Margaret Frazer (1946–2013)

The third installment of Margaret Frazer's Sister Frevisse series, The Outlaw's Tale is the best of the first three. This is my first time going to an audiobook for a volume in the series, and the experience was overwhelmingly positive. Susan Duerden's reading is excellent, and her voicings make the characters come alive.

Particularly striking in this book are the female characters who, very much beholden to their time, still manage a subtle defiance that flies under the radar. Frazer* show more doesn't resort to a clichéd feminist who is self-righteous and outspoken (not that it is a problem, but it gets tiresome as a trope), but instead illuminates what must have been much more common behavior in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. After all, when faced with a sword, even the most strong-willed might step aside if not equally armed. (
*Frazer = sadly deceased Gail Frazer with Mary Monica Pulver/aka Monica Ferris)

Sister Emma grates on our nerves and I did find dragging out her illness to be a bit tedious, but the audiobook really brought out the subtle and dry wit that accompanies much of Dame Frevisse's inner thoughts, particularly in regard to Emma. After the last book being VERY obsessed with the sickness that had taken over the convent, I was not enthused about a constant return to Sister Emma's "rheume."

There are some wonderful descriptions, including that of Dame Frevisse's uncle who has a "look about him that he belongs where he was." For whatever reason, the audiobook seemed to highlight these particular moments of character definition and description, and it is delightful.

Dame Frevisse has more opportunity for character development here because she's away from the convent, and she becomes embroiled (embroils herself, really) in a situation involving her cousin. There is a lot of self-reflection in regard to the choices she makes and that helps give her more dimensionality than was revealed in the previous two books.

I'm more excited to continue the series than I was, and I hope that the rest of the series continues with the same level of character definition and plot complexity. Unlike book 2, The Servant's Tale, which had so many characters it was hard to stay focused, this story does a much better job of focusing on a few key characters, with a good pacing of introduction to new ones, and actually threw me off the scent of whodunnit, so brava! show less

As much a fan as I am of Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma series, I think it has met its match with Frazer's Sister Frevisse. Frazer's sense for character development is obvious at the outset, and she manages to create a colorful cast of characters who are not caricatures. Pious Thomasine becomes a murder suspect when her aunt Lady Ermentrude--who I pictured like the Red Queen from Alice and Wonderland--succumbs to her own "strange and sudden death" (that's from the back cover, so I'm not show more counting it as a spoiler!). There is also Dame Claire, the herbalist and someone who deserves a large bit of credit, as does the entire convent of St. Frideswide, and their leader Domina Edith. One of the contrasts with Tremayne's series is that Sister Frevisse, while a major player, is not the only player. Granted, given the fifteenth-century setting and the Benedictine context, Frazer has less to explain than Tremayne with his seventh-century tensions between the Roman and Irish churches. Those who like fast-moving plots may be a bit frustrated here, but Frazer does an artful job of making everything matter! Take your time with this one--enjoy each and every character as they are all important here and there. Quite a great first book in the series--I'll be reading the rest! show less

The Hunter's Tale is a fine mystery. It involves a family in Medieval times whose life has been Hell on earth due to the rages of the father. His one true love seemed to be his hunting hounds and the hunt. No one is grieved when he is found murdered, but Dame Frevisse knows the tale cannot end there.
This story points out exactly why I love Frazer. The author has us exploring the effects on the soul of long term abuse, how people survive it and what the results may be. Also the way lies to show more ourselves and others can fester and destroy and how confession or simply speaking the truth and acknowledging it as truth can begin healing. Rather than being a boring treatise on such matters, it is a story in which you care deeply about the characters. I love the setting and the descriptions of the wolfhounds. Perhaps it is just me, but this did remain a mystery to me until the end. show less

A convent of nuns is put through the ringer as a difficult frequent visitor arrives with little notice, suddenly leaves, comes back even more difficult than usual, and then dies resulting in even more visitors wanting to know why she died. The Novice’s Tale is the first book of Margaret Frazer’s Dame Frevisse mysteries as the titular novice finds herself the suspected killer of her great aunt and Sister Frevisse is tasked by the convent’s prioress to figure out the truth.

Through the show more use of two point-of-view characters, Frevisse and the novice Thomasina, Frazer is able to not only to tell an engaging narrative but also reveal the inner workings of a medieval convent through action not exposition. The mystery is set up well with a lot of credible suspects with believable motives set up to be red herrings to disguise the who did it with the motive hidden from the reader by one that would appear to be more important. If there was one critique it is the belief by some characters that a young woman within weeks of taking her vows would risk damnation by murdering someone so she can become a nun, just writing it out just now makes the suggestion a little irrational though that might have been Frazer’s intention given some of the characters we are introduced to. Overall, this was a nice, quick read with a mystery that had a good set up and interesting conclusion.

The Novice’s Tale is both a good mystery and good first installment to a series, which Margaret Frazer wrote seventeen overall books for. show less