The Merchant's Tale (Oxford Medieval Mysteries) Paperback – July 26, 2017

Set a few weeks after the last book, this story begins with Nicholas being rudely woken up by Margaret even earlier than usual one morning, for this is the day the family is to climb Headington Hill to gather hazelnuts, blackberries, crab apples and other fruits to be preserved to sustain the family over winter. The children, as all children are wont to do eat more berries than they put in the baskets, but thoroughly enjoy themselves as it is a welcome day's outing from their usual routine. As the town merchants cannot trade during the six days of the annual St Frideswide’s Fair, a group of women, including Margaret have leased a large booth at the Fair where they can sell their surplus cheeses, preserves, jams and other goods. Margaret’s kitchen is turned into a hive of activity as most of the preparing, cooking and preserving is taking place there. Nicholas is doing good business with the new term starting, and with students stocking up on inks, quills and paper to tide them over the six days. There are rumours of trouble among the town merchants, but Nicholas learns nothing concrete.There is a lot going on in Oxford with merchants arriving from all over England and Europe to sell their wares, and there is a feeling of tension, of something simmering as opening day draws closer. The first day at the Fair passes without incident but after the gates close for the night, serious trouble breaks out that could endanger the Town. The following day a fight breaks out at the jetty between the English and the French who are guarding the boats. A merchant from Flanders is attacked one night and then Nicholas and another man find a local vintner murdered in his own house. Shortly after that, serious trouble breaks out at St Frideswide’s priory and Deputy Sheriff Cedric Walden and his men arrive from the Castle. That is not the end of the troubles though, and Nicholas finds himself caught up in a very dangerous situation quite by chance.The everyday happenings running parallel to the mystery and troubles, as they always do, combine to make Swinfen’s stories real. Dinners still need to be cooked, children still need to be looked after, there is still work that can be done in the bookshop, and Nicholas makes a new friend. Then there is all the excitement of children watching the strange and exotic at the Fair, eating gingerbread men and choosing a new toy. There are touches of humour here and there in the narrative and it is well-written and edited as usual. It never ceases to amaze me how much I can learn from Ann Swinfen’s books, and it never ceases to amaze me just how advanced in many thing the mediaevals were.With her usual flair for descriptive prose, and her skill, not only for telling a splendid tale, but also for weaving historical facts throughout, Ann Swinfen has written the last of the Nicholas Elyot books set in 14th century Oxford, although I feel there are a few loose ends. (Maybe I am just sad there will be no more Nicholas books).ETA: My mistake - there are more books to come.

Anna Swinfen has a gift for bringing to life the lives of people in the past. She has done this for 16th century London in the Cristofer Alvarez series and now with 14th century Oxford and Nicolas Elyot. In this fourth book in the series, it is time for the St. Fridewide's Fair. Tempers are running high because the townspeople resent having to close their businesses during the Fair since by charter the abbey gets all the profits from the commerce of the fair. French traders are also present at the fair along with Flemings and Germans. This causes unease since France and England have a truce for the moment and the townspeople are suspicious of the French. There are also other causes for concern. An intelligencer (secret agent) who met Nicholas in the previous book is at the Fair looking out for a spy. The Abbey is headed for the moment by an unscrupulous abbot who may be selling off Abbey treasures. An unpopular wine merchant is killed and a English merchant who has befriended Nicholas is attacked. Is the murder related to the French spy? To the problems at the Abbey? To the presence at the Abbey of the young prince Edward (the Black Prince )? Nicholas is drawn into the mystery which comes to a satisfying conclusion. Along the way the readerIs immersed in the lives of ordinary people, primarily Nicholas' family and friends, as they prepare and sell goods at the Fair. There is also further development in the relationship between Nicholas and Emma and a possible future friendship with the merchant. A captivating novel.

Nicholas continues to find himself entangled in murder, this time within walking distance of his own home. His relationship with Emma appears to be developing nicely. For the time being at least all is well.

