Margaret Frazer
ACT OF MERCY, ACT OF MURDER
Leaving the safety of her nunnery walls behind, Dame Frevisse is drawn into an unholy web of treachery and deceit. Waylaid on the King's Highway by a band of outlaws, Frevisse is shocked to discover that their leader is her long-lost cousin Nicholas. When he pleads with her to help him obtain a pardon for his crimes, she finds herself trapped between the harsh edicts of the law and the mercy of her vows.
But even
It's Christmastime, and the sisters of St. Frideswide cannot turn away travellers, even the players knocking at the nunnery door. But along with the motley troupe comes the grievously wounded husband of the cloister's scullery maid, Meg. They swear they found the drunken wastrel in a ditch, but...
SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN...
"Sanctuary! In God's name you must give it!"
A dark lady rides back into the life of Dame Frevisse, bearing with her two small boys haunted by the touch of death and scandal. Nine men lie dead on the road behind them, victims of the grim fate which relentlessly pursues them. Some seek to turn them away, but when they request sanctuary Frevisse is bound by her holy oaths to grant it.
But in welcoming them
...A LOVE TO DIE FOR...
When Frevisse is given bishop-pardoned leave to visit her cousin Alice at Ewelme, she is enchanted by the work of the sculptor Simon Maye. Charged with carving the angels upon Alice's tomb, Simon has been truly touched by God's gift - there was an otherworldiness to their stone features, an aliveness to the very feathers of their wings. He saw beauty that others could not, and brought it to life through his craft.
But
...FOR THEY THAT WORK WICKEDNESS...
One man has been kidnapped. Another has been murdered.
In the bleakest depths of winter, Frevisse finds her soul chilled with the heavy burdens of duty and responsibility. Even the warmth of charity is in short supply as the villagers of Prior Byfield turn against each in bloody feuds of greed and rage, weaving knots of treachery which even the clever Frevisse may find hard to unwind.
Award-winning author
...A WEB OF LIES, INTRIGUE... AND ROMANCE
It is an hour of desperate need for St. Frideswide's. Thrust into financial ruin by the incompetence and corruption of their former prioress, the nuns have become trapped under the thumb of Abbott Gilberd as he pries into every possible corner of the priory's life.
In an effort to escape their desperate straits, Dame Frevisse is forced to journey to London in order to seek both a new prioress and financial
DARK CORRUPTION AND THE PENITENCE OF DEATH...
Under the harsh hand of its newly elected prioress, St. Frideswide's has become a place of deadly sin. The corruption has grown subtly and slowly, but it has found fertile soil in the rage and greed of Domina Alys, who has turned the priory into a boarding house for her relatives, the Godfreys. Dame Frevisse is horrified to discover that the modest stores of the priory – desperately needed
Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live...
Witchcraft has come to the peaceful village near St. Frideswide, and its foul touch is striking down those closest to the church. Can Dame Frevisse thwart the servants of the devil before the hellfire of hysteria sears the souls of the faithful? Or is there more to this magic than meets the eye? The truth can only be found in the Witch's Tale.
(The Witch's Tale is part of the Margaret Frazer's
..."Sisters! Come back! Please don't leave us yet!"
Cisily Fisher has died in childbirth and now the village of Priors Byfield is held in a grip of fear. Can Dame Frevisse find the root of misery behind a murderer's sin before the next lethal blow falls? Or will be the village be lost in a hue and cry of terror? The gentling touch of the midwife may calm the tortured soul... or give birth to a bitter death.
(The Midwife's Tale is
...13) The Reeve's Tale
A PLAGUE OF MURDERS
The village of Prior Byfield is blighted with famine, devastated by plague, and cursed with ill-fortune. Simon Perryn, the poor reeve of the village, is driven to distraction by the petty rivalries and hopeless troubles of his neighbors. His adulterous sister and her dolt of a husband have entangled their affairs with Gilbey Dunn, the richest man of the village, and Elena, the beautiful and seductive woman that he calls
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