The Servant’s Tale

Dame Frevisse Mystery Series 2

De: Margaret Frazer

Narrado por: Susan Duerden

Duración: 8 h y 7 m

Resumen del Editor

The play's the thing, to catch the conscience of a killer...

The Christmas season brings strange guests to the medieval nunnery of St. Frideswide's when a troupe of penniless players comes knocking at the gate. They bear with them the badly mangled body of a villager, swearing they found the drunken fool lying in a ditch. But Meg, the victim's wife and a scullery maid of the cloister, thinks there are far fouler deeds afoot.

As the players rehearse for the nativity, ancient scandals lick at their heels and dark desperation haunts Meg's steps as she finds cruel feudal laws threatening to strip away the lands that would support both her and her sons in the wake of her husband's death.

Dame Frevisse must thrust herself between these violent feuds, awakening dreams of her youth that she had believed long buried. Her very faith may be threatened, but Frevisse knows she must unravel a path to true salvation...before false raptures of lust bring ruination upon them all.

©1993 Margaret Frazer (P)2020 Tantor

Pleasant Medieval Mystery Series

The story includes medieval traveling players. The story held my attention. The key protagonist is a great character wise beyond the walls of the abbey. I’m not sure I bought into the murderer at the end. I like the series so far. A pleasant medieval mystery series like Cadfael.

Enjoyed story and narration

Excellent historical detail seemlessly blended into the story. The narrator changes her voice for different characters, but it’s true she does not change accents. That’s a lot to ask for a book set in 14th century England.

Excellent Entry in the Series

I thoroughly enjoyed this Dame Frevisse cozy. The series is reminiscent of Cadfael. I thought I had discerned the coming ending for two key characters, but the hints I had picked up fooled me. Well done!

The narrator is excellent. Her voice is so much like that of the marvelous actor Juliet Stevenson that at first I thought it was she.

Recommended.

Great book; Disappointing Narration

I love these books and these plots; high quality in so many ways. However, the narrator speaks with literally one speech pattern over and over, always going down at the end of the sentence no matter what is being said. It drives me crazy and is such a bummer since the dialogue is so much more varied that she can give, but I will likely keep listening to the third book since the writing is so fun.

Well written and historically interesting!

Seems historically accurate, and is well written with an interesting mystery plot that was not too simple to figure out. I really enjoyed listening to the thoughts and ideas of the nuns, and understanding more of their lives. 

A great story

The author really knows the customs of monastic life and the stories are interesting. This one had a surprising end

Wonderful! More of the same please.

I have loved her books but the audios are bringing them to life. The narrator was perfect. I dont see any more audio books and I would like "The Play Of ..." books on audio also!

Impeccable history

Very well narrated. History of daily life was informative and interesting. Will read the entire series

Good mystery

Keeps you guessing. My first suspect turned out to be the killer, but the plot line had me questioning my choice a couple of times before I was sure of it.

Loved Novice's Tale, this one less. Narrator issue

I thoroughly enjoyed Novice's Tale, the first in the series. This one less, partly due to the tragic element. Both give a very interesting look at the impact of the times on women. It was interesting in both to see a community governed by and composed of women. A nunnery was probably the only place this was true. And of course, it was fun to see a few strong, smart women in action during such a time, and how they try to circumvent those in authority who devalue their opinions.

The actress is very good at both male and female character voices, making each distinct even when there are several of the same gender, However, it was annoying and distracting that each clause, even phrase, of narration ends in the same four tones. With the exception of character voices, this is true through the whole narration. Sometimes it creeps into character dialogue, too. It gives the whole thing an overly sentimental tone. I don't understand why no director caught this. I was engrossed enough in the story to continue, however when I started to buy the 3rd in the series, I balked because it was the same actress.