My favorite outing of these characters so far.. the author continues to increase their depth, vitality and their exposure. I do love that they remain in the same group of friends and relatives so we do not have to relearn a lot.Peter Winchingham, merchant, is a new character and I hope a new volume is being worked on that includes him. I suspect it will be so as he bought a manor in Leighton, Nicholas' home community not very far from Oxford.The historical aspects of the St. Frideswide's fair and Priory are very important to me as a reader, as are all of Ann Swinfen's works. The inclusion of the Black Prince as a visitor to the Priory and Oxford was excellent. Does it presage more contacts between Nicholas and the Prince?This one was wonderful and the newer characters I feel point to more outings for this group. A tremendously good read.

Fascinating look at Oxford of the late 14OO's with solidly researched background describing detailed everyday life. This entire series has been such a wonderful group of books to read. Have dipped into them again just to have the delight to immerse myself in the various trades, insights into the social strata and resulting behaviors, descriptions of clothing that identify trades and rank, street surfaces, outward appearances of shops and homes with interiors described plus city home gardens of herbs and their uses, livestock kept, gardens and their contents plus fruit trees, the yearly rhythms of trade and trade gatherings as in the Fair described in this Merchant's Tale. The narratives remind one of Chaucer's Tales, however centered in Oxford. Cannot recommend these highly enough! For further reading check the bibliographies listed for authorities Swinfen consulted. The only down side is the time between publication of the next addition to the series. Sigh!

The reading was like visiting old friends. I hope the author continues with the series . With Peter moving close by there may be a chance for Margaret to find a new life and Nicholas to start new anew. There may be many tales to tell like what did the Prince do for Nicholas ?

I have enjoyed this and the other related books in the series because they offer an insight into the day to day lifes of quite everyday people, including mostly those of the yeoman and lower classes with some glimpses of the lives of the great and mighty they interact with but largely they are about the common people and have the added nuance of an amateur sleuth who is not a physician or cleric but a bookseller and repectable family man. Some sleuths in other historical novels are almost as unsavoury as the villains while others come across as very modern minded men and women somehow unaturally sewn loosely into the fabric of a time they don't seem to belong in. This is not so with either Swinfen's sleuth, in fact even minor characters seem real and of the 14th century. Lovely tales worthy of reading in comfort with a hot drink and a slice of cake.

A very nice series, very engaging. It brings to mind the Cadfael series, by Ellis Peters.In this series by Ann Swinfen, the main character is a bookseller from Oxford, Nicholas Elyot. The stories happen in less high echelons of England's medieval society than in the Cadfael series. But we still have glimpses of nobles and abbots, as pointed out by another reviewer here.What I liked best is the same feeling of accompanying the day to day life in medieval times, and learning about how people interacted and how their material needs were met.I'm crossing my fingers that the author will keep writing this series!I'm posting this same review in all the four already published books of this series, for I liked them all, and would like to signal it to potential readers.

Another great tale from the medieval times by Ann Swinfen. I so enjoy these and they appear very real, as if you were there. Perhaps I am a fan of Oxford, it's very atmospheric and it is so nice to have roads and places one now knows mentioned in these tales. This is the fourth tale with the same main character and his family, but you won't be prevented from enjoying this one if you have not read the previous three. I think you'll want to read the earlier ones once you read this one. I was delighted to find this fourth tale (I am a recent 'convert' to Swinfen's historical drama/thrillers after sampling the first three of the Elizabethan ones. I'll be reading more of her - entertaining stuff!

I have loved all the books that I have read so far. It is just like stepping back in time and experiencing, what I consider to be a very good reconstruction of life in that period. The storylines are well written and make them difficult to put down. I am looking forward to the next one!

As in book 3 it takes too long to get started and the plot is so obvious that it can be solved by the reader about halfway thro the bookTo be frank this looks like a money spinner set of short stories with loads of background day to day stuff but very little mystery and a non existent love lifeThe 13/14 centuary background can lifted from many sources so is not some special gift of this writer it's just padding out of a rather poor short story