Customer Reviews

A Play of Treachery (A Joliffe Mystery)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished reading this book, and loved it - it's well written, rich in detail about political realities in 15th century France/England, and the main character, Joliffe, is an enjoyable protagonist to follow. I also read Frazer's Dame Frevisse series, in which Joliffe occasionally appears, and "A Play of Treachery" fills a gap in that we finally get to see how Joliffe goes from being an actor to spy. In "A Play of Treachery" Joliffe goes to France to be trained as a spy, and he and the reader become aware that he's a bit player on the wider stage of court intrigue, who as yet knows little about what parts others play, or even what script is being performed. The end seems to hint that the next Joliffe book, too, will take place in the tumult of France, away from Joliffe's English home and the players who have become his family. But as Joliffe found a little romance in Rouen, perhaps his staying in France means there will be more on that front...!

It was almost six months from the time I ordered "A Play of Treachery" before the just-published book finally came from Amazon. It was well worth the wait.

Margaret Frazer has outdone herself on this latest medieval mystery. Her character of Joliffe, the player, is magical and at the same time believably human as he wends his way through a seemingly impenetrable trail of secrets about who killed whom and why.

Although there is a great deal of political warring and historical intrigue in the book, Frazer has good control of her material. The human interest never gets lost amidst the complex wars and quarrels of fifteenth century Normandy.

If you're a Frazer fan and you haven't yet ordered your copy of "A Play of Treachery," I highly recommend doing so. No more waiting for it--it's in stock right now!

Margaret Frazer wrote a superb series of medieval mysteries in which the keen wits of Sister Frevisse illuminated crimes both high and low. In taking a nun for her detective, Frazer had a character who was severely limited by her sex and station in life. Frazer always found a way around this, but the limitations chaffed, particularly as the series aged.

Happily for her devoted readers, Frazer took a minor character who had appeared sometimes in the Sister Frevisse books and built a new series around him. As fond as I was of Frevisse, I adore Joliffe the player. As an actor wandering with a small family troop, his situation was interesting and his life full of variety.

Each one of the Joliffe's titles starts with 'A PLAY OF ----'; so there is '...ISAAC', '...DUX MORAUD', '...KNAVES'. Each title is taken from the main production that Joliffe's troop is performing. The next book, A PLAY OF LORDS, is set in London and the crime Joliffe solves touches on some vital points of interest, bringing him to the attention of some powerful men.

In A PLAY OF TREACHERY, Frazer has upped the ante.

Joliffe's cleverness in solving crime has consequences. His latest set of instructions takes him away from the small troop of players that are closer than family to him. Now he dons the disguise of a disgraced clerk and travels to France in the train of a lordly bishop. Joliffe's new patron means to test him as well as train him.

France is at war; Normandy is in upheaval. Joliffe finds himself attached to the household of the young and beautiful duchess of Bedford, a widow in mourning for her much older husband. Playing a role that he dare not doff, even for an instant, Joliffe finds his talents tested to the utmost. Were he to solve this crime a second too late, the entire course of history would have changed. This is splendid fun!

Margaret Frazer's many Dame Frevisse stories have given me much pleasure over the past few years as I've journeyed with her spiritually and otherwise from her early days as a Benedictine nun right through to her election as Superior of the convent where she has lived,now for so long. Among the many colorful characters that she has encountered in her various travels and investigations is Joliffe, the player. We are always intrigued and amused by the relationship that develops between these two such disparate individuals.

Now, since 2004, she has given us five novels where Joliffe comes front and center. As he travels with Bassett and his family of players, writing and re-writing their repertoire, as well as acting in each play, Joliffe finds himself embroiled in events the players get involved in during their time in the various towns and manor houses where they stop to perform. His many skills, honed on the stage, begin to be valued for their ability to get to the bottom of murders and other problems. While Ellis, his fellow player, sees only a trouble maker, Bassett understands his value and works with him to untangle many of these complicated situations.

Eventually, as we come to this fifth in the series, Joliffe has been recruited for work in what can only be described as eccelsiastical espionage. Now we see Joliffe using all his actor's talents, his keen observations, and the gentle caring behind his somewhat cynical exterior.

These book attract me especially for the medieval stagecraft that fills the stories. Another recurring theme in all Frazer's novels is the terrible plight of women of all stations in the Middle Ages. Working class women are condemned to a life of unremitting toil and often die young, frequently in childbirth. Women of higher standing are little more than pawns at the hands of the men in their lives who determine the direction of their lives from childhood, choose their husbands, and take possession of them, their bodies and their materials wealth. Many of the plots hang on attempts by female characters to break out of this prison life and detemine their own destiny.

