Where Joliffe Gets a New Side Hustle

A Play of Lords by Margaret Frazer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very satisfying novel.

This is book 4 in the series, and I'm glad that they are just getting better--more fun, more interesting, more complex. Joliffe is an actor in a small troupe in 15th century England. He's intelligent, a bit of a smart ass, generally ethical but no saint, friendly but not a pushover. As the series progresses, he's getting more and more focused on solving mysteries he's presented with or involved in; it's not just curiosity and gossiping leading him to solutions, but thoughtful action and deep reflection. The more intentional his investigations become, the more I like it.

[Some light spoilers.]
The players are in London for the first time in the series, playing for their sponsor, when Joliffe is asked to write a play that would help promote propaganda useful to a friend of the lord they work for. The play is a success, helping in a small way to spread a message that will smooth over a trade disagreement with Burgundy, but someone else sends goons to attack them and discourage them from continuing in this way. From that point on, Joliffe is trying to figure out what forces are on what side, and he is enlisted by Bishop Beaufort to do more of that thinking and watching and investigating in his service, pretty much as a spy.

Some of the thinking here, in the form "Maybe it's this faction trying to look like this, or maybe it's this other faction hoping to get a different outcome, or maybe it's a third group thing to make it look like the first group..." was pretty deep and I lost the thread. I'm afraid international trade, beyond the simplest level, does not make sense to me, so I just plowed through some of that, but the story is still entirely clear. The resolution makes sense and is satisfying, though (as I think I've noticed in previous books) I wouldn't mind another chapter fleshing out the consequences and final state for some of the minor characters. Much is implied, but I was enjoying the conclusion and would have liked a bit more of it.

In any case, it's a fun book, and as always the setting is well-researched and beautifully realized. Recommended for mystery readers.

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Where Frevisse Solves a Sad Mystery

The Servant's Tale by Margaret Frazer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another good book in this series. (I count the Joliffe books as the same series. I guess it's a spinoff...)

Sister Frevisse is a good MC for this kind of mystery. She's still about 90% nun, but she's got enough spirit and drive to see innocent people protected to still be a useful and interesting investigator. I like the pace and the construction of the mystery and clues, and though I'm hopeful that there'll be more to love in future books, I'm enjoying these quite a bit.

I suppose what I miss is awesome people being awesome, being the smartest person in the room, one step ahead of the bad guy, like Sherlock or Benoit Blanc or Poirot. And I like to see other characters give them their due. So while Frevisse figuring out what really happened is cool, I'd like someone to acknowledge her accomplishments, give her a slow clap or something. Her triumphs are very low-key. In some mysteries, you get a fist-pumping "Yes!" moment when the investigator outsmarts the bad guy. Frevisse's wins here are more or less satisfying, sure, but less awesome because nobody really recognizes her achievement.

Anyway, still fun to read, with excellent use of setting and rewarding historical accuracy. (Apparently.) I feel like I'm learning some stuff while I'm being entertained.

I'm gonna get me a stack of the sequels. Here we go...

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Where Everyman Makes the Cut

The Summoning of Everyman by Anonymous
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a religious play, written and performed more than 500 years ago. Apparently, it was ripped off from a Dutch play, but folks were less fussy about such things back then. (I wonder if the English author went to confession for this?) Though it's meant to instruct a religious audience, and not really meant to entertain much then or now, it is still modestly interesting, and since it's pretty short I think others might like to look at it for a number of reasons.

It's an allegory, told almost like a pageant. A dude who represents all of us--Everyman--is informed by death that it's his time. He argues and bargains, as you do, but makes no headway. Still, he's allowed to recruit some help. None of his friends (here personified as Fellowship) want to go with him; neither do his family members (Kindred and Cousin). Goods (his money and things) is a no-go, too. Good Deeds would go, but she's pretty tired from neglect. It isn't until he gets Knowledge (of his sins, mostly) and Confession to help him that Good Deeds can even get up. Then Discretion, Strength, Five Wits, and Beauty join him, though they desert him right at the edge of the grave. Just Good Deeds is left. But, having observed the sacraments, especially confession followed by penance, Good Deeds is enough to get him into the Good Place.

Not much of a plot, really, but I found parts of it entertaining. It was interesting to look at the world from the perspective of riches, seeing how they endure, belonging to no one. After his death, they go to the next person, but that person will die, too. Wealth and property, looked at that way, are like the elves that go on and on while the humans come and go. Allegorically, we're short-lived pets to immortal wealth.

Also, as a non-Catholic, observing the characters (as written by a devout 15th century writer) take the very specific teachings of the religion so seriously, word for word and point for point, is interesting and informative. While in that world, identifying with Everyman, the sacraments are like magic, saving one from the horrors that come after death. The fear of being consigned to Purgatory and its corrective torments is palpable here, with the horror of hell immeasurably greater. Kinda terrifying. Coming at the story from outside the tradition, it reads like medieval fantasy, or at least a quaint and foreign belief system that is charming in its arcane rules and high-stakes outcomes. But then you recall how many millions of people--billions, I suppose--have lived their entire lives within that system, believing almost exactly what is taught here, and it's hard to not muse on the enduring strength of religion, for good or bad.

Anyway, as far as catechism goes, this version is pretty fun.

And it's surprisingly easy to read. This is from about 100 years before Shakespeare, but overall I found it easier to make sense of. A few notes are helpful, but for the most part a modern reader can just buzz through this.

If you want to read just for fun, this probably isn't it. But if you want to scratch a 15th century itch, satisfying your curiosity about the way people thought at that time, back before Martin Luther, back when England was as Catholic as anywhere in the world, it's worth looking through.

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