The Bookseller's Tale

Oxford Medieval Mysteries, Book 1

De: Ann Swinfen

Narrado por: Philip Battley

Oxford, Spring 1353. When young bookseller Nicholas Elyot discovers the body of student William Farringdon floating in the river Cherwell, it looks like a drowning. Soon, however, Nicholas finds evidence of murder. Who could have wanted to kill this promising student? As Nicholas and his scholar friend Jordain try to unravel what lies behind William's death, they learn that he was innocently caught up in a criminal plot. When their investigations begin to involve town, university, and abbey, Nicholas takes a risky gamble - and puts his family in terrible danger.

©2016 Ann Swinfen (P)2017 Ann Swinfen

Immersive and entertaining!

I had a hard time stopping to go back to reality. The narrator acts it well, and in emotional parts I even found myself tearing up... he has a smooth, pleasant voice, perfect to convey the quaint atmosphere of medieval Oxford.

Loved the story. Can’t wait to read the next one

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It seems well researched. The medieval music was a nice touch. The story kept my interest the whole time.

Really fun story, but with uneven narration

Very enjoyable historical mystery set in 14th-century Oxford. Great characters and excellent descriptions, a good mystery, and fine pacing. The narration of the audiobook by Philip Battley was uneven, however, with many strange pauses and pacing. His accents were fine, though.

Solid writing

Great characters, solid story. A little odd to hear a first person narrator in the medieval genre, but it worked. Frequently jarring shifts in past and present tense tripped me up.

I liked this story and narrator.

Nothing like solving a murder and surviving the plague!! Love the characters and can’t wait for the next book. Will the artist nun escape the convent? Lol! Fun romp.

Held my interest, excellent historical background

This is my kind of book. The story depended on a well-drawn world of a medieval bookseller and his relationship with Oxford instructors and students. I liked the family members, too. The murder mystery unfolded at a reasonable pace and wasn't predictable. The narrator did a great job. I hope audible releases the second book in this series, The Novice's Tale, with the same narrator. I downloaded the first book from audible of Swinfen's Christopher Alvarez series, but I haven't listened to it yet - now I'll definitely give that series a listen.

Not much of a mystery

Would you try another book from Ann Swinfen and/or Philip Battley?

Yes

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Knew it long before the end

Could you see The Bookseller's Tale being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes, it might make a better movie than a book

Any additional comments?

The atmosphere of the period was good but the mystery was a little weak - the perpetrator obvious early on. A more compelling story in the same setting would welcome. After all the other rave reviews, I found myself rather disappointed by the book itself.

A good tale

Tightly written with a great reader. Fits the main character perfectly. Interesting to learn a little about medieval Oxford.

loved it

I first thought it can't hurt to check it out , but I couldn't put it down . Good story and interesting . before reading this , I had no idea how parchment was made. also learned the value of books at that time . I enjoyed the book.

The booksellers tale

An overall good book. It has a mystery, a touch of love interest, a good development of character, both men and women. The details about the creation of books in those times is interesting too. The book goes through all the stages of book preparation in a time when it was becoming possible for people to own their own books and books were beginning to be written about something other than just religion or the old classics, most of which were still in Latin and good mostly for religious persons or scholars. This book dealer begins to come up with books in English using subjects for ordinary people; old tales of Robin Hood or other hero’s, familiar stories told at bedtime, songbooks, etc. being an artist I was especially interested in the illustration descriptions. I liked it that there were women working in that field too, not being strictly restricted to cooking, cleaning and raising of children. The main man in the book connects with his children is good too. He is teaching his daughter reading and writing in Latin and English as well as his son . The other books in the series are done as well and I enjoyed reading them all. My only complaint is the last book leaves so many things hanging. I hope there will be another in the series as I don’t care for her other series.