they have been planning an attack against the families they have stolen from and the priory will serve as a stronghold against attack. Domina Alys had no knowledge of any of this and suddenly finds herself a pawn in Sir Hugh's and Sir Reynold's game. Later, Sir Reynold is murdered during the night and his body is discovered the next morning. Sister Frevisse springs into action to discover who is the killer and everyone is a suspect. Everyone is quick to blame the madman and Joliffe but Sister Frevisse also suspects Domina Alys, Sir Hugh and Lady Eleanor, the wealthy woman who lives in the priory, and before the book is over more than one plot will be revealed and more than one person will have changed in Sister Frevisse's eyes.
Geographical Setting: St. Frideswide's priory, Oxfordshire, England
Time Period: mid-15th century
Series: Seventh in the Sister Frevisse Medieval Mysteries Series
Appeal Characteristics:
Readers get an unobstructed, insiders view of the cloistered life in St. Fridewide's priory because Frazer's writing style is modern, though the setting isn't. Frazer also makes the book's rich cast of characters intriguing and she easily envelops her readers in the lives of Sister Frevisse and other nuns, who have more than holy matters on their minds. Some nuns share gossip, gaze longingly at men and don't want to get out of their beds on cold fall mornings to pray. Frazer makes these characters and the priory seem familiar, so much so that the Middle Ages don't seem so far away. The focus in this mystery is on the historical setting and the characters, not gore, so readers looking for a story without a high body count and a satisfying conclusion should be happy with this book. The tone is light but not humorous. Sister Frevisse, the book's main character, is all business but she isn't mean and the lives of the nuns are more important than the murder in this book. Finally, readers who are looking for a fast-paced thriller should look elsewhere because the pace of The Prioress' Tale is somewhat slow as the daily lives of the nuns are followed and they pray from dawn to midnight. The pace does pick up towards the end of the book but even then it never gets very fast.
Read-alikes: Margaret Frazer's A Play Of Knaves might be for readers who want to continue reading Frazer's works but have finished the Sister Frevisse series or for those who want to read a medieval mystery that doesn't center on a religious community. In this book Joliffe (a character in The Prioress' Tale) and other traveling players try to solve a murder in a village with three wealthy families that are in a feud. Those who enjoy reading about medieval religious communities and who want to read about an earlier period in the Middle Ages could enjoy Alys Clare's Girl in a Red Tunic. In this book an abbess must face her past as her long lost son finds her in her abbey. For a medieval mystery with the intrigue and religious setting of Frazer's book but on a more intense level and with an epic feel, try Books of Shadows by Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Susanna Gregory and Philip Gooden. This book covers 500 years of a monastery's history and even Chaucer makes an appearance. P.C. Doherty’s The Hangman's Hymn: The Carpenter's Tale is far from cozy but it is medieval. Doherty changes Chaucer's Canterbury's Tales so the pilgrim in this tale, the carpenter, spins a mysterious yarn that begins with an execution. A reader who enjoys medieval mysteries but is also willing to read other historical mysteries should try A Bitter Chill. In this book, like The Prioress' Tale and Girl in a Red Tunic, a female character is the book's protagonist. A Bitter Chill is set in Roman occupied Britain, the time is 95 A.D. and the book centers on a young female innkeeper.
Red Flags: A few short descriptions of a character's fatal wounds
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