The Novice's Tale

An easy reading but still tantalising murder mystery set in the fifteenth century in a convent. Well rounded characters that you could care about and believe in. I look forward to trying more in the series.

In 1431, the convent of St. Frideswide's peaceful English September is disrupted by the arrival of a familiar but less-than-welcome guest. Lady Ermentrude, great aunt to the saintly novice Thomasine, always enjoys tormenting the timid girl by threatening to find her a husband before Thomasine can take her final vows. This time she's just two weeks away from that great moment. So when Ermentraude dies of poisoning in St. Fridewide's guest hall, after a hard and hasty ride on some mysterious family business, Thomasine - unlikely murderess though she might make - is nevertheless everyone's prime suspect. Everyone's, that is, except Sister Frevisse. Although she has to admit that Thomasine does look guilty, the convent's hosteler looks elsewhere instead of accepting the too-easy answer (in contrast to the "crowner" who investigates on the King's behalf, and the rest of Lady Ermentrude's family). I seldom read mysteries. I picked this one up because of its setting in time and place, hoping for a few hours of amusement; and author Frazer delivered that in spades. Sister Frevisse, a mixture of involuntarily learned worldliness and devotion to the godly, contemplative life that's her choice, is a thoroughly original character. So, in their different ways, are the tale's other major players. What pleased me most, though, was the simple joy of reading a novel that depicts medieval nuns as people. That by itself would have been more than worth the read. It was easy to forget among the quiet patterns of St. Frideswide's that its nuns were the daughters, granddaughters, sisters of men who held their inheritance by right of arms and battle skills. As nuns and women their daily life held little need for their inheritance of courage, but their blood remembered. Yes! Exactly!

Thomasine D'Evers, a frail 17-year-old, has wanted only the cloister since she was eight years old, driven mostly by intense piety - but partly from fear of the childbirth that killed her mother, and shyness intensified by the isolation of many childhood illnesses. This September of 1431, when Thomasine's final vows will be pronounced at Michaelmas (September 29th), her great-aunt, Lady Ermentrude Fenner, has arrived to pay an unannounced visit.Lady Ermentrude likes to drop in on the priory's guesthall without warning and *with* a large following of servants, men-at-arms, and obnoxious pets. ("'A monkey,' Domina Edith repeated, sounding as if she had been given a second hundred years in Purgatory.") Since one of Ermentrude's favourite pasttimes is arranging family marriages for fun and profit, every visit is accompanied by rude, half-teasing offers to take Thomasine away and arrange a marriage for her with a vigorous young husband (or an older rich one, whichever strikes her fancy). (Robert Fenner, the one young man who seems to admire Thomasine for herself, has sense enough to hold his tongue rather than let the pushy old lady make things worse - for one thing, he knows he's not a good enough match.)On this visit, Ermentrude arrived when Thomas Chaucer was visiting his niece, Dame Frevisse. The current events discussion of the war in France - the Hundred Years' War - is interesting; Henry VI is still a little boy. After meeting with the prioress, Dame Frevisse (who's in charge of the guesthall), and Master Chaucer, Ermentrude leaves the bulk of her retinue to settle in while she dashes off for a quick visit to Thomasine's married sister Isobel. But Ermentrude returns the next day in a frenzy, swearing that Thomasine shan't be forced to take vows, and that she 'has a good husband coming to her after this' - and that she's taking her away from this horrible place at once. She's been nearly raving all day, as Isobel and Sir John, arriving hard on her heels, can attest.Within a few hours, Lady Ermentrude is dead of poison, together with a kitchen servant who sampled one dish too many.Far too many people had opportunity, and with Lady Ermentrude, there's not far to look for motive. Lady Ermentrude had recently left Queen Katherine's service, dropping broad hints of impending scandal - did someone take steps to shut her mouth? Dame Alys, cellarer and chief cook, comes of a family embroiled in a feud with the Fenners, and could be counted on *not* to use new bread for the lady's milksop, but that which could have been tampered with. The lady's servants led a hard life - did something become too much for one of them? Worst of all, of course, Thomasine brought the milksop meant to soothe Lady Ermentrude's throat.Master Montfort, the local 'crowner' (coroner) of northern Oxfordshire at this point in the series, is intensely irritating; he'll bend over backward for an easy explanation. ('Easy' in this case is the quickest resolution that'll let Lady Erment

The Novice's Tale was a very interesting book to read. It was exciting, filled with drama and suspense. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good mystery book. I LIKED A LOT!

Margaret Frazer delivers another excellent medieval mystery with her book the Novice's Tale. The tale begins with Thomasine poised to become a nun in a few short weeks. Thomasine is a very gentle novice who has always wanted to become a nun. she has a saintly disposition and is afraid of men. Her hopes may be dashed by her very eccentric aunt Lady Ermentrude. Everyone at St. Frideswides dreads the arrival of her aunt who is very taxing person to be around. She appears unannounced, then quickly disappears, only to return the next day in a state of wild inebriation. In her drunken state Lady Ermentrude is determined to take the gentle Thomasine from the Abbey. Just as quickly as all this happens she is dead. Could Thomasine have murdered her or is it someone else whose life she has disrupted.Sister Frevisse is determined to find out who caused her death. she does not want Thomasine to be falsely accused. She diligently questions the people in the abbey to determine who could be the one to gain from Lady Ermentrude's death.This novel like the others in the series will appeal to mystery and medieval addicts alike