The Bookseller's Tale: A totally gripping historical crime thriller (Oxford Medieval Mysteries Book 1)

I read a lot. So much, in fact, that I never post reviews; it takes away precious moments of my already limited reading time. The vast preponderance of my reading material is historical fiction, and of that majority, probably half are Medieval English mysteries. The other half are historically-accurate renderings of primarily Plantagenet England; I am a ridiculously devout fan of Elizabeth Chadwick and Sharon Kay Penman.Taking my usual taste into consideration ought to be sufficient for many other historical fiction/mystery aficionados, so I will not go into the details of this book; suffice it to say, I agree with what another reviewer said: This book is a *gift*. I could not have been more raptly absorbed by any other historical fiction book I've read to date. I devoured this one in less than two days (no mean feat... I have seven children), then promptly downloaded the second book in this series, and finished it in a day. I was disappointed to the point of frustrated depression that there is not yet a third book available! (But slightly mollified to read at Ann Swinfen's website that book 3 will hopefully debut in March... I've waited longer for less worthy successive texts.). I cannot recommend this jewel enough. It's one that I intend to purchase the paperback copy of, to add to my hand-picked legion of Most Worthy books on my largest bookcase. If you're wavering, don't; I promise you will be drawn in and fall in love before the end of the first chapter.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this series - as a student of the Middle Ages I was delighted to find a book set in medieval England that is not simply an acceptance of the Enlightenment's canards about the period. Ms. Swinfen's knowledge of broad general concepts and intimate details does honor to her scholarship. In addition, the plot is well constructed and the characters individualized and attractive. Keep up the good work!

Set in mid-fourteenth-century Oxford, the series features Nicholas Elyot. Set to become a scholar at Merton College, he chose instead to marry—at the time, one could not do both—only to lose his beloved wife to the Black Death. He now lives with his two children and his widowed sister and maintains a small scriptorium that supplies students with books to copy as well as a bookshop. On his way home one evening, he fishes a body out of the Cherwell that turns out to be that of a gifted young scholar. It soon becomes clear that the young man was murdered and that the authorities intend to do nothing about it. In post-plague Oxford, violence is not uncommon, but Nicholas’s inquiries expose a complex and troubling conspiracy in which the dead student has played at best a minor role.Like the same author's Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez and The Testament of Mariam, both of which I love, this is a fast-moving tale with vivid characters and a rich sense of the historical background, delivered in ways that never overwhelm the story. I no sooner finished it than I dove into The Novice's Tale. And the only thing that keeps me from yearning for book 3 is that the eighth Christoval novel came out today.

At first I was distracted by the mechanical shortcomings of Ms. Swinfen's writing: overuse of commas (the so-called Oxford comma is one thing, but this goes way beyond that); many, many non-sentences--clauses that would have been more appropriately tacked on to the parent sentence by (ironically) separating them with commas instead of periods; and redundancies, such as explaining that the bookbinder is situated on an island surrounded by water. Also, many of the author's incomplete edits remained in the finished text. One of the perils of self-publishing is the lack of a good editor's eyes.So, why four stars? Once I decided to ignore the gaffes and quirks, and concentrate instead on the story itself, I discovered that Ms. Swinfen weaves a very good tale. I finished the book quickly, not because it was too simple a read, or because I'm a fast reader, but because I cared about the characters (who, I assume, will be even more fleshed-out in future installments), and because I really wanted to see what happened next. The ending wasn't a complete surprise, and I noticed one reviewer gave it away--for shame!--but getting to it was a fun ride! I've already bought and read the second installment. I'll review that next. (HINT: I liked that one too.)

Set in Oxford among the hustle and bustle of town and university life in 1353, this medieval mystery is told from the perspective of bookseller, Nicholas Elyot.When an evening walk ends with a shock discovery, both town and university communities are thrown into turmoil. Nicholas and his friend Jordan find themselves at the centre of the pursuit of the truth.The central characters are well-rounded and thoughtfully developed, giving the reader a sense of easy familiarity. The minor characters fill the background of the story with colour and voices, and work very well in their supporting roles.The plot develops steadily, suspense and intrigue mounting as the story unfolds and then escalates toward the climax before the guilty parties are identified and the tale draws to a close.

This is a competent, historical mystery which is a bit too grounded in some ways. It's masterful in portraying the daily life of medieval Oxford, but the book is almost more of an excuse to write about Oxford and book history than a murder mystery. Most of the characters don't really stand out and the mystery doesn't have any twists or turns. As the main character has time away from his business, he wanders around and asks questions and has a pretty straight line to the culprits.For a first book, it's quite good and hopefully as the series progresses the author will let the characters and mystery bloom like the historical parts do. If you want a novel that has a heavy emphasis on historical details without the clumsy data dumps that plague many novels, I definitely recommend this book.

YES!! Another writer whose 'voice' I like. Beautifully researched and completely real sounding account of ordinary mediaeval people trying to investigate a violent death in their community, narrated by a gentle learned book shop owner. It's just after the Black Death has devastated the country, society is clawing its way back towards normality and building their lives again, hoping that the terror and loss is over. Thank you, Amazon, for suggesting this book. Haven't finished it yet, but I do hope Ms Swinfen has written more.

Another excellent and scholarly book by Ann Swinfen. This series is set in Medieval Oxford just after the Black Death, when a bookseller becomes involved with the death of a scholar. It is cleverly told and gives a really good picture of medieval life in what was a small town.Thoroughly enjoyable, and I am about to buy the next in the series.

Really glad that I tried this book. Enthralling story, well rounded & engaging characters & well written. An interesting time period in which the tale is set. I shall look out for more books by this author.

A medieval murder whodunnit to warm the heart and get the heart racing - I loved it ! If you want to escape into the post-Black Death landscape of the early 1350’s, this book is a great time machine. Lots of detail about Medieval life and some great character development. A good plot and good honest people to enjoy getting to know made this a very pleasant read.

Ann Swinfen's series on medieval Oxford and the misadventures of Nicholas Elyot, the bookseller, are great reads. I would recommend them to anyone who likes a gently murder mystery with endearing characters set in a familiar place but an unfamiliar time.So sorry to hear of the recent death of Mrs Swinfen (August 2018). We shall miss her tales immensely.