Fresh from A Play of Piety Joliffe is off to Coventry
to join his own family of players in time to prepare
performances for the Corpus Christi festival. Joliffe's
secret duties for Bishop Beaufort, his worship the Cardinal
Bishop of Winchester, accompany him everywhere, despite his
best efforts to enjoy the spring and his journey. Before he
even reaches the town, he encounters the mysterious
Sebastian, a fellow spy for the bishop and is charged with
the task of solving a puzzle. Another man providing
information to the bishop, a simple mercer named Master
Kydwa has disappeared somewhere between his home of Coventry
and the town of Bristol where he was to have met Sebastian.
Although content and bucolic now, Coventry was the site of a
Lollard uprising not many years ago. The families involved
are still a part of the community and Sebastian, as always,
is certain the key to the disappearance lies with the
Lollards.
Much as Joliffe longs to relax into the company of his
fellow players a sudden death makes it clear there is much
more to be discovered before his task for the bishop is
done.
Well-researched as always, Margaret Frazer's seventh in the
Joliffe Player mysteries returns to Coventry nearly four
years after the happenings in the first of the series, A
Play of Isaac. A PLAY OF HERESY begins slowly, unfurling
a detailed backdrop of fifteenth century Coventry through
the eyes of the sensitive and skilled Joliffe. The
investment of attention by the reader is well-rewarded when
the twists and turns of the tale emerge, shadowing the
actions of the town folk and making clear to our eyes, as
well as Joliffe's that something is rotten in Coventry.
From the pages of the national bestselling Dame Frevisse
mysteries.
While performing in the theatrical and religious festival of
Corpus Christi Day in Coventry, Joliffe is summoned by
Bishop Beaufort to use his skills as a spy to uncover the
mysteries of the town's elite. A merchant has gone missing,
presumed dead-and members of Joliffe's company are
implicated in the crime. To uncover the truth, Joliffe must
unravel the devilish machinations of a secret sect of
heretics bent on destroying the Church.
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