While there is lots of fascinating information about daily life in the Middle Ages, colorful characters to enjoy, and plots to watch unreel, the 'bottom line' here is that they are all a ripping good read and have kept me awake many a night till I could close the book with a regretful sign that yet another Joliffe story had come to an end.

If you are a fan of Margaret Frazer's, you're probably aware that "The Apostate's Tale" ends with Dame Frevisse being elected prioress of St. Frideswide around the year 1452. By transferring the main character in this series about England during the reign of Henry VI from a nun who's growing older to the younger player-turned-spy Simon Joliffe and beginning "A Play of Treachery" in 1436, Frazer gives medieval history and mystery fans a new chance to learn more about the first half of the 15th century. Joliffe is able to range wider and farther than Dame Frevisse could, with many more adventures. Frazer's history is as accurate as always -- there are many real historical figures where they were and doing what history shows they were doing at the time. I look forward to many more Joliffe books. Frazer's scholarship, plots and prose continue to fascinate me. I highly recommend "A Play of Treachery."

Fifth in the Joliffe medieval mystery series revolving around an actor/writer turned spy for the Bishop Beaufort. This story takes place in Rouen, France in early 1436.

My Take
I loved how Frazer pulled the origins of the Woodville family into this story. Sigh...young love that began a dynasty. I also love the political scheming and its back-and-forth, but I do miss the banter between the players. Still, Joliffe does get to be a part of the doings of the high and mighty. He also begins to discover what he considers "home"; Joliffe is looking forward to finishing this assignment and getting back to his family of players.

Frazer really seems to know what what she's writing about in the culture, the dress, the manners, and the politics, let alone the architecture of buildings from great to small. If you enjoy medieval tales, you don't want to miss Frazer with her so-clever pen as she takes us back in time.

It's odd, I always think of New Zealand as having begun with the English and in this story, I find myself wondering just how this country did get its name when Zealand was a state on the west coast of Europe that was later absorbed into the Netherlands?

Joliffe gets to keep his hand in when he pens a psychomachia (medieval allegorical play) of Sins against Virtues--a true struggle as he must stay within his role as the timid, not-too-bright John Ripon. I must say, just "listening" to Joliffe thinking over all the possibilities was driving me mad. I kept waiting for him to get out some paper and write it all down just to keep it straight in his own head! It certainly makes me appreciate how cheap paper is today...let alone having a computer to cut-and-paste words.

I would like to read more about John, Duke of Bedford. He sounds as though he was quite the enlightened man for his time. Canny at politics and war and interested in education.

The Story
It's been a prosperous year and a good holiday season for the Lovell Players, partly due to that scheming Bishop Beaufort (see A Play of Lords (Joliffe, 4)). Still, they are footless and fancy-free on the road. Until the peddler catches up with them. It seems the bishop is keeping the players under his eye and now he's calling in his marker for Joliffe's services.

Basset and company are reimbursed for losing Joliffe's services--for the next SIX months! For Joliffe is heading to Rouen in France to play secretary and learn how to be a spy as John Ripon, the widowed Lady Jacquetta's English secretary. Lessons in the various ways to kill a person, maps, and ciphers. Additional drama flares up with the young king's letters to Zealand inciting them to rebel while the murder of one of the court brings it all to a head.

Joliffe also causes respect to blossom on their part for his own skills in playing a role when he helps to rescue a hunted spy as well as his detecting abilities as he identifies spies on both sides, solves a murder that never needed it, and discovers a desperately hidden secret.

The Characters
Joliffe Southwell, a.k.a., John Ripon, the writer for Basset's troupe as well as an actor, has wandering feet and the role of a player has suited him right to the ground. However, Joliffe has always hankered after the knowing of things as well and when the Bishop provides the opportunity for Joliffe to explore more of the world, he grabs at it with just a touch of fear.

Master Richard Wydeville is Her Grace, the widowed Duchess of Bedford's chamberlain in Rouen. He is also Bishop Beaufort's
spymaster there with orders to instruct Joliffe in the arts of spying. Pierres is one of his secretaries. Foulke is the primary guard for the duchess' suite of rooms. Sir Richard Wydeville is Master Richard's so-handsome son. Ivo is a man-at-arms in Wydeville's employ and teaches Joliffe the tricks of gaming and listening as well as a rough French. Tom Kechyn is another of Wydeville's spies. Joliffe's fellow clerks include George and Estienne Doguet.

