Tania Bayard

I love a good historical mystery with a central character that is someone I know from history, but I've never really considered as an individual. Murder in the Cloister features just such a "detective": Christine de Pizan, 14th Century feminist, scribe, and writer. Under the cover of copying a valuable book for the Prioress, Christine is sent to the Priory of Poissy. Her real responsibility is uncovering the events and people behind the death of a novice—and Christine needs to act quickly show more as the priory faces threats from those who object to women directing their own lives, even when they are cloistered.

The mystery is solid, though the revelation when it comes isn't completely unexpected. Readers can see the finger of guilt pointing in a particular direction, but don't know exactly what has transpired to point it that way. What makes this mystery successful isn't that plot line so much as its cast of characters, strong, intelligent women and men with very different views of how the world should be ordered, but who nonetheless must work together to arrive at justice for the victim.

This is the first book in this series I've read, though it is the fourth volume, and I had no trouble following the plot line or grasping the relationships among the characters. I want to go back and read the earlier volumes not to clarify any back-story specifics, but just because I like those characters as depicted by Tania Bayard and want to spend more time with them. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less

Tania Bayard has translated portions of a manual of moral
and domestic instruction written in 1393 by an elderly citizen
of Paris for his fifteen-year old wife.

THE MEDIEVAL HOME COMPANION certainly succeeds as a charming
curiosity of domestic advice from fourteenth-century France. The author, an elderly husband eager to instruct his much younger wife in all the niceties of deportment and housekeeping, offers kindly advice on subjects ranging from respectable dress to ridding the bedroom of show more fleas to managing servants to the proper season for planting various edibles. He even includes some of his favorite recipes for compote (using five hundred new walnuts), hippocras, four kinds of wafers and candied orange
peel.

Illustrating the text are reproductions of forty medieval
woodcuts depicting such daily tasks as grinding spices, caring
for the sick and bargaining with a merchant.

A reader unfamiliar with the Middle Ages will certainly gain
a feel for the daily lives and responsibilities of householders.
The author, a prosperous citizen with wide-ranging knowledge,
obviously dotes on his young wife, and desires to teach her how
to not only please him, but also to please a second husband, a
likely possibility given the gap in their ages.

Beyond the charm of the book, however, lies little of value
to more informed readers. Bayard has only chosen to include
less than one-fourth of the original text, admittedly omitting
lengthy discussions about chastity, worship, and honor. While
this decision was made to make the book more approachable to
twentieth-century readers, it not only undermines the scholarly
usefulness of the text, but also the broad picture of medieval
life it purports to convey. show less

I was drawn to this cozy-mystery as it featured one of medieval Frances' better known women - Christise de Pizan.

Set in France in 1392 during the reign of mad King Charles VI, recently widowed Christine, is employed as a scribe for the French Queen, Isabeau of Bavaria. The French Court in this period was a hot-bed of political and sexual intrigue, with the various factions fighting for control of both the government and the King (think Wars of the Roses). Into this, Christine, who grew up at show more the Court, insinuates herself and embarks on an investigation into the death of one of the King's favourites, the Chamberlain, Hugues, whose 16yo wife Alix stands accused.

"... when women set out to do something, they are smarter and shrewder than men .."

What is the link between a young local prostitute, a mysterious book, a hooded figure, and the mad King's brother, Louis Duke of Orleans. At the French Court no-one is whom they appear to be - it is a place haunted by intrigue, secrets, magic and superstition. Bear in mind, the miracle of Joan of Arc is only a few decades away!

As a first novel, this make a nice change from most historical mysteries which have been predominantly set on the other side of the English Channel. I would be interested to read the next in the series to see how the characters develop and the storyline tightens up - sometimes less is more in storytelling. show less

This is the fourth in the Christine de Pizan mystery series, and as with other review, it is suggested to start this series at the beginning and read in order to ensure continuity. In this outing Christine is travelling to the Prior of Poissy, ostensibly to see her daughter and to copy manuscripts, but also to investigate the murder of one of the nuns.

These mysteries are full of historical detail, including Christine's life as a single mother, raising her family whilst trying to earn a show more living, which she manages to do thanks to royal patronage.

I really enjoy the series of mysteries as they make a nice change from the usual English-centric historical fiction that has dominated the market for some time. For those who love a bit of French history mixed with a tinge of crime, sorcery, a notable female protagonist. show less