A Play of Lords is the fourth book in the Joliffe series.This time the troupe of players are in London as part of the entourage of Lord Lovell, their patron. What seems to be a wonderful opportunity to try their wings in the greatest city in all of England is made less wonderful after Lord Lovell sends them to perform a particular plays for the Bishop Beaufort. Beaufort tasks them to write and perform a play for him and one doesn't refuse such a powerful man lightly. In no time though they can see that by doing so they've become embroiled in the political intrigues of the day because the Bishop is using their performances of the play and Joliffe's talents to further his own ends.The story was light on actual mystery and much heavier on the very complex politics of the period. This is the stuff that's leading up to the War of the Roses after all and we all know what a mess that was.The most important thing, though was that this was the pivotal moment in Joliffe's life, the major stepping stone in his evolution from mere player, as he was first introducted in "The Servant's Tale", to the spy/agent that he becomes later in life (read the Dame Frevisse series by the same author). ( )