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The Novice’s Tale
- A Dame Frevisse Mystery, Book 1
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Unholy passions and demonic deaths...
In the fair autumn of Our Lord's grace 1431, the nuns of England's St. Frideswide's prepare for the simply ceremonies in which the saintly novice Thomasine will take her holy vows. But their quiet lives of beauty and prayer are thrown into chaos by the merciless arrival of Lady Ermentrude Fenner and her retinue of lusty men, sinful women, and baying hounds. The hard-drinking dowager even keeps a pet monkey for her amusement. She demands wine, a feast....
And her niece, the angelic Thomasine.
The lady desires to enrich herself and her reputation by arranging a marriage for the devout novice. She cares nothing for the panic and despair she leaves behind her.
But all her cruel and cunning schemes are brought to a sudden end with strange and most unnatural murder.
As suspicious eyes turn on the pious Thomasine, it falls to Sister Frevisse, hosteler of the priory and amateur detective, to unravel the webs of unholy passion and dark intrigue that entangle the novice and prove her innocence...or condemn her.
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What listeners say about The Novice’s Tale
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- Tropical Gal
- 02-08-20
Pleasant medieval mystery
This is the first in an excellent series of medieval mysteries. If you like Brother Cadfael stories or Mel Starr’s Hugh de Singleton, this is a good choice. The story is fairly slow paced and the writing thoughtful- overall enjoyable. I’d like to see more of this series on Audible.
14 people found this helpful
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- george
- 06-19-20
Tremendous 1st Story - Don't go past this!!
Murder mystery's are my entertainment and my brain food. The Middle Ages in Britain my favorite period. The Novice's Tale combines both brilliantly.
The narrator does an excellent job, provding listeners with a true sense of Fear in the voice of the Novice, Authority in the voce of the Abbess, Madness in the voice of the victim and Hate in the voice of the accuser and the killer.
An excellent combination of Word and Voice.
11 people found this helpful
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- P. D.
- 05-26-20
Enjoyable
This was an absorbing mystery with believable characters. I especially liked the complex plot and the interesting and well-researched setting. Will listen to more in this series. The narration was excellent.
6 people found this helpful
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- Kathy in CA
- 03-20-20
Completely Wonderful
I thoroughly enjoyed this! The plot is complex and features a lot of insights into human nature. The historical setting is interesting; as a fan of historical fiction I would have enjoyed even more cultural and political context. I also appreciate the window into monastic life of an earlier time.
The narrator is excellent, though with not as intricate many voice changes as some.
I can hardly wait to continue with this series!
4 people found this helpful
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- cajm
- 10-04-20
Absolutely the wrong cadence
This reading is not good. It almost sounds like the recording has been artificially sped up. Much better read than listened to.
3 people found this helpful
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- AKowalczyk
- 06-06-20
A bit boring
I wanted to like this but it took about half the story to get to some action. I almost gave up on it several times.
3 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer Smith
- 10-18-20
Very enjoyable read!
My mother, who has great taste in medieval mysteries, has been encouraging me to read this series and I’m so glad it’s on audible!
The pace of this book is wonderful if, like me, you craft and listen at the same time. I only think I had to rewind because I missed something while crafting, which is a rarity.
The story is wonderful- love, intrigue and lessons learned about impatience etc without being preachy or too religious. It’s a beautiful mix. I can’t wait for the next book and I hope audible continues the series!
2 people found this helpful
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- Karen Toney
- 06-06-20
First Reads
It was wonderful to find the first story in this series. I want more 🤗
2 people found this helpful
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- Marianna J. Groth
- 02-15-22
Looking forward to more!
Really liked the story AND the narrator! And the characters are interesting and believable.
1 person found this helpful
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- Stacey R.
- 06-10-21
love it
would love to hear more from this series. well written and preformed. I would recommend.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jennifer Chennell
- 03-25-20
really enjoyed this book
Think more complex than Ellis Peters Cadfael but less convoluted than Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew. As I said I really enjoyed.. the narrator grated for a little bit but soon got into her stride and did a good job. would highly recommend to fans of the above or fans of PD James, Ruth Rendell or AC but want to try something different and anybody else interested in trying crime a little gentler than the likes of Val McDermott
2 people found this helpful
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- Mrs C Cowood
- 04-15-20
Thank you to reviewers.
Thanks for review. I took a chance on this one and was very pleasantly surprised. The narration was crisp and well paced.
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- The Curator
- 03-17-20
Straight forward crime
Despite horrible deaths, this quite a gently plotted book which proceeds at a pace fitting for a book about nuns.