The Reeve’s Tale has been released for both Kindle and the Nook. It can also be read on any iPad, Android, Windows PC, Mac, or Blackberry device using either the free Kindle Reading Apps or the free Nook Apps for those platforms. It will be available through the iBookstore and other platforms shortly, but those platforms take longer to process new e-books than Amazon or B&N.
A PLAGUE OF MURDERS
The village of Prior Byfield is blighted with famine, devastated by plague, and cursed with ill-fortune. Simon Perryn, the poor reeve of the village, is driven to distraction by the petty rivalries and hopeless troubles of his neighbors. His adulterous sister and her dolt of a husband have entangled their affairs with Gilbey Dunn, the richest man of the village, and Elena, the beautiful and seductive woman that he calls his wife. With wealth on the line and lives at the stake, old quarrels and ancient angers are boiling over into the once-quiet streets of the village. That’s when things get even worse for Simon: A horrid scandal curses him with a pair of nuns, sent from the nearby nunnery of St. Frideswide’s to make sure all is kept right in the village.
Dame Frevisse, however, suspects that the scandal which has drawn her and the innocent Sister Thomasine from the safety of the priory is but the tip of a terrible intrigue which threatens both nunnery and village alike: The good, kind, and honest Master Naylor stands accused of a crime which threatens to strip him and his entire family of their freedom. Who could stand to profit from his loss? Is it the same silent killer who stalks the village youth? Or are they all being played like fools?
Yet even if Frevisse’s keen wit can lay bare the ugliness in the hearts of men, she fears that no amount of prayer will serve to cleanse her own soul of that sickly hate. Can even God pardon one who has turned from a holy path?
PRAISE FOR THE REEVE’S TALE
“Everything about it bespeaks quality and care… Frazer draws us into a medieval village in England with a story of lust, greed and murder.” – St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Exquisitely written, the novel offers a brilliantly realized vision of a typical medieval English village, peopled with full-blooded men and women who experience the human range of joys and sorrows. Suspenseful from start to surprising conclusion, this is another gem from an author who’s twice been nominated for an Edgar.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“This tale is a trip back in time, a time when your personal wants had to be satisfied with what could be found in your immediate surroundings. You will appreciate the intense need for each village and villager to be self-sufficient. You experience the terror caused when children fall ill. The Reeve’s Tale is a fascinating one.” – Martha’s Vineyard Times
“Frazer [turns] the screw of the mystery… The looming threats guarantee suspense… Greed and self-interest lurk beneath marital agreements knotted to land contracts, reminding God’s virgins just who feeds them.” – Kirkus Review
I am very sorry for the long interruption between the release of the e-book for The Maiden’s Tale and The Reeve’s Tale, but there were both emotional and practical hurdles to be cleared after my mother’s death. She and I had worked together to establish a really fantastic working process for converting and editing the books (and frequently adding bonus features and the like to them). It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, difficult to find a new process that would ensure the high quality standards that my mother’s work deserves.
For those of you waiting for The Squire’s Tale and some of the other missing titles from later in the series, however, I can now say with a fair degree of certainty that they will be appearing once more with regular frequency.
Enjoy!
– Justin
January 6th, 2015 - 8:56 am
Justin, thanks so much for all your hard work! I’m very happy I’ll eventually get to have the entire series on both my bookshelves and my kindle.
January 10th, 2015 - 5:50 pm
Thanks for working so hard to sort everything out. Just one question – when will “the Reeves Tale” and the other later Sister Frevise novels be available on kindle in the UK? I can’t wait to read them!
March 27th, 2015 - 6:43 am
I was delighted to stumble upon the 8 or so short stories that are only available on Kindle or to the those who use technology more than I do. Why not publish a book containing all of the short stories. Your fans, including me, would be delighted. I don’t think I relish the thought of printing the 27 or so pages for each of these short stories. Not cozy reading.
I also have the entire series of books but I didn’t need new ones as long as I got them second hand in acceptable condition. I don’t need to re-read them though.
March 27th, 2015 - 6:45 am
I was delighted to stumble upon the 8 or so short stories that are only available on Kindle or to the those who use technology more than I do. Why not publish a book containing all of the short stories. Your fans, including me, would be delighted. I don’t think I relish the thought of printing the 27 or so pages for each of these short stories. Not cozy reading.
I also have the entire series of books but I didn’t need new ones as long as I got them second hand in acceptable condition. I don’t need to re-read them though.
Do hope you continue writing and printing Kathleen McElroy
March 27th, 2015 - 6:47 am
I was delighted to stumble upon the 8 or so short stories that are only available on Kindle or to the those who use technology more than I do. Why not publish a book containing all of the short stories. Your fans, including me, would be delighted. I don’t think I relish the thought of printing the 27 or so pages for each of these short stories. Not cozy reading.
I also have the entire series of books but I didn’t need new ones as long as I got them second hand in acceptable condition. I don’t need to re-read them though.
Do hope you continue writing and printing Kathleen McElroy
Can’t get through since the security question comes after the submit comment box.
September 18th, 2016 - 8:41 am
Gentlemen,
I had just written a note to your mother in 2013 when I read online that she had died. I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m proud of the way you are celebrating all her accomplishments.
I just read an AnneHilermn book extrapolated from a character that her father Tony Hillerman gave to his reading public. It is her own story with a new perspective of people we like to read about.
If either or both of you are writers it would be very intriguing to read your tales of the characters your mother introduced us to through all the books.
Just saying that Joiffe’s revisions and extrapolations of plays in Thomas’s box of scripts served the traveling troupe well …
Again, thank you so much for maintaining and sustaining your mother’s legacy. We miss her presence and the present she gave us of “other where and other when.”
Linda Janssen Gjere
December 5th, 2016 - 7:56 am
Greetings!
Is there any news about the other Frevisse Novels for the e-book market?
I’m buying the paperbacks used (it’s the only available format I can find), but I’d much prefer them a. as e-books and b. bought from you instead of used-bookstores.