Bastard's Tale [Hardcover]

Margaret Frazer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2004

In the year 1447, powerful men from all the realm of England have been summoned to Parliament in the great pilgrimage town of Bury St. Edmunds. Most come for the straightforward business of making laws and passing taxes, but a small group of great nobles are planning to use this chance to bring down, by treachery and treason, their greatest rival. Against her will and under cover of her friendship with Lady Alice of Suffolk, her high-placed cousin, Dame Frevisse is brought from her nunnery into the fringes of this swirl of politics and plotting by the ambitious Bishop of Winchester. Meant to observe and report to him what she sees, she is instead drawn into the very centre of treachery and death encircling the throne of England. The pity is that desperate acts of loyalty and love are not always enough to save men from murder and an innocent man from the gallows.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While the slow unfolding of the plot and the shortage of crime solving may put off some readers, anyone who values high historical drama will feel amply rewarded by Edgar-nominee Frazer's latest Dame Frevisse mystery (The Clerk's Tale, etc.). In 1447 the powerful men of England gather in the town of Bury St. Edmond's for a session of Parliament. However, a few nobles have decided that this particular session will not see business as usual. The bishop of Winchester summons Dame Frevisse from her nunnery to go to Bury St. Edmonds and report to him all that she sees and hears. With the aid of an old friend, the player Joliffe, and new friends Bishop Pecock of St. Asaph's and Arteys, the duke of Gloucester's illegitimate son, she uncovers a political plot of treason and murder. Arteys stands out as one of several historical figures in the story who become fully human. Despite his tenuous position as a bastard, he genuinely loves and admires his father. Also of note is the poignant and amusing relationship between Joliffe and Dame Frevisse. History fans will relish every minute they spend with the characters in this powerfully created medieval world. Prose that at times verges on the poetic is another plus, as is the inviting jacket art depicting a river flowing through a town of thatched-roof houses.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Margaret Frazer was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best Original Paperback for both The Servant's Tale and The Prioress' Tale. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Robert Hale (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0709075294
• ISBN-13: 978-0709075295
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,692,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Frazer is a full-time writer. She has twice been a finalist for the Edgar(r) in the paperback original category. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-plotted tale, February 12, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Bastard's Tale: A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery (Hardcover)

This is one of Margaret Frazer's best featuring Dame Frevisse. A well-plotted, well-written and well-edited book that puts you right into Medieval times along with Henry VI and the famous and infamous of history. Although I have read each entry in this series, I don't believe it is necessary to have read them to enjoy this one. In this tale, we meet again a character we've been intrigued by in other tales, Joliffe. He warns the nun to be careful with her sharp tongue that she not cut herself, but Frevisse is sharp all the way through, a thinker and observer and a true help to her cousin, Alice married to Suffolk. The story is smoothly plotted and filled with people you can care about, that you can be interested in, and that is Margaret Frazer's strength as an author. The mystery is not the focus of the story, but the people and the times are. I was sorry to see the story end. And I hope I will see more of Dame Frevisse and Joliffe in the future, preferably sooner rather than later.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting new direction, June 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bastard's Tale (Dame Frevisse Medieval Mysteries) (Paperback)

I've read almost all of the Dame Frevisse books by Margaret Frazer. They began as simple historical mysteries but have really moved into a different genre. The first few books were actually written by two people, one with the head for mysteries and the other with a passion for life in 14th Century Britain. The first author has dropped out of the equation and the novels are now entirely penned by Gail Frazer, the history buff, and it's definitely beginning to show. Freed from having to essentially write the books by committee, she really seems to have taken the project to heart and for the last few books, has been moving away from the traditional framework of a simple whodunit to concentrate on her real area of interest: the intrigues and machinations surrounding the court of Henry VI. In the Bastard's Tale she makes the break complete, most noticably with the total absence of a true murder in the traditional narrative sense. It is still a puzzling and exciting read with a wealth of stunning historical detail, but unfortunately Dame Frevisse's reasons for being in such exhalted company in the first place are starting to wear a little thin. Nonetheless her character remains as uncompromising and stoically endearing as ever, and the astute reader will enjoy continuing the series simply for the joy of watching Gail Frazer evolve from her artistic infancy as a ghostwriter of pulp mysteries to an impressive novelist in her own right.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A historical novel, not a mystery novel., May 5, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bastard's Tale (Dame Frevisse Medieval Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is very much a historical novel, as there really is no murder and murderer to be found. I found that the book had somewhat of a slow start, but most historical novels suffer from this problem since the author needs to build his/her character base and lay the groundwork for the unfolding of the story. In this book Dame Frevisse and Dame Pepetua are sent to a meeting of parliament as a request of the Bishop. He wants Dame Frevisse to listen and learn about the many political intrigues that are going on in this emergency scheduled calling of parliament. Right away Dame Frevisse is in the middle of all the political unrests, secrets and plots and counterplots that surround King Henry VI and his uncle the Duke of Gloucester. She finds that her brother-in-law, the Duke of Suffolk is in the middle of this, and is in fact the cause of the problems, so she must deal with her sister's concerns about her husband as well as try to thwart a truly evil plot that Suffolk has hatched. This will become the biggest challenge of her career, and will in fact destroy her reputation (a thing that a nun does not take lightly). Ms. Frazer is a very good writer, and this book is well-researched, but it was not what I was expecting since I wanted a medieval mystery. I personally didn't really enjoy the story as I've read many historical mysteries about this time, and really wasn't wanting to read another about the maelstrom that surrounds an early English king's throne, but I've given it 4 stars since it is so well-written, and well-researched. Be aware if you read it that this is not a mystery novel.