The twelfth in the highly acclaimed Roger the Chapman series In the bitter winter of 1478, Roger the Chapman takes to the roads once again to sell his wares. His long-suffering wife Adela is happy to let him go, on condition that he promises to return by the feast of St Patrick in March. Having sold most of his goods, Roger starts on the long road home, keen to surprise Adela by arriving home early for once. However, on the way, he stumbles upon the tiny village of Lower Brockhurst where he is immediately made welcome at the village alehouse. Overhearing conversations regarding the recent disappearance of a local girl, Roger's investigative instincts are instantly aroused, and he determines to stay awhile in order to try and solve the mystery. Had she really just vanished? Or had something much more sinister taken place? But Roger soon realises that there is more to the girl's story than meets the eye, and that the village harbours dark secrets that some people would do anything to prevent being discovered.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Careful plotting, strong characters and a wealth of period detail distinguish the latest adventure of itinerant peddler and sleuth, Roger the Chapman, from British author Sedley (The Lammas Feast). As the gloomy winter of 1478 draws to a close, Roger is returning home to Bristol when he stops for the night in a village haunted by old mysteries. Six months earlier, a local siren, Eris Lilywhite, disappeared after humiliating her betrothed by consenting to marry his father instead. At Eris's grandmother's request (and despite the hostility of Eris's mother), Roger agrees to stay in Lower Brockhurst and investigate. His efforts to connect the girl's disappearance with other events in the village, both past and present, parallel the old parlor game, Nine Men's Morris, in which two opponents each try to form a line of three markers on a rectangular grid. Roger's instincts and medieval superstition occasionally collide with his more rational, logical side. Peasant characters at times think in ways inappropriate to their humble status ("The Papal Commissioners don't venture into the wilds very often, and when they do, sand is thrown in their eyes"), but in every other respect the author is true to period. Sedley pens medieval historicals as fine as those by better known names in this subgenre, including Edward Marston, Alan Gordon and Candace Robb.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Sedley offers up another entertaining installment in her medieval mystery series featuring Roger the Chapman (that's peddler, for those unfamiliar with medieval job titles). On the way home from a successful selling trip through the Cotswolds, the erstwhile amateur detective makes a chance stop at a remote village. He is quickly drawn into investigating the disappearance and suspected murder of beautiful Eris Lilywhite, who disappeared after she foolishly promised to marry not only wealthy farmer Ned Rawbone but also his elderly father. The locals brand Eris as a fortune-seeking trollop, but her mother and grandmother are desperate to find out what happened to her. When they learn of Roger's previous investigative successes, they beg for his help. The detailed portrait of life in the fifteenth century, the charming hero, and the imaginative plot make this another pleasurable read in Sedley's stylishly written and historically accurate series. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Great Roger the Chapman book, but (4-1/2 stars),
By
This review is from: The Nine Men Dancing (Roger the Chapman S.) (Hardcover)
I love Roger. And as a teacher I've told writing students often that they need to foreshadow. Kate Sedley sometimes over foreshadows. She gives clues out at the beginning of this book that I wished I didn't have. Although I love Roger and his world, and the charactes he encounters here, and there are many surprises, I kept wishing Roger would get on with it and figure out this one clue. But then Roger is always interesting. This just isn't one of the very best in the series but is well worth reading. (For those who don't know the series, this is a series that is best read in order.)
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Search for A Missing Girl Leads Roger the Chapman Into Danger,
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This review is from: The Nine Men Dancing (Roger the Chapman S.) (Hardcover)
As the winter of 1478 draws to a close, peddlar Roger the Chapman finds himself on the road heading towards his home of Bristol after a successful peddling trip to the Cotswalds. Roger takes a "short cut" and finds himself lost in the woods, finally to stumbl;e upon the remote, small village of Lower Brockbury. Seeking a night's shelter in the local inn, Roger quickly discovers that the town is full of secrets, most notably the unexplained disappearance six months previously of 16-year old Eris Lilywhite. Young Eris disappears on a "dark and stormy night" after scandalously jilting her betrothed, Tom Rawbone, for his wealthy father Ned Rawbone. Faithful readers of the Roger the Chapman series will know that Roger cannot resist investigating a mystery like this, and in doing so he finds that the town is hiding many secrets.
The plot in this mystery is very well done. Unlike most of the other stories in this series, in "Nine Men Dancing" Roger is not involved with the Duke of Gloucester. As such, author Sedley spends more time painting a picture of an isolated village in the late 1400s. I found the details of everyday life to make a very interesting story.
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Nine Men Dancing" proves a good read!,
By
This review is from: The Nine Men Dancing (Roger the Chapman S.) (Hardcover)
Roger the Chapman has promised his wife Adela that he'll be home in time for the Feast of St.
Patrick. All's well, he thinks, when he pauses to spend the night in an upcountry village. It's a dark and stormy night in the year 1458. Always one eager to get involved in (and solve) local mysteries, Roger is drawn once again into another of Kate Sedley's medieval mysteries, "Nine Men Dancing." A young woman, Eris Lilywhite, has disappeared. It's not that simple, though. Young Eris is something of a designing young woman whose sensuous abilities seem to outweigh her intellectual capacity. She leads one young man, Tom Rawbone, to think he's her "intended," but suddenly reveals she'll marry, instead, Tom's father Ned. Needless to say, this causes quite a disruption. Eris bolts the house in the middle of a fierce nighttime storm, never to be seen again. Of course, the village is divided into two camps: those who don't care what happened to her and to those who do, mainly her mother and grandmother, who enlists Roger's help in solving the mystery. Roger agrees, reluctantly (after all, he's promised to be in Bistol by March 17!) and from this point, Sedley's mystery plows on. Village secrets abound, ages-old hostilities shine, and Roger even concludes that there is a connection between the disappearance of Eris and the deaths of two well-diggers over 150 years ago. Aside from creating a character (Roger) who is fun AND interesting to know, Sedley's historical commentary seems sound as she effortlessly captures the tone and atmosphere of what 15th century must have been like. She also spins a good tale, cleverly matching the storyline with the symbols of nine men's morris, a popular game of the time. This episode in the series, to me, is the most exciting and the fastest-paced one. It's a good read, as is the entire series.
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