Master Doncaster is a retired weaponsmaster who gives Joliffe all sorts of lessons. Perrette is also a spy with some useful tricks; she's teaching Joliffe ciphers as well as testing to see how well he does under pressure--ay-oh, is that what they call it in those days... Matilde and Jeanne are servants in Master Doncaster's house. Master Roussel is moving his family from Paris and in next door to keep them safe even as he returns to Paris to continue spying against the Armagnacs (the Dauphin's party).

Louys de Luxembourg, bishop of Therouanne, is sailing back to Normandy, his mission to mitigate the Duke of Burgundy`s betrayal a failure. The bishop has some gentlemen in his train including clumsy James, the passionate and unthinking Alain Queton, Thierry, and Remon Durevis. Guillaume Cauvet is the bishop's English secretary and friendly with Joliffe.

Lady Jacquetta, the widowed Duchess of Bedford, has eight more months of mourning to sit through before she gets to have any fun. Well, that's what everyone else thinks anyway. She is also the bishop of Therouanne's niece, a member of the Luxembourg family who wishes to distance itself from Burgundy. The ladies of her court include Guillemete, Alizon, Ydoine, Michielle, Blanche, Isabelle, and Marie. M'dame is her chaperon whose intended purpose is to keep scandal from touching on the young widow and primarily results in suppressing any fun for the duchess' courtiers. Master Fouet is her choir master tasked with providing interesting entertainment that won't scandalize the countryside.

Bishop Beaufort is the bishop of Winchester and a bastard of John O'Gaunt making him uncle to the 14-year-old King Henry VI. Master Fowler is the bishop's secretary and spymaster.

The rest of the Lovell Players appear only in the beginning although they do appear throughout in Joliffe's heart: Basset, Rose, Piers, Ellis, and Gil.

The Cover
I do love Frazer's covers! They have that lovely, medieval feel. In this one, it's a mesh of masked revelers, a lady of the court, and townspeople in a Rouen street surrounded by timber-frame, multi-story buildings.

The title is accurate enough as Joliffe finds himself amidst a group of people playing at life as they betray each other, a real life Play of Treachery.

I've really enjoyed reading all of Margaret Frazer's novels... suspense, mystery and intrigue in the fifteenth century. Really delightful books. And "A Play OF Treachery" is just as entertaining. Highly recommend!

The powerful Duke of Bedford is four months dead, when his brother the Bishop of Bedford and England's Cardinal sends Joliffe to Rouen to learn to be a spy at the court of the widowed dutchess. A PLAY OF TREACHERY by Margaret Frazer had Joliffe playing a role that can cost him his life before he has time to acquire the skills necessary to survive in the world of a crumbling empire.
The powerful Duke of Burgandy has renounced his pledge to England in favor of France and he intends to win by battle and the rocky relm of state mariages. In the middle stands the young and lovely second wife of the Duke of Bedford.
The murder in the story comes as a shock as the reader is deep in the political aspects of historical fiction when Paris stands ready to fall.
This is a great read as Joliffe both misses his former life and learns new skills from masters of the trade of spying.
Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH

Joliffe the player's life takes an unexpected turn as the powerful Bishop Beaufort, whom he agreed to serve, sends him to France as a spy in the household of Duchess Jacquetta, the Duke of Bedford's widow. War is brewing and Paris may not hold. As well, Joliffe is to be trained in skills useful to a spy, and though he welcomes lessons in wrestling and defense, he is discomfited to be taught how to kill as well. When one of Lady Jacquetta's ladies in waiting is murdered, Joliffe must solve the mystery before scandal erupts and war overtakes them all.

Although I missed the presence of the other players, Joliffe's transformation into a real spy is no less fascinating than his previous adventures. As usual, Frazer steeps the reader in historical facts and figures, weaving her characters and story around them with her usual skill. And we can expect more, as the story ends with war about to erupt and Joliffe being sent into the thick of the turmoil for his next assignment. I'm getting antsy for the next book!

I agree with previous reviewers in my appreciation of Frazer's books, and Joliffe is my favorite of her characters. As a player in a (very) small group of wandering players, he stumbled into mysteries connected either with the plays or with the places where they were performed.

I gave this entry only four stars because Joliffe is now separate from the players. Given the small company, now left with only Bassett and Ellis as seasoned, adult troopers, I worry about their fate. And I don't think Joliffe worries about them enough! I miss the background with the players.