Margaret Frazer
To begin with, 'Margaret Frazer' was two people, both
interested in writing and in medieval England, one of them
with modern murder mysteries already published, the other
with file drawers, shelves, and notebooks full of research
on England in the 1400s. They met in a historical
recreationist group called the Society for Creative
Anachronism and joined forces to write The Novice's Tale,
the first in a history mystery series centered on a
Benedictine nun, Dame Frevisse, of a small priory in
Oxfordshire. During their collaboration, the authors worked together
by first laying out the general idea of a story. Then
the 'Frazer' half of the team developed the plot and
characters in detail and wrote the first draft.
The 'Margaret' half then re-worked that into a second
draft, the 'Frazer' half re-worked that, and then they did
the final draft together. The collaboration worked well
through six books and two award nominations—an
Edgar® for The Servant's Tale and a Minnesota Book
Award for The Bishop's Tale—before the 'Margaret' half
grew tired of the series and amicably returned to the 20th
century, leaving the 'Frazer' half to continue the series,
with an Edgar® nomination for The Prioress' Tale. Margaret Frazer writes stories set in medieval England
because she greatly enjoy looking at the world from other
perspectives than the 20th century. Her brief college
career was as an archaeology major with writing intended as
a hobby, but with one thing and another, her interest came
down to medieval England with writing as her primary
activity, only rivaled by my love of research. Frazer
learned about medieval English politics, religion,
philosophy, sociology, economics—all the multi-layered
elements that go into making the lives of people in any
time period. So when the chance came to write a mystery
series set in medieval England, she took it. In everyday life, Margaret is Gail Frazer, living in the
countryside north of Elk River, Minnesota, with four cats
and not enough bookshelves. Over the years she's had
various jobs, including librarian, secretary, reseacher for
a television station, gift shop manager, and assistant
matron at an English girls' school. Married once upon a
time but not anymore, she has two well-grown sons. She
writes more often than not, and when once she moaned "I
have to get a life," her family informed her, "You have
one. It's in the 1400s." That seems to sum up things rather
nicely.
Living a devout life in Medieval England, Sister
Frevisse is sinfully good at discerning the mysteries of
the soul...and solving the crimes of the human heart.
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Books
A Play of Piety
(A Joliffe the Player Mystery #6)
December 7, 2010
In harvest time of 1436, Joliffe’s troupe leader
falls, leaving his players to find what work they can while
he recovers. Joliffe finds work in a hospital where he
unfortunately has to deal Read more...
A Play of Treachery
(A Joliffe the Player Mystery #5)
October 28, 2009
At the behest of his powerful patron, Joliffe journeys to
France to act as a servant to the widowed duchess Jacquetta
of Bedford—while actually training in spycraft. But
when a member of the Read more...
The Apostate's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery #17)
January 6, 2009
As the nuns of St. Frideswide's priory prepare for the
welcome end of Lent, their peaceful expectations are overset
by the sudden return of long-vanished Sister Cecely. Nine
years ago she fled from Read more...
The Apostate's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery #17)
January 2, 2008
As the nuns of St. Frideswide's priory prepare for the
welcome end of Lent, their peaceful expectations are overset
by the sudden return of long-vanished Sister Cecely. Nine
years ago she fled from Read more...
The Traitor's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery #16)
January 2, 2008
Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery and wandering
player Simon Joliffe are in London investigating the deaths
of several noblemen who supposedly conspired with the French
against England. Some of these nobles worked Read more...
A Play of Lords
(A Joliffe Mystery)
August 7, 2007
Joliffe and company play spies amongst the British
aristocracy as lords and clergymen vie for the coveted
position of regent to the young King Henry VI. But when men
who know too much Read more...
The Traitor's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery)
January 2, 2007
Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to
assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in
burying her husband—but the late Duke was so hated that
even being in Read more...
The Sempster's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery)
January 2, 2007
Dame Frevisse is in London to recover gold from the coffers
of the murdered Duke of Suffolk and give it to her cousin.
Frevisse's co-conspirators in this secrecy are seamstress
Anne Blakehall and Read more...
A Play of Knaves
August 1, 2006
In the pages of Margaret Frazer's national bestselling
Dame Frevisse series, the player Joliffe has assumed many
roles on stage, to the delight of those he entertains. Now,
in the company of a Read more...
The Widow's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery #14)
January 3, 2006
Recently widowed and still grieving, Cristiana Helyngton
finds her life wrenched apart by her late husband's greedy
and ambitious relatives, who are determined to have control
of her lands and her daughters. Kidnapped, Read more...
The Sempster's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery #15)
January 3, 2006
The latest medieval mystery in the acclaimed series finds
Dame Frevisse on a mission in London to recover gold from
the coffers of the murdered Duke of Suffolk and give the
gold to Read more...
The Hunter's Tale
(A Dame Frevisse Medieval Mystery)
December 4, 2004
In Margaret Frazer's eagerly-awaited new medieval mystery,
the "devout yet human" nun Dame Frevisse finds herself
embroiled in a family's turmoil. When she accompanies a
nunnery pupil and her mother as they return Read more...
A Play of Isaac
August 3, 2004
From the author of the Dame Frevisse Medieval
Mysteries, The player Joliffe takes center stage as a
sleuth in the first mystery of a brand new series. When
his band Read more...
The Widow's Tale
January 30, 2004
Recently widowed and still grieving, Cristiana Helyngton
finds her life wrenched apart by her late husband's greedy
and ambitious relatives, who are determined to have control
of her lands and Read more...
The Hunter's Tale
January 6, 2004
In Margaret Frazer's eagerly-awaited new medieval mystery,
the "devout yet human"** nun Dame Frevisse finds herself
embroiled in a family's turmoil. When she accompanies a
nunnery pupil and her mother Read more...
The Clerk's Tale
January 2, 2002
The Bastard's Tale
January 1, 2002
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