A Play of Treachery (A Joliffe Mystery)

by Margaret Frazer

Book Overview

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 duchess's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425223337
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 0.9" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

An Actor's Most Perilous Role

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!

Brings history to life

Margaret Frazer's A PLAY OF TREACHERY brings history to life as it surveys Joliffe, who is sent along to France in the middle of war in the winter of 1436. He's to be a servant to a duchess - but his real mission is to train as a spy, where he finds murder and dangerous awaits. A top pick for any mystery library's paperback section.

Joliffe takes center stage

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."

best installment yet of the Joliffe series

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...!