‘A Play of Isaac’ by Margaret Frazer
Published by Robert Hale May 2007. 
ISBN: 978-0-7090-8350-4

The year is 1434 and preparations are under way for the Corpus Christi festival in Oxford. Plays are a traditional part of the celebration and Joliffe and the rest of his troupe are to perform Isaac and Abraham. Until then, their theatrical antics are in demand by a wealthy merchant – Master Penteney, who offers them an opportunity to ply their trade for room and board. But when the body of a murdered man is found outside the barn door where the troupe is lodging, Joliffe must raise the curtain on Penteney’s mysterious past – and uncover the startling truth behind the murder.

Historical mysteries abound but only a few truly manage to convey the flavour of what life must have been like away from the heightened tension of a murder investigation. Margaret Frazer does that extremely effectively in this book and in a way that is very easy to relate to (the hand-to-mouth poverty and prejudice faced by a group of itinerant performers made me very glad I never ended up on the stage).

There is a sweet humanity, centring on love and trust and need at the core of this story. But there’s also ruthlessness and sadness and duplicity as the actors aren’t the only ones keeping up a pretence – many others will go to any lengths to maintain the elaborate artifices they have worked so hard, and for so long, to construct.

I do hope Margaret Frazer writes some more mysteries featuring Joliffe et al. By the end of this book, I didn’t feel I’d spent nearly enough time in their company.
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Ruth Wade